Actor Stacy Keach dies in Poland at 85 — The Guardian

American actor Stacy Keach, best known for playing private detective Mike Hammer in the television series, has died in Poland at the age of 85. This was reported by The Guardian.

The actor’s wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, said that he died at home in Magdalenka on Tuesday after a long battle with serious heart disease and heart failure. In 2017, Keach suffered a heart attack on stage in Chicago during a performance of the one-man show Pamplona, dedicated to Ernest Hemingway.

The role of Mike Hammer

Keach played the hard-boiled private detective Mike Hammer, a character created by writer Mickey Spillane. The role became the best known of his television career. The actor also appeared in the films Fat City, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, American History X, Nebraska and The Bourne Legacy.

Keach received a Golden Globe for portraying Ernest Hemingway in a six-hour miniseries. He also played King Lear, Hamlet and Richard III on stage, and was nominated for a Tony Award on Broadway for his role as Buffalo Bill in the play Indians.

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Theater, imprisonment and return to work

Keach studied at the University of California, Berkeley, the Yale School of Drama and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he was a Fulbright scholar. After completing his studies, he began his career on the New York stage.

In 1984, the actor was arrested at London Heathrow Airport for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the United Kingdom. He was sentenced to nine months in prison, but Keach was released after six months. After that, he spoke at colleges and rehabilitation centers, warning about drug addiction, and testified before the U.S. Congress about his own experience.

Keach’s final role was as the father of a character played by George Clooney in the film Jay Kelly. He is survived by his wife and two children, Shannon and Karolina.