Kiss Me Deadly

MICKEY SPILLANE
March 9, 1918 - July 17, 2006

Pulp writer Mickey Spillane wielded prose like a blunt instrument in the violent crime novels that made the Brooklyn-born former fighter pilot one of the most widely-read American authors of the 1950s and '60s. Spillane's best-known... more character, private eye Mike Hammer, was first conceived as a comic book gumshoe named Mike Danger, but rejection of the comic prompted Spillane to retool his tough hero for a novel, "I, the Jury," written in six days. Hammer was a brutal contrast to most fictional sleuths of the day, and Spillane's emphasis on sex and violence were key hallmarks of his Hammer novels, which spawned numerous movie adaptations. They include the classic 1955 film noir, "Kiss Me Deadly," and the more curious 1963 thriller "The Girl Hunters," in which Spillane himself was cast as Hammer. Reviled by critics throughout his life, Spillane claimed, "If the public likes you, you're good."

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