Actor Stacy Keach, best known for playing detective Mike Hammer, dies at 85

Actor Stacy Keach, best known for playing fictional detective Mike Hammer and portraying writer Ernest Hemingway, has died in Poland at the age of 85.

His wife, Malgosia Tomassi, confirmed his death in a statement to Variety, saying he died on Tuesday after a prolonged struggle with a serious heart condition and heart failure.

“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,” she said.

Keach built a wide-ranging career across television, film and theatre, taking on roles that included Barabbas in the television miniseries Jesus of Nazareth and former US president Richard Nixon in the play Frost/Nixon.

He was also a prominent stage performer, appearing in several Shakespearean productions, including King Lear and Hamlet. His performance in Hamlet in 1972 prompted a New York Times critic to describe him as “the finest American classic actor since John Barrymore”.

However, Keach became widely recognised for his portrayal of private investigator Mike Hammer, the tough, trench-coat-wearing detective created by suspense novelist Mickey Spillane. He played the character in The New Mike Hammer, which aired during the 1980s, and later returned to the role in Mike Hammer, Private Eye from 1997 to 1998.

Keach also portrayed Hammer in four television films and narrated audio editions of Spillane’s novels.