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Stacy Keach dead at 85 as ‘Mike Hammer’ star’s wife shares emotional tribute
Confirmed
In Short: Actor Stacy Keach, known for his role as Mike Hammer, died at home in Poland.
Actor Stacy Keach passed away at the age of 85 on Tuesday, according to his wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, who shared the news in a statement.
Keach had been battling a serious heart condition and heart failure for a long time.
Keach first portrayed Mike Hammer in the 1983 CBS telefilm 'Murder Me, Murder You,' which led to a series titled 'The New Mike Hammer,' running for four seasons.
Keach's career spanned several decades, with roles in Broadway plays, films, and television.
Keach also starred in notable films such as 'The New Centurions,' 'Fat City,' and 'Up in Smoke,' and provided the voice of the villain Phantasm in the animated feature 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.'
In addition to his acting career, Keach was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.
Actor Lou Diamond Phillips, who worked with Keach on the 2008 TV movie 'Lone Rider,' praised him as a 'consummate actor, gracious, giving and incredibly kind.'
Keach's wife, Malgosia, expressed her profound sadness, stating, '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.'
What's confirmed
- Keach died at home in Magdalenka, Poland, “after a long and difficult battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure,” his wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, said in a statement.
- After the original run in the role ended with 1989's Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All, Keach reprised the role for the revival series, Mike Hammer, Private Eye, which aired from 1997 to 1998.
- Keach appeared in several Broadway, Off Broadway and local shows during the 1960s, often in Shakespeare plays, and earned a Best Actor Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award for playing Buffalo Bill in the 1970 play Indians.
What's still developing
- Other notable credits for Keach include the lead of “Exorcist” creator William Peter Blatty’s horror oddity “ The Ninth Configuration ” (1980), the voice of the mysterious villain Phantasm in the classic superhero animated feature “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” (1993), and the Bakersfield-loving father to George Clooney’s movie star in “ Jay Kelly ” (2025).
- Throughout his prolific career, Keach co-starred in a wide range of projects from movies The New Centurions, the John Huston-directed Fat City, and two Cheech and Chong films, Up in Smoke (1978) and Nice Dreams (1981).
- Keach rose to fame in the '60s after getting his start on Broadway before pivoting to film in the '70s -- starring alongside Faye Dunaway in "Doc."
- But Keach “was always seduced back into Mike Hammer’s world of stone cold violence and hot and heavy sex,” he wrote.
- Keach’s run as the private detective got off to a rocky start off screen, however.
- Stacy Keach participates in the “Crowded” panel at the NBCUniversal Winter TCA on Jan.
- Keach had previously suffered a heart attack onstage in Chicago in June 2017.
Sources
- ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos link
- Comic Book Resources link
- ComicBook.com link
- Deadline link
- Fox News link
- IndieWire link
- LiveNOW from FOX link
- Page Six link
- Rolling Stone link
- TMZ link
- The Hollywood Reporter link
- The Seattle Times link
- Variety link
- niagara-gazette.com link
- Multicom Entertainment / YouTube — video link