David Ketchum

Ketchum was born on February 4, 1928, in Quincy, Illinois.^[2] He studied physics at UCLA and joined other UCLA students in entertaining military personnel around the world for the USO.^[3]

Ketchum had a radio program for seven years in San Diego, California.^[4] On television, he portrayed Counselor Spiffy in Camp Runamuck.^[1] He was also a regular on I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, playing the role of Mel Warshaw.^{[1]: 496-497}

In Get Smart, he played Agent 13, and was often seen in recurring jokes on the show hiding in unusual places such as mailboxes or fire hydrants.^[5] Ketchum reprised the role in the 1989 TV movie Get Smart Again as well as an episode of the 1995 revival of Get Smart on Fox. Ketchum also co-wrote one episode of the third season of the original series, titled "Classification: Dead."^[6] He also wrote scripts for other programs, including The Andy Griffith Show and Petticoat Junction.^[7]

In 1962, his comedy album The Long-Playing Tongue of Dave Ketchum was released. Billboard gave it a 4-star prefix for strong sales potential.^[8]

Films in which Ketchum appeared included Young Doctors in Love (1982) and The Other Sister (1999).^[2]

Ketchum married singer Louise Bryant in 1957 and had two daughters.^[9][10] He died of heart failure on August 10, 2025, in Thousand Oaks, California, at the age of 97. However, his death was not reported until August 22, 2025. ^[11][9]