Actor Stacy Keach, known for Mike Hammer, dies at 85
Stacy Keach died at his home in Poland at age 85 after a long battle with heart disease; he was celebrated for his stage work and his portrayal of private detective Mike Hammer.
Stacy Keach, an American actor renowned for his Shakespearean stage work and for playing private detective Mike Hammer on television, died on Tuesday at his residence in Magdalenka, Poland. His wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, said he succumbed to a serious heart condition and heart failure after a prolonged illness. Keach had previously suffered a heart attack while performing onstage in Chicago in 2017.
Keach’s career spanned theater, film and television. He earned a Golden Globe for portraying Ernest Hemingway in a six-hour miniseries, received a Tony Award nomination for his role as Buffalo Bill in the Broadway play “Indians,” and appeared in films such as “Nebraska” and “The Bourne Legacy.” On television he was known for “Mike Hammer,” as well as later roles on “Blue Bloods” and “Prison Break.”
In 1984, while filming the “Mike Hammer” series, Keach was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport for attempting to smuggle cocaine. He served six months in Reading Prison before returning to acting, with his first post-release role in the CBS movie “Intimate Strangers.” He later testified before Congress about drug addiction and spoke on the subject at schools and rehabilitation centers.
Colleagues remembered him as a versatile performer. Lou Diamond Phillips posted on X that Keach was a “consummate actor, gracious, giving and incredibly kind.”
Keach is survived by his wife, Malgosia Tomassi, and his daughters, Shannon and Karolina.