Stacy Keach, 'Mike Hammer' Star and Stage Veteran, Dies at 85

Stacy Keach, the commanding actor who starred in CBS's "Mike Hammer" and John Huston's "Fat City," died Tuesday at his family's home in Magdalenka, Poland. He was 85.

His wife, Małgosia Tomassi, confirmed the death to Variety. In a statement, she said he died "after a long and difficult battle 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," the statement said. "His passing leaves an immeasurable emptiness in our lives. But his extraordinary spirit, his unforgettable voice and the love he gave so generously will remain with us forever."

What defined Keach's screen career?

Keach headlined "The New Mike Hammer" on CBS from 1984 to 1987. He reprised the detective role in the 1989 TV movie "Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All" and the syndicated series "Mike Hammer, Private Eye" in 1997-98. He also narrated the CNBC series "American Greed."

His film work spanned five decades. He played the over-the-hill boxer opposite Jeff Bridges in Huston's boxing drama "Fat City" (1972), starred with George C. Scott in "The New Centurions" (1972), and played Marine Col. Vincent Kane in the 1980 cult favorite "The Ninth Configuration." He appeared with his brother James Keach as Frank and Jesse James in "The Long Riders" (1980).

Later credits include "The Bourne Legacy," "Nebraska," Oliver Stone's "W" (2008), John Sayles' "Honeydripper" (2007) and "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" (2014). On television he had recurring roles in "Blue Bloods," as Cardinal Kevin Kearns, plus "ER," "Titus," "Two and a Half Men" and "Ray Donovan," and a voice role on "The Simpsons." His final role came in 2025 as the father of George Clooney's title character in "Jay Kelly."

How deep were his stage roots?

Very. Keach earned a Tony nomination in 1969 for playing Buffalo Bill in the Broadway production of Arthur Kopit's "Indians." He won two Obie Awards, the first in 1966 for the title role in Barbara Garson's Off Broadway anti-war satire "MacBird!," the second in 1972 for playing Hamlet. In 2010 he received a Helen Hayes Award for "King Lear" with Shakespeare Theater Co.

His Broadway record includes "Danton's Death" (1965), "The Caucasian Chalk Circle," a 1968 "King Lear" as Edmund, "Deathtrap" (1979), "Solitary Confinement" (1992) and "The Kentucky Cycle" (1993). He played Falstaff in "Henry IV" Parts I and II in 1968 and James Tyrone Jr. in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in 1971. He toured as the title role in "Barnum" in the early 1980s, played Nixon in the traveling "Frost/Nixon" in 2008-09, and was a founding member of L.A. Theatre Works.

What about his 1984 arrest?

In 1984, police arrested Keach at London's Heathrow Airport for cocaine possession. He pleaded guilty and served six months at Reading Prison. Because Keach narrated "Mike Hammer" in character, impressionist Rich Little substituted as narrator during his imprisonment. In a 2014 television interview, Keach called his prison time the low point of his life; a friendship with a priest there led to his conversion to Roman Catholicism. He earned an Emmy nomination in 1988 for playing the title author in "Ernest Hemingway."

Walter Stacy Keach Jr. was born in Savannah, Georgia, to actress Mary Cain and Stacy Keach Sr., an actor and drama teacher. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1963, earned a graduate degree at the Yale School of Drama and studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He is survived by his wife Małgosia Tomassi, whom he married in 1986, son Shannon, daughter Karolina and brother James Keach. His final screen appearance in "Jay Kelly" now stands as the closing credit of a six-decade career that moved freely between Shakespeare and network television.