Mickey Spillane passes away at age 88...

[Joeaksa]

Mystery writer Mickey Spillane dies
'This is an income-generating job'

Monday, July 17, 2006; Posted: 6:23 p.m. EDT (22:23 GMT)

Mickey Spillane, wrote his first Mike Hammer novel 60 years ago.

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- Mickey Spillane, the macho mystery writer who wowed millions of readers with the shoot-'em-up sex and violence of gumshoe Mike Hammer, died Monday. He was 88.

Spillane's death was confirmed by Brad Stephens of Goldfinch Funeral Home in his hometown of Murrells Inlet. Details about his death were not immediately available.

After starting out in comic books Spillane wrote his first Mike Hammer novel, "I, the Jury," in 1946. Twelve more followed, with sales topping 100 million. Notable titles included "The Killing Man," "The Girl Hunters" and "One Lonely Night."

Many of these books were made into movies, including the classic film noir "Kiss Me, Deadly" and "The Girl Hunters," in which Spillane himself starred. Hammer stories were also featured on television in the series "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer" and in made-for-TV movies. In the 1980s, Spillane appeared in a string of Miller Lite beer commercials

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http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/books/07/17/spillane.ap/index.html

[Dixie]

Damn. I'm gonna miss him...

[fastpat]

Jeez, I was just down there this weekend, Murrells Inlet and Pawley's Island and the whole area.

Didn't hear a squawk about his health state, probably a reason for that.

Interesing guy, and even more interesting is the story about how he came to live in South Carolina.

[techweenie]

Originally posted by fastpat
Interesing guy, and even more interesting is the story about how he came to live in South Carolina.

Does it involve Lew Rockwell?

Pretty cool guy. Just watched "Kiss me Deadly" over the weekend. That sucker is due for a remake. I'm thinking Michael Madsen as Mike Hammer.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by techweenie
Does it involve Lew Rockwell?

Pretty cool guy. Just watched "Kiss me Deadly" over the weekend. That sucker is due for a remake. I'm thinking Michael Madsen as Mike Hammer.

He reiterated the story on Carson Show years ago. He was in the Air Force and had engine trouble in his P-51. He initiated a successful emergency landing on the beach near Murrells Inlet. While he was waiting for his ride back to base, possibly Myrtle Beach Air Force Base or Shaw Air Force base further inland, he was wined and dined by the locals who tended to be quite colorful, and still do. He decided right then, he says, to come back and buy a place. At first it was a vacation retreat, then he moved there full time, I don't remember what year he said.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Spillane

[Joeaksa]

By John Meroney
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, August 22, 2001; Page C01

MURRELLS INLET, S.C.-- For a man who has the reputation as the toughest tough guy in all of mystery fiction, Mickey Spillane really isn't all that hard-boiled after all.

These days, at age 83, the writer of the classic 1947 detective novel "I, the Jury," containing the famous line by gun-wielding private eye Mike Hammer, "I'm the jury now, and the judge, and . . . I sentence you to death," is more obsessed with justice than vengeance.

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But selling books wasn't the only area where Spillane cornered the market. He is the only mystery writer to portray his sleuth on film: 1963's "The Girl Hunters" has Spillane outfitted in a trench coat and porkpie hat, playing opposite Shirley Eaton in a screenplay based on his book. During the '70s, Spillane went a step further and appeared in TV commercials for Miller Lite, parodying his reputation and helping make a name for the new beer. One spot, shot film noir style, showed Spillane in his office on a rainy night, pounding out his next bestseller on a manual typewriter. The story heard in his voice-over: "Chapter 9. I kicked in the door and shouted 'Freeze!' to the lone figure in the room. Even in the dark I could see she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever met. Then I saw a Lite Beer from Miller. 'It's got a third less calories than a regular beer, and it's less filling,' she whispered. 'But the best thing is it tastes so great.' Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place and I knew I'd come to the end of a long, long road. She poured. We drank. To be continued."

Spillane never really wrote sex scenes; he wrote about sexuality in a way that was unapologetically sensual and often seemed more provocative than the act itself. In "I, the Jury," it's all in the line of duty: "She was making no attempt to keep the negligee on. . . . I wondered how she got her tan. There were no strap marks anywhere. She uncrossed her legs deliberately and squirmed like an overgrown cat, letting the light play with the ripply muscles in her naked thighs. . . . I was only human. I bent over her, taking her mouth on mine. . . . She quivered under my hands wherever I touched her. . . . My hand fastened on the hem of her negligee and with one motion flipped it open, leaving her body lean and bare. She let my eyes search every inch of her brown figure. I grabbed my hat and jammed it on my head. 'It must be your sister who has the birthmark,' I told her as I rose. 'See you later.' "

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A43815-2001Aug21&notFound=true

[Tobra]

I need to read that stuff again.

Madsen would be okay as Mike Hammer, always thought Mickey was a bit short for it. Would not surprise me if they picked someone stupid for it, like Keanu or Leonardo di Caprio.

[gaijindabe]

Is he the old boy who played Elaine's Dad on Seinfeld?

[onlycafe]

that was lawrence tierney, a very tough looking guy who played dillenger in the mid forties. he would have been a terrific mike hammer.

[pwd72s]

It's sad when the creator of a pulp hero dies. My favorite pulp hero? John D.MacDonald's Travis McGee. Man, what a pair he & Mike Hammer would have made...