The Marriages of Don Adams

Best known for his Maxwell Smart television character, Don Adams died at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 82 on September 25, 2005 from a lung infection.

He had been married and divorced three times and had seven children. Here's more information about the life and relationships of Don Adams.

Donald James Yarmy: April 13, 1923 in Manhattan, New York.

Died:

Don Adams died at the age of 82 on September 25, 2005 at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles from a lung infection. Don had been in poor health for over a year.

After dropping out of school and not being truthful about his age, Adams joined the Marines when he was 16 years old. Don contracted malaria (blackwater fever) on Guadalcanal during World War II and spent 2 1/2 years in hospitals.

Aside from being a comedian, actor, voice artist, director, game show panelist, and writer, Don Adams was also a commercial artist.

Don was married three times.

• Adelaide (Dell) Efantis was a divorced nightclub singer in Florida when Don met her. Don and Adelaide were married on October 12, 1947 and had four daughters. Don and Dell ended their nine-year marriage and divorced in 1958.
• Don met Dorothy Bracken while in summer stock in 1957 at Lake George, New york. Dorothy was a June Taylor dancer. They were married in 1960 at St. Agnes Cathedral. Don and Dorothy had two children. Their sixteen-year marriage ended in divorce in 1976.
• Don and actress Judy Luciano were married on June 10, 1977. They had one daughter. The marriage ended in divorce in 1990.

Don had seven children.

• Cecily Adams was born in 1958 in Queens, New York. Her mother is Adelaide Efantis. She was an actress and casting director. She married Jim Beaver on May 7, 1989. They had one daughter. Cecily died from lung cancer in Los Angeles on March 3, 2004.
• Carolyn Adams Steele. Her mother is Adelaide Efantis.
• Christine Adams. Born in 1949. Her mother is Adelaide Efantis.
• Cathy Adams Metchik. Her mother is Adelaide Efantis.
• Stacey Noel Adams was born in 1965. Her mother is Dorothy Bracken.
• Sean Adams was born in 1970 and died on June 28, 2006. His mother is Dorothy Bracken.
• Beige Dawn Adams was born in 1979. Her mother is Judy Luciano.

Don was known for being sentimental, superstitious, a Victorian romantic, cautious, and absent-minded. He did not drink alcoholic beverages and didn't have much patience with people who drank too much.

Roman Catholic.

Don on being married: "I like getting married, but I don't like being married."
Source: Bob Lardine. "How do you Get Smart? Don Adams revives his bumbling spy in a movie." People Weekly. June 9, 1980. p. 111.

Don on alimony and child support: "I'm no longer independently wealthy. I guess it's the result of too many wives, too many kids, and too much alimony. I've been paying alimony since I was 14 and child support since 15. That's a joke, but not by much."
Source: Bob Lardine. "How do you Get Smart? Don Adams revives his bumbling spy in a movie." People Weekly. June 9, 1980.

Don on his first marriage: "I was married awfully young and I felt trapped. My wife had been divorced and all the time we were married we were out of the Church. It wasn't until we were divorced that we became good Catholics again."
Source: Polly Terry. "God Knows Why I am a Catholic and a Jew..." TV Radio Mirror. May 1966.

Don on being forgetful: "I am a quick study -- I can memorize a script in an hour -- but I can't remember a name three seconds. I've even forgotten my wife's name on occasion."
Source: Robert de Roos. "Don Adams of Get Smart!" TV Guide. October 2, 1965.