Famous Comedian, Don Adams 1923-2005

September 25^th marks the anniversary of the death of one of television's legendary comedians, Don Adams.

Born Donald James Yarmy on April 13, 1923 in New York, Don changed his name to Adams as a young man because whenever he would go for auditions, names were called in alphabetical order, and he was tired of being last in line. As a child Don hated school, but loved movies, often playing hooky in order to spend the day in a movie theater. He and his friends would do impressions of their favorite stars, and Don excelled at mimicking his favorites.

During World War 2, he finally left school at age 16 and joined the Marines, lying about his age to get in. He contracted blackwater fever, fatal 90 percent of the time, in Guadalcanal and nearly died, but sheer force of will kept him from succumbing to the disease. After spending two and a half years in hospitals, he was discharged from the Marines. Don headed to Florida and began a career as a stand-up comedian, doing his act in seedy nightclubs and bars. His club act was clean, with no dirty jokes or profanity. He wrote his club acts with the help of his friend, Bill Dana. Don won an Arthur Godfrey "Talent Scouts" competition in 1954, and afterwards got the attention of those who chose acts for some of the most popular television variety shows of that era. Don appeared on the Steve Allen Tonight Show, the Perry Como Show, the Ed Sullivan Show, and the Garry Moore Show.

Don began writing comedy material for Steve Allen and Garry Moore, along with his friend Bill Dana. Don had also created the character of Byron Glick, a bumbling house detective, and when Dana got his own comedy series, the Bill Dana Show, which ran from 1963 until 1965, he persuaded Don to appear as a regular on the show, portraying the Glick character. Byron Glick was a precursor to Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent 86, the character Don is most memorable for.