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Frank Morrison Spillane (March 9, 1918 – July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally. Spillane was also an occasional actor, once even playing Hammer himself.[1][2]
Mickey Spillane - Wikipedia
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For more clips like this, and a most enjoyable guide to pop culture, visit the blog for the NYC cult cable-access show Media Funhouse, located here: www.medi...
Thanks Maj Marty Hogan for letting us know that March 9 is the anniversary of the birth of American crime novelist Frank Morrison Spillane who was better known as Mickey Spillane, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer.
Rest in peace Mickey Spillane!
RIP, Mickey Spillane
"The last of the great tough-guy writers is gone. Mickey Spillane possessed none of the elegance of Chandler or Hammett, none of the plotting skills of James M. Cain, none of the demented genius that drove the Big Three Noir Gods (Woolrich, Thompson, and Goodis), but he sure wrote a damned good yarn. And his prose was addictive, no two ways about it. You could scoff at a sentence like "The sky burped and burped, and then threw up, and a new day began." (The Erection Set, which had an awesome early '70s babe-photo cover.) But there was no mistaking this kind of machine-gun prose:
The roar of the .45 shook the room., Charlotte staggered back a step. Her eyes were a symphony of incredulity, an unbelieving witness to the truth. Slowly, she looked down at the ugly swelling in her naked belly where the bullet went in. A thin trickle of blood welled out.... Her eyes had pain in them now, the pain preceding death. Pain and unbelief.
"How could you?" she gasped.
I only had a moment before talking to a corpse, but I got it in.
"It was easy," I said.
That was the end of his 1947 novel I, The Jury, the first of his Mike Hammer novels. Perhaps the Mick learned his trade all too well while toiling at Timely Comics (the company that eventually wound up being Marvel) -- whatever it was, he had the gift of machine-gun rat-a-tat-tatting out long crazy, discursive sentences that drew you in, no matter how much you resisted. Mike Hammer's friends and lovers all wound up dead (the reason Mike plugs the gal in the above passage is because she did in an old buddy of his); years before Ian Fleming kept disposing of James Bond's girlfriends, Spillane's readers always knew anyone who showed any affection for Mike -- outside of a stray newspaper dealer, cabbie, Pat Chambers the stock police detective, and the faithful secretary to end all faithful secretaries, Velda -- had to wind up dying a grisly death for which Mike could seek revenge. A man who recognized literary stylists on impact, the great god Terry Southern, said Mickey wrote "in a manner which made Malapart, Celine, and other high priests of the roman noir look like a bunch of pansies."
I had thought of offering a clip from Mick's work as Mike Hammer in the very so-so vanity project The Girl Hunters (1962), where the world found out his voice was a bit high for a hard-berled detective, but decided the above few minutes of clips from a latter-day Dick Cavett show (circa 1987) revealed more about him. Cavett was hosting a mystery-writers panel, and so Mick appears with Robert Parker (mustached gent), Evan Hunter (aka Ed McBain, checked jacket), and (no kidding) a nun who was writing decently selling mysteries at the time. Spillane is in top form, telling the tale of the immortal last line from Vengeance is Mine (he never i.d.s the book), talking about what Mike Hammer looked like, proudly reading his worst reviews, and giving credit where credit was due: plugging one of his favorite writers, the much-neglected Frederick Brown.
The "gritty" novelists of today can't hold a candle to this very canny wordsmith who wielded a manual typewriter as ruthlessly as his character did a .45. Farewell, Mick."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXPuJgDm3DM
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSG David Andrews Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. CPL Dave Hoover SGT Mark Halmrast SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright
Rest in peace Mickey Spillane!
RIP, Mickey Spillane
"The last of the great tough-guy writers is gone. Mickey Spillane possessed none of the elegance of Chandler or Hammett, none of the plotting skills of James M. Cain, none of the demented genius that drove the Big Three Noir Gods (Woolrich, Thompson, and Goodis), but he sure wrote a damned good yarn. And his prose was addictive, no two ways about it. You could scoff at a sentence like "The sky burped and burped, and then threw up, and a new day began." (The Erection Set, which had an awesome early '70s babe-photo cover.) But there was no mistaking this kind of machine-gun prose:
The roar of the .45 shook the room., Charlotte staggered back a step. Her eyes were a symphony of incredulity, an unbelieving witness to the truth. Slowly, she looked down at the ugly swelling in her naked belly where the bullet went in. A thin trickle of blood welled out.... Her eyes had pain in them now, the pain preceding death. Pain and unbelief.
"How could you?" she gasped.
I only had a moment before talking to a corpse, but I got it in.
"It was easy," I said.
That was the end of his 1947 novel I, The Jury, the first of his Mike Hammer novels. Perhaps the Mick learned his trade all too well while toiling at Timely Comics (the company that eventually wound up being Marvel) -- whatever it was, he had the gift of machine-gun rat-a-tat-tatting out long crazy, discursive sentences that drew you in, no matter how much you resisted. Mike Hammer's friends and lovers all wound up dead (the reason Mike plugs the gal in the above passage is because she did in an old buddy of his); years before Ian Fleming kept disposing of James Bond's girlfriends, Spillane's readers always knew anyone who showed any affection for Mike -- outside of a stray newspaper dealer, cabbie, Pat Chambers the stock police detective, and the faithful secretary to end all faithful secretaries, Velda -- had to wind up dying a grisly death for which Mike could seek revenge. A man who recognized literary stylists on impact, the great god Terry Southern, said Mickey wrote "in a manner which made Malapart, Celine, and other high priests of the roman noir look like a bunch of pansies."
I had thought of offering a clip from Mick's work as Mike Hammer in the very so-so vanity project The Girl Hunters (1962), where the world found out his voice was a bit high for a hard-berled detective, but decided the above few minutes of clips from a latter-day Dick Cavett show (circa 1987) revealed more about him. Cavett was hosting a mystery-writers panel, and so Mick appears with Robert Parker (mustached gent), Evan Hunter (aka Ed McBain, checked jacket), and (no kidding) a nun who was writing decently selling mysteries at the time. Spillane is in top form, telling the tale of the immortal last line from Vengeance is Mine (he never i.d.s the book), talking about what Mike Hammer looked like, proudly reading his worst reviews, and giving credit where credit was due: plugging one of his favorite writers, the much-neglected Frederick Brown.
The "gritty" novelists of today can't hold a candle to this very canny wordsmith who wielded a manual typewriter as ruthlessly as his character did a .45. Farewell, Mick."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXPuJgDm3DM
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSG David Andrews Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. CPL Dave Hoover SGT Mark Halmrast SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright
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Writing novels and then, playing lead role in a blockbuster movie on your own work is surreal and fulfilling. I imagine my work being made into a blockbuster movie someday. Excellent share Marty; inspiring piece. Thanks.
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Maj Marty Hogan
Good luck on the best seller list- when the movies start coming would like a first premier ticket CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana
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CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana
You got it Brother Marty; first premier ticket will have your name and invite. Thanks for wishing me well on my best sellers; I will send you signed copies of my publications as momentos. The time starts .... Now!
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