Rex Stout

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(1886-1975)

The Writer at Work: Rex Stout in Danbury, Connecticut, on June 2, 1967 in Danbury, Connecticut.

“Compose yourself, Archie. Why taunt me? Why upbraid me? I am merely a genius, not a god.”
— Nero Wolfe humbly confesses, in Fer-de-Lance.

At first glance, Rex Stout‘s Nero Wolfe might seem out of place among the hard-bitten, world-weary, pavement-pounding P.I.s to which this site is usually devoted. Massively overweight, a cranky, agoraphobic and sedentary gourmet who virtually never leaves his Manhattan brownstone, Wolfe is in almost every sense an armchair detective. And yet, Stout provided a real shot in the arm to the then-fledgling genre when he published his first Nero wolfe novel in 1934.

Wolfe and his investigator/bodyguard/secretary Archie Goodwin are just as much “eyes” as their predecessors Holmes and Watson – but with a big helping of the American P.I. genes that defined the sub-genre.

Over Wolfe’s 40-year literary lifespan (with several additional adventures written by Robert Goldsborough, initially in the 1980s), the fat genius and his sharp-eyed, smart-mouthed assistant bring down murderers, blackmailers, wartime traitors, and even (on one memorable occasion) leave J. Edgar Hoover out in the snow. These are men who make a good living at a difficult and dangerous business —  not minor lords, plucky spinsters or churchmen who just happened to be at the garden party when the butler was stabbed. The series also serves as a vivid depiction of their life and times. “Through Wolfe and Archie,” as Marcia Kiser points out, “we see the effects of the Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights movement, Women’s Liberation and Watergate.”

* * * * *

Stout was born in Indiana in 1886 to Quaker parents and raised in Kansas. B y most accounts he was quite the precocious child, reading the Bible cover to cover (twice!) before he was four, and becoming state spelling champion at the age of thirteen. After a brief time at Kansas University, he joined the navy, and served as a yeoman on President Roosevelt’s yacht from 1906 to 1908. He worked as a bookkeeper, a salesman, a hotel manager and a store clerk, while trying to crack the burgeoning pulp market, cranking out science fiction, romance, mystery  and adventure in The All-Story Magazine and Cavalier, most of them actually serialized novels. The final one, The Last Drive, was serialized in The Golfer, and involved a murder method he would later retool for Fer-de-Lance, his first Nero Wolfe novel.

Ever practical, Stout teamed up with his brother, and established a banking business model for schools whose success would enable him to continue with his writing.

By then, Stout was already on his way to becoming something of a public intellectual, active in what we know call “social justice.” He  served as the president of the Authors Guild,  lobbying for better copyright deals for authors, and he was one of the founders of the politically charged  Vanguard Press, which initially focussed on books that mainstream publishers were wary of putting into print.

Indeed, his first book, How Like a God (1929), was published by Vanguard while Stout was serving as president, and was an off-beat, psychological thriller that follows a man climbing up the stairs of a New York City brownstone, a gun in his coat, with murder on his mind. And told in second person.

Stout published four more psychological suspense novels between 1929 and 1933, three of them put out by Vanguard, and he followed that up with The President Vanishes (1934), a more straightforward, albeit political thriller.

But it was the next book, later that year, that really exploded.

The first of his forty-seven books and countless short stories and novellas featuring Nero Wolfe and his legman Archie Goodwin, Fer-de-Lance, was published in 1934, to much popular and critical acclaim, and by the start of World War II, Stout was a full-time writer.

One thing which does set the Wolfe books apart from many others in the Shamus Game is their somewhat bouncy tone; the stories usually have reasonably happy endings.  He also wrote books featuring private eyes Dol Bonner, Alphabet Hicks and Tecumseh Fox.

But even as Stout became one of the world’s bestselling mystery authors, he kept a foot in the real world, remaining defiantly political and outspoken. In the thirties and early forties, he was a tireless promoter of the war effort, banking on his popularity by giving speeches, hosting radio shows and chairing the Writers War Board. After World War II he actively worked for groups including Friends for Democracy, Society for the Prevention of World War III and the  Writers Board for World Government. Not surprisingly,  then, HUAC and the FBI came sniffing around, not exactly pleased with his leaderships of the Authors’ League of America, but Stout managed to avoid appearing before them. Decades later, the final Wolfe novel, A Family Affair (1975), written at the height of the Watergate scandal and probably the darkest of the entire series revealed Stout to be mightily ticked off at Nixon and his cronies. (Imagine if he was around for Trump 2.0?)

But we’re here to celebrate the mystery writer. Stout was a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society, and in 1958, Stout served as president of the Mystery Writers of America, who honored him with their MWA Grand Master Award in 1959.

UNDER OATH

  • “If he had done nothing more than to create Archie Goodwin, Rex Stout would deserve the gratitude of whatever assessors watch over the prosperity of American literature. For surely Archie is one of the folk heroes in which the modern American temper can see itself transfigured.”
    — Jacques Barzun

 

NOVELS

SHORT STORIES & NOVELLAS

COLLECTIONS

NON-FICTION

  • “Watson Was a Woman” (March 1, 1941, The Saturday Evening Post) | Read it now!
    Originally a speech for the Sherlock Holmes Society, Stout later his arguments for the Post.

COMICS

  • NERO WOLFE
    (1956-58, Columbia Features)
    Dailies & Sundays
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Writers: John Broome (credited to Rex Stout), Ed Harron
    Artist: Mike Roy, Pete Hoffman, Fran Matera, Jim Christiansen
    The comic strip adaptation, despite being well-drawn, was short-lived. The daily and Sunday strip debuted at the end of November 1956 and managed to stay afloat for less than a year and a half.

   

FILMS

  • MEET NERO WOLFE
    (1936, Columbia)
    Based on the novel Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout
    Directed by Herbert Biberman
    StarringEdward Arnold as NERO WOLFE
    with Lionel Stander as Archie Goodwin
  • THE LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN
    (1937, Columbia)
    Based on the novel by Rex Stout
    Directed by Alfred E. Green
    Starring Walter Connolly as NERO WOLFE
    with Lionel Stander as Archie Goodwin

RADIO

  • THE ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE
    (1943, NBC Blue)
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Produced by Himan Brown
    Starring Santos Ortega as NERO WOLFE
  • NERO WOLFE
    (1945-46)
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Starring Francis X. Bushman as NERO WOLFE
    and Elliot Lewis as Archie Goodwin
  • THE ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    (1950-51, NBC)
    Starring Sydney Greenstreet as NERO WOLFE
    and Gerald Mohr as Archie Goodwin
    (later replaced by Luis Van Rooten, Wally Maher, Harry Bartell, Herb Ellis, and Larry Dobkin. In the same one-year run!)
  • REX STOUT’S NERO WOLFE
    (1982, CBC Radio)
    Based on novellas and short stories by Rex Stout
    Adapted and Produced by Ron Hartman
    Music by Don Gillis
    Starring Mavor Moore as NERO WOLFE
    and Don Francks as ARCHIE GOODWIN

TELEVISION

  • NERO WOLFE
    (1959)
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Written by Sydney Carroll
    Directed by Tom Donovan
    Starring Kurt Kasznar as NERO WOLFE
    and William Shanter as ARCHIE GOODWIN
    Intended as a pilot, and starring Kurt Kasznar (who?) as Wolfe, and Captain Kirk as Archie. Kasnar was okay, but Shatner made for a pretty good Archie. Unaired and unsold, but occasionally available on YouTube.
  • ZU VIELE KÖCHE
    (1961, NWRV-Hamburg)
    Mini-series
    Language: German
    Black and white
    Based on the novel Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout
    Directed by Kurt Wilhelm
    Starring Heinz Klevenow as NERO WOLFE
    and Joachim Fuchsberger as ARCHIE GOODWIN
    A West German production.
  • NERO WOLFE
    (1969, RAI)
    10 made-for-television movies
    Black and white
    Language: Italian
    Based on the the novels and novellas by Rex Stout
    Directed by Giuliana Berlinguer
    Starring Tino Buazzelli as NERO WOLFE
    and Paolo Ferrari as ARCHIE GOODWIN
    Aired on Italian TV in the late 1960s and early 70s, and many fans feel actor Tino Buazzelli (picture) was the actor who most closely resembled the Wolfe of Stout’s books… and their imagination.
  • NERO WOLFE
    (1977, Paramount Pictures)
    Pilot
    Based on the novel The Doorbell Rang, by Rex Stout
    Written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy
    Music: Leonard Rosenman
    Starring Thayer David as NERO WOLFE
    and Tom Mason as Archie Goodwin
  • NERO WOLFE
    (1981, NBC)
    14 60-minute episodes
    Based on novellas and short stories by Rex Stout
    Executive producers: Ben Roberts, Ivan Goff
    Starring William Conrad as NERO WOLFE
    and Lee Horsley as ARCHIE GOODWIN
  • LADY AGAINST THE ODDS
    (1992, NBC)
    First aired April 20, 1992)
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Starring Crystal Bernard as DOL BONNER
  • NERO WOLFE: THE GOLDEN SPIDERS | Buy this video
    (March 5, 2000, A&E)
    Made-for-TV movie/pilot for series
    2 hours
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Directed by Bill Duke
    Starring Maury Chaykin as NERO WOLFE
    with Timothy Hutton as ARCHIE GOODWIN
  • NERO WOLFE
    (2001-02, A&E)
    Series
    26 60-minute episodes
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Starring Maury Chaykin as NERO WOLFE
    with Timothy Hutton as ARCHIE GOODWIN
  • POLA YA NE UMER
    (2001, Russian)
    100 minute TV movie
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Starring Donatas Banionis as NERO WOLFE
    and Sergei Zhigunov as ARCHIE GOODWIN
    Supposedly one of at least five Russian Nero Wolfe TV movies made in 2001-02.  And yes, just like the American series airing at about the same time,  one of the producers was also the actor who played Archie.
  • NERO WOLFE
    (2012, RAI)
    Language: Italian
    Based on characters created by Rex Stout
    Starring Francesco Pannofino as NERO WOLFE
    and Pietro Sermonti as ARCHIE GOODWIN
    Nero and Archie are now Italian, and live in Rome.

REFERENCE, ETC.

  • Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street (1969, by William S. Baring-Gould) | Buy this book
    Though necessarily incomplete (Stout hadn’t finished  writing the series), this landmark volume (subtitled “The Life and Times of America’s Largest Detective”), informative and sometimes amusing.
  • Rex Stout: A Majesty’s Life (1977, by John J. McAleer) | Buy this book
    The Edgar-winning biography. Features an intro by P. G. Wodehouse. Reprinted in 2002.
  • Royal Decree: Conversations with Rex Stout  (1983, by John J McAleer) | Buy this book
    A pricey, limited edition (1026 numbered and lettered copies), signed by the author who interviewed Stout extensively on his craft and his fictional character, with illustrations by Nick Hobart. Reprinted in 2025 as “Rex Stout: Killer Conversations.”
  • At Wolfe’s Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout (1990, by J. Kenneth Van Dover) | Buy this book
    First published in 1990, this new edition of the indispensable guide features additional material. Includes synopses of every mystery novel and short story. Each entry includes commentary and short essays, and comments on Stout’s place in the genre
  • The Nero Wolfe Cookbook (1996, by Rex Stout, and the editors of Viiking Press) | Buy this book
    Collection of recipes culled from the Nero Wolfe books, with plenty of period photos and quotes from the books.
  • Pachter, Josh, editor, The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe: Parodies & Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street (anthology) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
    A collection of stories that play fast and loose with Rex Stout’s legendary private detective by Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman, John Lescroart, Robert Goldsborough, Thomas Narcejac, Michael Bracken, Robert Lopresti, Robert Goldsborough, Marion Mainwaring and others.
  • Rex Stout : Killer Conversations (2025; by John McAleer) | Kindle it!
    Long out of print collection of interviews with the creator of Nero Wolfe.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

  • Nero Wolfe: A Social Commentary on the US
    An essay by Thrilling Detective Web Site contributor Marcia Kiser.
  • The Wolfe Pack
    The official site of the long-running (since 1969!) Nero Wolfe fan club. A real labour-of-love site, from web master Carol Novak. Tell her I said “Hi!”
  • The Nero Wolfe Cookbook
    A review by David Partridge (November 2020, Daily Telegraph)
  • “Why Nero Wolfe Likes Orchids” (April 19, 1963 Life Magazine; by Archie Goodwin)
    Everything you wanted to know about Wolfe and his beloved orchids, plus the article from Life, actually authored by Rex Stout, of course. 
(C) 1999-2002, by Don B. Hilliard and Kevin B. Smith, with further contributions from Marc LaViolette, James A. Rock, Eric Jamborsky, Alex Avenarius, Mike Harris, Brian Baker (television), Jean Quinn-Manzo(comics) and Stewart Wright (radio). Author photo from Santi Visalli/Getty Images. Please don’t sue me.

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