Mike Hammer

Mike Hammer is a fictional American detective created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury (made into a 1953 movie). Several movies and radio and TV series have been based on the books about Mike Hammer. The actor most closely identfied with the character in recent years has been Stacy Keach, who portrayed Hammer in a CBS television series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, which ran 1984-1987 and had a syndicated revival in 1997-1998. (An earlier syndicated version, originally aired 1957-1958, starred Darren McGavin as Hammer.) Spillane himself played Hammer in a 1963 motion picture adaptation of The Girl Hunters.

Related Topics:
Detective - Mickey Spillane - 1947 - I, the Jury - 1953 - Movie - Radio - TV - Stacy Keach - CBS - Television series - Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer - 1984 - 1987 - Syndicated - 1997 - 1998 - 1957 - 1958 - Darren McGavin - 1963

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While pulp detectives such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe are hard-boiled and cynical, Hammer is in many ways the prototypical "hard man": he is brutally violent, misogynistic, borderline corrupt, and fueled by a genuine rage that never afflicts Chandler or Hammett's heroes. While other noir heroes bend and manipulate the law, Hammer holds it in total contempt, seeing as nothing more than an impediment in the way of real justice. In short, he is one of the best examples in detective fiction of the antihero.

Related Topics:
Pulp - Sam Spade - Philip Marlowe - Misogynistic - Chandler - Hammett - Noir - Law - Justice - Detective fiction - Antihero

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