Hammer series is one of the highly appreciated series in the category of private eye detectives and he is famous with the name Mike Hammer. Mike Hammer is actually a fictional character created by Mickey Spillane. Mike Hammer or Michael Hammer was introduced by the American Author in the year 1947 in his famous series “I, The Jury” inspired by the former Newburgh, new York law enforcement officer Jack Stang.
The character was very well appreciated by the readers and so it was also brought up in a movie, as well. Not just a movie, but Mike Hammer was initiated on radio and television, as well to raise the character popularity. Stacy Keach portrayed Mike Hammer in a television series named as “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” which was aired from the year 1984 to 1987.
Introduction
Mike Hammer is a tough guy to handle and usually resolves the matters violently, but one thing that he sticks to every time is not being a kind to manipulate the law. Usually, the fictional characters are shown being tied with the law, especially while chasing criminals or while getting any evidence that can link them to the case.
Mike Hammer respects the law, but he has his own way of solving the cases and then infiltrating into the case deeply so as to grab hold of the criminals. This way is generally not accepted by other fictional private detectives and this is what makes Mike Hammer a well accepted private detective character.
Mike Hammer always carries a handgun under his left side of the shoulder. This handgun is .45 Colt M1911 which the anti communist and nationalistic character calls Betsy. Mike has a best friend named Pat Chambers who is actually the Captain of Homicide and a secretary Welda who loves the way Mike exterminates the criminals.
Radio and Television Series
With the increasing popularity of the character Mike Hammer, a radio series was written by Ed Adamson. This series was aired from January to October, 1953 and was greatly cherished by listeners. The title of the series was “That Hammer Guy” starring Larry Haines as Mike Hammer and Jan Miner in the female voice. The show was directed by Richard Lewis and became one of the most appreciated series on radio.
Similarly, the television series was also commenced with the name “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer”, but these series were developed starring Darren McGavin from 1958 to 1960 and then Stacy Keach from January 1984 to June 1998.
Novels and Movies
Mickey Spillane’s character Mike Hammer was initiated in different novels on which movies were also featured. Some of these novels are The Jury, My Gun is Quick, The big Kill, One lonely night, Black Alley, Survival Zero, The snake, The Twisted Thing and The Goliath Bone to name a few. Based on these novels, several movies were also filmed like The Jury, Kiss me Deadly, Margin for Murder and Come Die with me starring Biff Elliot, Ralph Meeker, Kevin Dobson and Rob Estes, respectively.
A comic strip was also introduced for the lovers of Hammer series and this way, the character increased its popularity among the viewers, readers and listeners.
