Don Adams - Early Life

Early Life

Adams was born Donald James Yarmy in Manhattan, son of William Yarmy and his wife, Consuelo (Dieter). Adams and his brother (actor Dick Yarmy) were each raised in the religion of one parent: Don in the Catholic faith of their mother, and Dick in the Jewish faith of their father.

Dropping out of New York City's DeWitt Clinton High School, Adams worked as a theater usher. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1941 together with his twin-brother cousins, William and Robert Karvelas. The three were assigned to the Third Marines in Samoa until Adams was sent as a replacement to the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he was the only survivor of his platoon. His survival, despite his company's near 90% fatality rate, was due to his contracting blackwater fever early in the campaign. He was evacuated to New Zealand and spent over a year there, in a Navy hospital in Wellington. After his recovery, he served as a Marine drill instructor in the United States.

Following his discharge, Adams held a series of jobs. During a Canadian television interview, he said that he had faked college credentials and an engineering background to be hired as an engineer designing underground sewers. His lack of training was not discovered for six months.

He later worked as a comic, taking the stage name of Adams after marrying singer Adelaide (Dell) Efantis, who performed as Adelaide Adams. They had four daughters, and Adams also worked as a commercial artist and restaurant cashier to help support his family. When they divorced, he kept Adams as his stage name because acting auditions were often held in alphabetical order.