Stacy Keach, a notable actor whose work included such films as “Fat City” and the lead role in the CBS series “The New Mike Hammer,” died Tuesday in Poland. He was 85 years old.
His wife, Małgosia Tomassi, confirmed his death to Variety. In a statement, she said he died “after a long and difficult battle with serious heart disease and heart failure” at the family home in Magdalenka, Poland.
“Stacy was not only a legendary actress, admired and loved by audiences around the world, but also my beloved husband, my companion and the heart of our family,” the statement said. “His passing leaves an immeasurable void in our lives. But his extraordinary spirit, his unforgettable voice and the love he gave so generously will remain with us forever.
Active on stage, film and television until the age of 80, he appeared in “The Bourne Legacy,” “Nebraska,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Ray Donovan” and had a recurring role on “The Simpsons.” Keach was also known for playing Cardinal Kevin Kearns in “Blue Bloods.” His television appearances included “Man With a Plan” and “The Black List.” His last role was in 2025’s “Jay Kelly”, as the father of Jay Kelly, played by George Clooney.
In 2010, he received a Helen Hayes Award for his performance of “King Lear” for Shakespeare Theater Co., one of many stage honors during his career.
Keach earned his Tony nomination for playing Buffalo Bill in the 1969 Broadway production of “Indians” early on, but he gained even more fame as “Mike Hammer.” The CBS series aired from 1984 to 1987, and he reprized the 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.”
However, Keach’s journey as a private detective got off to a rocky start off-screen. In 1984, police arrested Keach at London’s Heathrow Airport for possession of cocaine. Pleading guilty, the actor served six months in Reading Prison. Since Keach also narrated the character “Mike Hammer”, impressionist Rich Little was brought in to replace the series’ narrator during Keach’s imprisonment.
In a 2014 television interview, Keach said that his time in prison was (understandably) the lowest point of his life and that a friendship he formed with a priest during this time led to his conversion to Roman Catholicism.
Keach’s Emmy nomination came shortly after this period; he was recognized in 1988 as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special for playing the famous author of the title in “Ernest Hemingway.”
Part of an acting family that includes his younger brother James, who went on to direct and produce, Walter Stacy Keach Jr. was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of actress Mary Cain and Stacy Keach Sr., an actor, drama teacher and director. Class president at Van Nuys High School, he graduated from UC Berkeley in 1963 and went on to earn a graduate degree from the Yale School of Drama. He was also a Fulbright scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
In 1966, Keach played the title role in Barbara Garson’s anti-war satire, “MacBird!” », winning his first Obie Award. The following year he appeared again on Off Broadway, this time with Morgan Freeman (in the latter’s acting debut) in George Tabori’s provocative “The Niggerlovers”.
Keach made his Broadway debut in Georg Buchner’s “Danton’s Death” in 1965, appearing soon after in a revival of “The Country Wife,” followed by the original Broadway production of Bertolt Brecht’s play “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” and a 1968 stage production of “King Lear” in which he played Edmund. The following year, he starred in Arthur Kopit’s “Indians,” earning his Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of Buffalo Bill.
He returned to Broadway in 1979 to replace John Wood as Sidney Bruhl in Ira Levin’s long-running mystery comedy “Deathtrap,” who starred in “Solitary Confinement” in 1992 and Robert Schenkkan’s “The Kentucky Cycle” the following year.
Off-Broadway, Keach appeared twice in “Hamlet,” in 1964 and 1972, the second time in the title role, winning his second Obie. He also appeared as Falstaff in Henry “IV” Parts I and II in 1968, and as James Tyrone Jr. in O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” in 1971.
In the early 1980s, he starred in the title role in the national touring company of Cy Coleman’s musical “Barnum.” He sang the title role in “King Lear” at the Goodman Theater in 2006, and in 2008 he played Merlin in a semi-stage version of “Camelot” with the New York Philharmonic.
Keach played Richard M. Nixon in the touring American version of the play “Frost/Nixon” in 2008 and 2009, during which — one day in March 2009 — he had a series of strokes, from which he recovered sufficiently to attempt “King Lear” again in Washington that summer.
Keach was a founding member of LA Theater Works.
The actor made his television debut in an episode of the college drama series “Channing” in 1964, followed by television film versions of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” (1967), in which he played Autolycus, and “Macbeth” (1968), in which he played Banquo. It was also in 1968 that the actor made his big screen debut in the adaptation of “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers.
He played a crippled millionaire in Robert Altman’s “Brewster McCloud” (1970) and the following year he played the lead role in the western “Doc”, playing Doc Holliday alongside Faye Dunaway.
In John Huston’s boxing drama “Fat City” (1972), Keach was the top boxer begging for a comeback, and Jeff Bridges was the young boxer on the rise.
Also in 1972, the actor starred with George C. Scott and Jane Alexander in the adaptation of Joseph Wambaugh’s “The New Centurions” and had a supporting role in Huston’s “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.” He appeared in a number of roles before the stoner comedy classic “Up in Smoke” (1978).
“The Ninth Configuration” (1980), directed by Willliam Peter Blatty and adapted by him from his own surreal novel “Twinkle Twinkle ‘Killer’ Kane,” became a cult favorite, starring Keach as Marine Col. Vincent Kane who runs a hospital for servicemen with psychiatric problems.
Also in 1980, the actor appeared with his brother James Keach as Frank and Jesse James in “The Long Riders,” and in 1982 he starred with Bruce Dern, Robert Mitchum, Martin Sheen and Paul Sorvino in Jason Miller’s “That Championship Season.”
Additional film credits include the Oliver Stone biopic “W.” (2008), John Sayles’ “Honeydripper” (2007) and “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” (2014). He had a recurring role on “ER” and the Fox comedy “Titus.”
H has made numerous appearances on shows such as “Touched by an Angel”, “Will & Grace”, “George Lopez”, “30 Rock” (as himself), “Anger Management”, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “NCIS: New Orleans” and “Hot in Cleveland”.
Keach was married four times, first to Kathryn Baker in 1964, then to Marilyn Aiken from 1975 to 1979, and to Jill Donahue from 1981 to 1986.
He is survived by his fourth wife, Malgosia Tomassi, whom he married in 1986; his son Shannon and his daughter Karolina and his brother James Keach.
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