Robert Karvelas (April 3, 1921 – December 5, 1991) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Larabee in the television series ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...

'' (1965–1970).

Biography

Karvelas was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with a

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother and grew up in

Charleroi, Pennsylvania Charleroi ( ) is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, along the Monongahela River, 21 miles south of Pittsburgh. Charleroi was settled by Walloons in 1890 and incorporated in 1891. The 2020 census recorded a population of 4,210. There has ...

.Turner Classic Movies
/ref> His mother was of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent and his father was of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

descent. His mother and

Don Adams Donald James Yarmy (April 13, 1923 – September 25, 2005), known professionally as Don Adams, was an American actor. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the television situation comedy ''Ge ...

' mother were sisters. Karvelas was a

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

champion while serving in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and later worked as a

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

. Wanting his cousin to remain close to him, Adams initially gave Karvelas several uncredited

bit parts In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisi ...

on ''Get Smart''. One such part was an assistant to the Chief, which would evolve into the character of Larabee. Karvelas actually ended up appearing in all five seasons of the show. The character "Larabee" would go on to have the distinction of being just as bumbling as Maxwell Smart, if not more so. In Episode 21, Season 5, Smart tells the Chief, "People ask if Larabee and I are related." Robert's character part, and his generally sweet, unassuming nature, enhanced the joviality of ''Get Smart''. After the cancellation of ''Get Smart'', Karvelas again joined his cousin Adams on the sitcom, ''The Partners'', which starred Adams and Rupert Crosse and co-starred

Dick Van Patten Richard Vincent Van Patten (December 9, 1928 – June 23, 2015) was an American actor, comedian, businessman, and animal welfare advocate, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He was best known for his role as patriarch Tom Brad ...

. The show was cancelled after one season. He continued to appear in small bit parts on television before dropping out of acting in 1976. He reprised the character of Larrabee in ''

The Nude Bomb ''The Nude Bomb'' (also known as ''The Return of Maxwell Smart'') is a 1980 American spy comedy film based on the 1965-70 television series ''Get Smart''. It stars Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed by Clive Donner. It was r ...

'' and ''

Get Smart, Again! ''Get Smart, Again!'' is a 1989 American made-for-television comedy film based on the 1965–1970 NBC/CBS sitcom ''Get Smart!'' starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon reprising their characters of Maxwell Smart and Agent 99. It originally aired Fe ...

'' Karvelas died in 1991 in Los Angeles and was buried at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administration ...

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1921 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American male actors American identical twin actors American male boxers American male comedy actors American male film actors American male television actors United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II American people of Greek descent American people of Irish descent American stockbrokers Boxers from New York (state) Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Identical twin male actors Male actors from New York City National Golden Gloves champions {{US-actor-stub