When a celebrity dies, you learn things about them that somehow get lost in the shuffle during their lives. Don Adams, so hilarious on Get Smart had a more interesting history than I would have guessed:
In 1941, he dropped out of school to join the Marines. In Guadalcanal he survived the deadly blackwater fever and was returned to the States to become a drill instructor, acquiring the clipped delivery that served him well as a comedian.
Maxwell Smart was a Marine. There is something shocking about that.
Read the obituary.
Update: More.