Maxwell Smart

"Sorry about that Chief."

-Maxwell Smart

Maxwell Smart
Agent 86 with his shoephone.
First Get Smart Appearance	Mr. Big
Additional Episodes	all
Affiliation	CONTROL
Gender	Male
Family	Agent 99, (wife) Uncle Abner (uncle) Aunt Bertha (aunt) unnamed twins (children)
Defeated by	Undefeated
Famous Quote	"Would you believe...?"

Maxwell Smart, agent 86, is CONTROL's top spy, despite the fact that he's screwed up on most of his missions. He was played by Don Adams in the 1960's original series.

Description

As a spy, much of his personal information must be considered classified, which is why there's so little of it. Physically, Max is 5'9" and weighs 150 pounds. His salary as a CONTROL agent is $35,000. He was born in 1930 in Washington, D.C. and delivered by Dr. Linquist. The exact date is unclear, but since his Zodiac sign is Scorpio, it must be between October 22nd and November 22nd. Max was raised in Washington and considers himself a "city boy."

Family

Little is known about Max's family. He has an Aunt Bertha and Uncle Abner, who are the only relatives of his that have ever been shown. Other relatives that are mentioned are Uncle Harry and Aunt Rose, cousin Harvey the cab driver, and another cousin who sells used cars. His mother is still alive because he sends her $15 a week. Max also has/had a brother, because he once locked Max in a closet for three hours. He went into the Army and served in the Korean War, where he reached the rank of corporal. His best friend from the Army is Sid Krimm.

Career in CONTROL

Max has never done anything other than spy, as he was recruited right out of college by CONTROL as a "bonus baby spy." He joined CONTROL to "fight the forces of evil and serve on the side of niceness." Besides, he needed the money.He wasn't a big success at spy school, failing Torture three straight years. He also failed out of Spy Music School. Somehow, he graduated and became a full-fledged agent, though within two weeks of his start the Chief had become bald. As a spy, Max was an unqualified success. He won the Spy of the Year Award in two straight years (1965 & 1966). He also was voted "one of the ten best dressed spies." That probably led to his posing for Popular Espionage Magazine. He also was hired to endorse the Handy-Dandy Pocket Decoder for True Impossible Spy Stories Monthly. Max is also in charge of CONTROL's Medical Security Division. Max's idol was Herb Gaffer, the legendary Agent 4. Like his idol, Max keeps a diary with accounts of all of his exploits.For hobbies, Max plays poker every Saturday night, or he did when he was a bachelor. He also enjoys chess with the Chief, plays the bongos, and likes scuba diving. Max played on CONTROL's baseball and bowling teams and also organizes the Spy Frolics every year. He smokes cigarettes and enjoys liquor. He likes to have a Gibson before dinner every night. Max has an impressive knowlege of languages, speaking French, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese, and Swahili. He is a trained karate expert and holds the CONTROL Spy School's gold medal in the high jump. Max lives in Apartment #86 in an unidentified building in Washington, D.C. His landlady is Harriet Doodeley. Among his neighbors are Mrs. Dawson and the Farkas'. His apartment is extremely neat, with every personal item in its own drawer. Max's big weakness occurs during the night. He has to sleep with the light on because he's scared of gollywoggles. In fact, the only thing that scares him more than gollywoggles is lightning. To help him sleep, Max has a teddy bear. Though Max fancies himself a ladies man, he is rarely seen playing the field. From the moment he began working with 99, there was an attraction between them. It took years and a near-death experience for Max to realize the depths of his feelings and propose to 99. Once married, Max is a typical jealous husband who would never entertain the thought of cheating on 99.

2008 Film

Max (Steve Carell) with 99 (Anne Hathaway)

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), an analyst employed by the spy agency CONTROL, has always hoped to be promoted to a be Field Operative, but despite his scoring extremely well on the Field Operative test, the Chief of CONTROL (Alan Arkin) decides not to promote him because Max is more valuable in his current duties. After Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson) returns to CONTROL headquarters from a successful mission, Max steps out, disappointed, and accidentally bumps into a woman jogger. He returns to H.Q. to discover that enemy agents, sent by KAOS operative Siegfried (Terence Stamp), have penetrated CONTROL and have destroyed its interior. He finds the woman that he had bumped into is actually Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway); unfortunately, when Max and Agent 99 encounter apparent intruders in the wrecked base, Max fails to recognize them as fellow CONTROL agents and inadvertently attacks the Chief. Afterward, it is discovered that the perpetrators have stolen CONTROL's Agent files, thus exposing and assassinating many CONTROL agents around the world.

As a result of the all CONTROL field agents faces being exposed, the Chief promotes Max to Field Operative and partners him with Agent 99 (she had extensive plastic surgery recently done, so her face is unknown to KAOS). Their mission: to find out who has been supplying nuclear weapons to KAOS. Max and Agent 99 travel to Russia to take down the arms dealer who's in charge, and learn that a Moscow bakery is actually a front for a nuclear weapons factory. Max goes in undercover to try and buy nuclear weapons from Siegfried. Siegfried, however, is well aware that Max is from CONTROL and that Agent 99 is hiding in the air vents. Siegfried orders his number-two man (and brother-in-law) Schtarker (Ken Davitian) to kill Max, but Max incapacitates Schtarker and then places charges around the factory to bury the warheads under the rubble. While trying to escape, Max and Agent 99 run into Siegfried's giant bodyguard Dalip. Both 99 and Max are quickly disarmed by the giant's superior strength, and Max is tossed about like a rag doll. As Dalip choke-lifts 99 off the ground with ease, Max recovers his pistol but instead of shooting Dalip he uses his knowledge of KAOS operatives to successfully befriend him by offering Dalip advice on his marriage. Afterward, the three escape the exploding building. The Chief sends Agent 23 to oversee the clean-up of the factory, but he reports no evidence of nuclear weapons. Max is suspected of being a double agent and is detained in a holding cell.

Meanwhile, Siegfried makes a threat to blow up Los Angeles. When the Vice President--who has a longstanding grudge with the Chief--ignores the threat, the Chief, 99 and 23 go to Los Angeles to try to persuade the President of the United States (James Caan) to respond. To establish their credibility, KAOS rigs a nuclear bomb at a symphony concert to kill the President. Receiving a tip-off from Dalip via a commercial radio broadcast, Max escapes from custody, equips himself with vintage CONTROL equipment, and travels to Los Angeles to tell the Chief of the KAOS plot. The Chief decides that this effort proves that Max has been loyal all along, and they set out to find the bomb. The Secret Service claims that there is no bomb as they have checked the area in preparation for the President's arrival. When Agent 23 suggests that there is no bomb, Max suspects that Agent 23 is a double agent, a notion quickly confirmed when Max's Geiger counter watch detects radioactivity from Agent 23.

Agent 23, realizing his cover is blown, takes Agent 99 hostage and flees with the briefcase holding the bomb's remote detonator; Max and the Chief pursue Agent 99's car in a plane. In the ensuing chase, Max frees Agent 99 and narrowly avoids death by an oncoming train, which kills Agent 23 and destroys the remote detonator, preventing CONTROL from disarming the nuclear weapon. Max realizes from Siegfried's past comments that the bomb will be triggered by the last note of the piece "Ode to Joy". They make a dash to the concert hall, and Max tackles the conductor just before the musicians play the final note. The orchestra stops and the audience applauds both Max and the conductor for a marvelous performance.

Actors

• Don Adams - The TV series, The Nude Bomb and Get Smart, Again! (and "Get Smart")
• Steve Carell - Get Smart (2008)