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In Remembrance: Mickey Spillane
Born on March 9, 1918 in Brooklyn, NY, Spillane grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He started writing while in high school and almost immediately upon graduation found himself selling short stories to both the “pulps” like Dime Detective and the “slicks” like Collier’s. He attended Fort Hays State University in Kansas for three years before heading to New York where he landed a job at Funnies, Inc., working as a scriptwriter- assistant editor. Spillane enlisted in the Army the day after Pearl Harbor and served as a cadet flight instructor in Florida and Mississippi, rising to the rank of captain.
Following the war, Spillane found he needed a $1,000.00 for a land purchase near Newburgh, NY and decided that writing a novel featuring a rough and tumble private eye was the answer. In just a few short weeks, Spillane hammered out of his typewriter I, The Jury, the first of his many Mike Hammer novels. Although it was panned by its critics for its then scandalous level of sex and violence, the book proved to be hugely popular with post-War readers. Despite some outcry from the clergy and the literati set over the contents of his books, he continued to be a best selling author, writing over a dozen more Mike Hammer books over his career. He never let the critical brickbats bother him, stating on more than one occasion, “If the public likes you, you’re good.”
For the 1954 mystery Ring Of Fear, Spillane appeared as himself, hired by circus owner Clyde Beatty, also playing himself, to investigate a series of mysterious deaths. Accompanying Spillane on his investigation was an unnamed tough guy played by Jack Stang, who seemed to be modeled closely on the Hammer character. The movie was produced by John Wayne’s Wayne-Fellows Productions company and after having done an uncredited rewrite on the film’s script, Wayne sent Spillane the gift of a brand new Jaguar sports car.
One of the best Hammer adaptations came in 1955 when director Robert Aldrich adapted Kiss Me Deadly with Ralph Meeker as the two-fisted detective. Although filmed in less than three weeks, the Kefauver Commission – a special Senate Committee designed to investigate perceived corrupting influences in culture – singled the film out as the number one threat to American youth. The accusations lead Aldrich to start a campaign for the freedom of speech rights of filmmakers.
In 1963, Spillane donned Mike Hammer’s wrinkled overcoat and battered hat to play the detective in the film The Girls Hunters opposite future Bond-girl Shirley Eaton. In doing so he became the only mystery writer to ever portray his own creation on film. Spillane made two more film appearances in 1995’s Mommy and its 1997 sequel Mommy II: Mother’s Day.
Spillane would only see two more film adaptations of his books – 1970’s The Delta Factor and a 1982 remake of I, The Jury with Armand Assante as Mike Hammer. The 1980s and 90s would see Stacey Keach take on the roll of Mike Hammer for a series of made for TV movies which would segue into two television series.
In total, Spillane wrote 53 books. In 1995 he was awarded the Mystery Writers Association’s Grand Master for Lifetime Achievement award. |
Mickey Spillane, the writer who created the hard-boiled detective
Mike Hammer and even appeared as Hammer in a 1963 film adaptation of
one of his books, has passed away on July 17, 2006 in Murrells
Inlet, SC. He was 88.
Spillane’s popularity with readers did not go unnoticed by
Hollywood, who soon came calling on the author with offers to adapt
his books. The first Spillane adaptation to hit the big screen was
1953’s I, The Jury featuring Biff Elliot as Mike Hammer. The
film was fairly unremarkable with its only interesting featuring
being that it was produced in 3-D. An adaptation of a non-Mike
Hammer novel, The Long Wait, followed in 1954.