Dashiell Hammett

Dashiell Hammett
Photo portrait of Hammett from the cover of his final novel, The Thin Man (1934)
Photo portrait of Hammett from the cover of his final novel, The Thin Man (1934)
BornSamuel Dashiell Hammett
(1894-05-27)May 27, 1894
St. Mary's County, Maryland, U.S.
DiedJanuary 10, 1961(1961-01-10) (aged 66)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • political activist
  • screenwriter
NationalityAmerican
Period1929–1951
GenreCrime and detective fiction
Spouse
Josephine Dolan
​
​
(m. 1921; div. 1937)​
[1]
PartnerLillian Hellman (1931–1961)
Children2

Samuel Dashiell Hammett (/ˈdæʃəl ˈhæmɪt/ DASH-əl HAM-it;[2] May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), The Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) and the comic strip character Secret Agent X-9.

Hammett is regarded as one of the very best mystery writers.[3] In his obituary in The New York Times, he was described as "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."[4] Time included Hammett's 1929 novel Red Harvest on its list of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005.[5] In 1990, the Crime Writers' Association picked three of his five novels for their list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time.[6] Five years later, The Maltese Falcon placed second on The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time as selected by the Mystery Writers of America; Red Harvest, The Glass Key and The Thin Man were also on the list.[7] His novels and stories also had a significant influence on films, including the genres of private eye/detective fiction, mystery thrillers, and film noir.

  1. ^ Profile, nytimes.com; accessed March 1, 2016.
  2. ^ "Dashiell Hammett". Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  3. ^ Layman, Richard (1981). Shadow Man: The Life of Dashiell Hammett. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 239. ISBN 0-15-181459-7.
  4. ^ Layman, Richard; Bruccoli, Matthew J. (2002). Hardboiled Mystery Writers: A Literary Reference. Carroll & Graf. p. 225. ISBN 0-7867-1029-2.
  5. ^ Grossman, Lev; Lacayo, Richard (January 6, 2010). "TIME'S List of the 100 Best Novels". Time. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  6. ^ The Hatchards Crime Companion. 100 Top Crime Novels Selected by the Crime Writers' Association, ed. Susan Moody (London, 1990) (ISBN 0-904030-02-4).
  7. ^ Mystery Writers Of America (1995). The Crown Crime Companion: The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time. Crown Publisher Inc. pp. 22, 31, 39, 88. ISBN 0-517-88115-2.