Of Irish-Hungarian heritage, Don Adams had a sister Gloria, brother Dick Yarmy. He served in U.S. Marines in World War II and contracted malaria during the fighting on Guadalcanal island. After the war, he began a career as a stand-up comic. He married singer Adelaide Adams and adopted her stage surname. They had seven children: Carolyn, Christine, Catherine, Cecily Adams, Stacey Adams, Sean, Beige. His television career began when he won the Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour talent contest. His most famous role, of course, is as bumbling, incompetent, clueless yet endearing secret agent Maxwell Smart in the classic sitcom/spy spoof Get Smart, although he also had a career as a television director and a Broadway and theatrical dramatic actor.