Stacy Keach, recognized as one of America’s exceptional stage actors, gained fame for his portrayal of the scruffy detective Mike Hammer on television. His career faced a significant setback when he was imprisoned in 1984 for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the UK. Keach passed away on Tuesday at the age of 85.
His wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, stated that he died at their home in Magdalenka, Poland, “after a long and challenging struggle with a severe heart condition and heart failure.” In June 2017, Keach had previously experienced a heart attack while performing in Chicago.
While he was celebrated as a leading performer of Shakespeare and admired by legendary directors like John Huston, Keach was forever associated with his interpretation of the gritty Hammer, the fictional private investigator created by crime writer Mickey Spillane.
Resisting the temptation to repeat the same roles, Keach left behind a diverse array of characters, including a stoner cop in films, King Lear on stage, and the narrator of World’s Most Amazing Videos on television. He portrayed a disturbed colonel in The Ninth Configuration (also known as Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane), starred in the series Titus, appeared in Alexander Payne’s Oscar-nominated film Nebraska, and took on the role of a New York archbishop in the CBS series Blue Bloods. Most recently, he delivered a remarkable performance as George Clooney’s resentful father in Jay Kelly.
In an interview with New York magazine in 2012, he remarked, “My goal was to have as varied a selection of roles as I could. It may have impacted my career negatively. My choices came with a price. However, I had the opportunity to play Hamlet, Richard III, and King Lear, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
‘One of the greats’
Actor Lou Diamond Phillips, who portrayed Keach’s son in the 2008 TV film Lone Rider, expressed his admiration for Keach on X, describing him as a “consummate actor, gracious, giving, and incredibly kind, despite having the aura of a smoldering volcano. One of the greats. I am proud to have shared some scenes with him.”
Keach took on the role of French painter Julien Mistral in the CBS miniseries Mistral’s Daughter, played a Russian prince in the miniseries adaptation of Judith Krantz’s novel Princess Daisy, depicted Barabbas in Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, and portrayed Maj. Jonas Steele in The Blue and the Gray. He received a Golden Globe for his performance as Ernest Hemingway in a six-hour miniseries, for which he gained 35 pounds.
Keach, seen in April 1984, was one of America’s finest stage actors. (Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
He received a Tony Award nomination for his role as Buffalo Bill in the Broadway production Indians, acted as Edmund alongside Lee J. Cobb in King Lear on Broadway, and held various stage roles, including in 1993’s The Kentucky Cycle, The Country Wife in 1965, and Other Desert Cities in 2011.
Keach also led the national touring company of Frost/Nixon, where he played the disgraced president, and toured with Sleuth alongside Maxwell Caulfield as his co-star. He starred in a 2006 production of King Lear at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and returned in 2017 for Pamplona, a one-man show about Hemingway, where he collapsed during the performance, resulting in the show’s cancellation.
‘Lowest moment’ was prison
While he was still involved with Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (later retitled The New Mike Hammer), Keach was apprehended in 1984 at London’s Heathrow Airport for attempting to smuggle 1.3 ounces of cocaine hidden in an aerosol shaving cream can and in other areas of his luggage. His secretary was also arrested.
Keach and his wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, pose for a photo at a premiere in 2006. (Lucas Jackson/The Associated Press)
He recounted in his 2013 memoir, All in All: An Actor’s Life On and Off the Stage, “When my sentence was announced — nine months in prison — it felt as if someone had kicked me in the groin with lead cleats. It was the lowest point of my life.”
Keach was handcuffed and taken to a prison cell comparable to a closet, where an orange plastic bucket served as a toilet. Prior to his incarceration, an officer requested his autograph on a copy of the book The Blue and the Gray.
The 44-year-old actor was placed in Reading Prison, a medium-security facility, as authorities deemed a minimum-security prison would allow too easy access for reporters. He was released after six months.
In his memoir, Keach mentioned receiving supportive letters from Gregory Peck, Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, and Al Pacino while incarcerated. He was assigned to oversee movie screenings once a month and recalled selecting The Long Riders for one of those occasions. He described the experience as “very lonely, very depressing, very sad. I spent much of my time reflecting on my own foolishness.”
Following his release, he narrated the documentary High on the Job and testified before Congress, sharing with a House panel how he initially became addicted to cocaine in the mid-1970s. “There is no greater imprisonment than that of being dependent on a chemical substance for one’s survival,” he stated.
Keach took his message to college campuses and rehabilitation centers. He also married Polish actress Malgosia Tomassi, whom he met while she was featured in the Hammer series. He cherished the photos and letters she sent him during his time in prison.
Married 4 times
Having been married four times, Keach is survived by Malgosia, along with his children, Shannon and Karolina.
His first role after his release was in the CBS film Intimate Strangers, starring Teri Garr, which became the third-highest rated TV movie of the 1985-86 season. His next film, The Return of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, also performed well, leading to the Mike Hammer series finally being placed on CBS’s schedule for the 1986-87 season after having been sidelined since his arrest.
Years later, in the TV series Prison Break, which aired from 2005 to 2007, Keach portrayed a prison warden and expressed that he aimed to model his character after his real-life warden in England, who he felt demonstrated great compassion and sought to aid inmates in their rehabilitation.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, Keach was the offspring of actors who met at Northwestern University. He pursued his education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he obtained degrees in English and dramatic art.
Actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael McKean, along with director John Carpenter, were among those who paid tribute to Keach on social media.