Kovacs was killed in a car accident in Los Angeles during the early morning hours of January 13, 1962, 10 days shy of his 43rd birthday. Kovacs, who had worked for much of the evening, met his wife Edie Adams at a baby shower given by Billy Wilder for Milton Berle and his wife, who had recently adopted a newborn baby boy, William. The couple left the party in separate cars. After a lull in a southern California rainstorm, Kovacs lost control of his Chevrolet Corvair station wagon while turning quickly and crashed into a power pole at the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards in Beverly Hills. He was thrown halfway out the passenger side and died almost instantly from chest and head injuries.