Actor Stacy Keach, known for playing Hammer, Hamlet and Hemingway, dead at 85
Nov 10 -
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Keach → know → 85
Actor Stacy Keach, who portrayed rugged characters such as fictional detective Mike Hammer and legendary American novelist Ernest Hemingway, died on Tuesday at the age of 85, his wife said in a statement to Hollywood trade publication Variety.
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wife → portray → Variety
Keach died in Poland "after a long and difficult battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure," Malgosia Tomassi said in a statement to Variety.
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Tomassi → die → Variety
“Stacy was not only a legendary actor, admired and loved by audiences the world over, but also my beloved husband, my companion and the heart of our family,” Tomassi said.
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Tomassi → admire → family
Keach stood out in dozens of starring and character actor parts on television and in films in roles as diverse as Barabbas (the TV miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth") and Richard Nixon (the play "Frost/Nixon").
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Keach → stand → Nazareth
He also had a busy stage career, often starring in Shakespearean works such as "King Lear" and "Hamlet."
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He → have → Lear
His performance as the latter in 1972 inspired a New York Times critic to label Keach "the finest American classic actor since John Barrymore.
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performance → inspire → Barrymore
Keach's most prominent role was Mike Hammer, the hard-boiled detective, clad in fedora and trenchcoat, in television adaptations of the works of suspense writer Mickey Spillane.
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role → clothe → Spillane
"The New Mike Hammer" ran from the mid to late 1980s and Keach revived the character in the "Mike Hammer, Private Eye" series from 1997-98.
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Keach → run → 1997
He also played Hammer in four made-for-television movies and narrated audio versions of Spillane's books.
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He → play → books
I have been and always shall be Mike Hammer," Keach wrote in his 2013 autobiography, "All in All: An Actor's Life on and off the Stage."
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Keach → write → Stage
He added, "Certain roles stick to you and I'm happy that Hammer is mine."
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Hammer → add → you
The first Hammer series was interrupted when Keach went to prison for six months in England in 1985 after more than 30 grams of cocaine were found in his possessions at London's Heathrow Airport.
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grams → interrupt → Airport
In his book he said he had been addicted and in 2013 Keach told Fox News that getting caught "saved my life, actually."
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caught → say → life
Keach had a history with Hemingway, the complex Nobel Prize-winning author and adventurer.
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Keach → have → Hemingway
His portrayal of the writer in "Hemingway" in the 1988 television miniseries earned him a Golden Globe award and an Emmy nomination.
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portrayal → earn → award
Keach was born June 2, 1941, in Savannah, Georgia, and grew up in Southern California.
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Keach → bear → California
As a child he underwent several surgeries for a cleft lip and cleft palate.
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he → undergo → lip
"Only when I was maligned and teased by kids did it bother me," Keach told Fox News.
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Keach → malign → News
"I became an overachiever as a result of that.
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I → become → that
I had to excel in sports to make up for that.
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I → have → that
It gave me an incentive to do better.
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It → give → incentive
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For some roles the scar on his lip was concealed by a mustache but in a 2016 interview with the Cleft Palate Foundation Keach said he preferred to let it show when he was in a tough-guy role, such as a mobster, or playing a vulnerable character.
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he → conceal → character
Keach's father, Stacy Sr., was a director and actor who worked steadily in television from the 1950s through the '80s.
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who → work → 80s
Keach graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and also studied at the Yale School of Drama and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
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Keach → graduate → Music
In the foreword of "All in All," actor Alec Baldwin described Keach as "a miraculous hybrid of the hyper-masculinity of a Brando or Robert Mitchum and the classical training of Richard Burton or Kevin Kline."
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Baldwin → describe → Burton
Keach's movie work included John Huston's "Fat City," "The New Centurions," "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," "American History X," "The Long Riders" with his brother, "That Championship Season," and the Cheech and Chong comedies "Up in Smoke" and "Nice Dreams."
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work → include → Smoke
His regular television roles included "Titus," "Prison Break" and "Two and a Half Men."
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roles → include → Titus
On Broadway he starred in "Other Desert Cities" in 2011-2012, "The Kentucky Cycle" and "Solitary Confinement" in the '90s and "Deathtrap" in the '70s.
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he → star → 70s
Keach suffered an apparent heart attack on stage in May 2017 on opening night of "Pamplona," a one-man play about Hemingway in his later years, that forced the cancellation of the show's run.
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that → suffer → run
He also suffered a mild stroke in 2009 during a run of "Frost/Nixon" but returned to the stage 10 days later.
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He → suffer → stage
Keach is survived by Tomassi, a Polish-born actress who appeared with him in various "Hammer" shows.
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who → survive → shows
He was married three times previously and had a yearslong relationship with singer Judy Collins in the '70s.
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He → marry → 70s
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