Stacy Keach, Star of «Mike Hammer» and Stage and Film Actor, Dies at 85
Actor Stacy Keach, best known for playing private eye Mike Hammer on television and for films including «Fat City» and «Nebraska», has died at 85 after a long battle with heart disease.
Stacy Keach, the stage, film and television actor best known for playing the private detective Mike Hammer, has died at the age of 85. His wife, Małgosia Tomassi, announced the death. Keach had been battling a heart condition for a long time, and the illness led to heart failure.
Sources disagree on the exact day of his death. Some reports say he died on Monday, while Variety reported that it occurred on Tuesday in Poland. The exact location and circumstances of his death remain unclear from the information currently available, and the discrepancy in dates has not been resolved in the reporting so far.
Keach built his reputation on the stage and in film long before he became a household name on television. He was established as a serious performer through his Hamlet work, the kind of classical stage role that signaled a career rooted in theater rather than screen celebrity. Early in his career he missed out on several major film roles, a setback that did not stop him from finding steady work across theater, television and movies. His film credits included «Fat City» and «Nebraska», two projects that showed a different register from the hard-edged characters he played on television.
His most recognizable television role came as the private eye Mike Hammer in the CBS series, a part that drew on the tough, hard-boiled detective tradition associated with the crime novels that inspired the character. He returned to the role in the later revival, «The New Mike Hammer», extending a character he had made his own over the years. He also starred in «Titus», and later took a recurring role on the long-running drama «Blue Bloods». He appeared in «Prison Break» as well, adding another credit to a television career that spanned several decades.
The range of his work, from classical stage productions to crime drama and prestige film, is what defined his career. Keach moved between the stage, cinema and television for decades, and his death closes a career that connected serious theater with the tough-guy detective roles that made him familiar to American audiences. Reporting on his death remains based on the announcement from his wife and on the outlets that have confirmed the broad outline of his career.
Source: deadline.com
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