Mickey Spillane

Mickey Spillane (1918–2006) was an American crime novelist and actor, best known for creating hard-boiled private investigator Mike Hammer.

Connect

Mike Hammer: A hard-boiled private investigator created by Mickey Spillane and featured in a series of crime novels. Hammer is Spillane’s defining creation and the central figure in his best-known books.
I, the Jury: Mickey Spillane’s 1947 debut novel, in which private investigator Mike Hammer pursues the killer of a friend. This first Hammer novel established Spillane’s commercial formula and introduced the character.
Max Allan Collins: An American crime novelist and comic-book writer who continued the Mike Hammer series with permission from Spillane’s estate. Collins completed and published unfinished Hammer manuscripts after Spillane’s death.
Film noir: A style of crime film associated with fatalism, moral ambiguity, and expressive shadowy cinematography. The film adaptation of Kiss Me, Deadly reworks Spillane’s story through noir conventions.
Hardboiled fiction: A crime-fiction genre marked by tough, morally complex investigators and unsentimental depictions of violence. Spillane’s novels became a defining popular expression of this genre.
Kiss Me, Deadly: Mickey Spillane’s 1952 novel about Mike Hammer’s pursuit of a mysterious woman and a deadly secret. Its violent plot and apocalyptic stakes represent Spillane’s most influential Hammer fiction.
Robert Aldrich: An American film director whose credits include the 1955 adaptation of Kiss Me, Deadly. Aldrich transformed Spillane’s novel into a landmark film noir with a markedly altered ending.
Kiss Me Deadly (film): A 1955 film noir directed by Robert Aldrich and loosely adapted from Mickey Spillane’s novel. Its altered plot and ending diverge sharply from Spillane’s original novel.
Private investigator: A person hired to investigate matters independently of official law-enforcement agencies. Hammer belongs to the fictional private-eye tradition Spillane helped popularize.
My Gun Is Quick: A 1950 Mickey Spillane novel featuring Mike Hammer investigating the death of a young woman. The novel extends the early Hammer series that made Spillane a best-selling crime writer.