Classic TV Heroines: Barbara Feldon as Agent 99 in Get Smart

Missed it by that much.

Chaos, that is. The Cold War stayed cold largely due to the efforts of Agent 69, er, 99. (Would you believe the producers transposed the first digit in her name–the only one they ever gave her–because censors found the original too racy? Yep, it’s true.)

In a smoldering role designed to parody all those James Bond sex kittens, Barbara Feldon’s character–a spy for the freedom-fighting agency Control–was anything but ornamental.

In fact, whether her Bond-spoofing boss, Maxwell Smart (aka Agent 86 played by Don Adams), was bumbling with his shoe phone, going deaf in the Cone of Silence or simply trying to get his fountain pen to work, it was always the beautiful 99 who made sure he didn’t get 86-ed by the Craw–sorry, we meant Claw–or any other of the KAOS agency’s diabolicals.

And while the bufoonish Smart took the credit, everyone knows it was 99 who did all the work.

Actress: Barbara Feldon
Show: Get Smart
Character: Agent 99