Created by Libby Cudmore “I drove home listening to Elvis Costello. It was a Brutal Youth kind of night." All rock stars end up in a plane crash of one kind or another. Sex. drugs. Rock’n’roll. Take your pick. Someone sad that once. In MARTIN WADE’s case, the crash was definitely the drugs (mostly heroin) … Continue reading Martin Wade
Tag: The Dick of the Day
Gil Disbro
Created by James E. Martin (1936 --) TAKE ONE (Stickney) James E Martin's was a retired police detective, who had previously worked as a high school teacher in Ohio. His creation GIL DISBRO was a Cleveland-based PI, a young laid off cop who earned his way through P.I./bounty work. Disbro was also a part-time college … Continue reading Gil Disbro
Eddie Bianco (Love Walked In)
Created by Jose Pablo Feinmann (1943-2021) Nervous, weaselly private eye EDDIE BIANCO (The Practice's Michael Badalucco) teams up with his old buddy, mouthy piano man Jack Hanaway (Dennis Leary), a bitterly caustic would-be writer with a drinking problem, in this competent, straight-to-video B-flick. Kevin Thomas of the L.A. Times called it "intelligent and stylish but … Continue reading Eddie Bianco (Love Walked In)
The Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard)
Created by Louis Joseph Vance (1879-1933) Louis Joseph Vance's MICHAEL LANYARD, better known as THE LONE WOLF, didn't start out as a private eye, but as a criminal. However, like Jack Boyle's Boston Blackie, thanks to his numerous reboots, reincarnations and re-imaginings in radio, film and television, The Lone Wolf is now remembered by many, … Continue reading The Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard)
Archy McNally
Created by Lawrence Sanders (1920-98) The one-man publishing industry that was Lawrence Sanders (No, really! in the 70s and 80s, he was everywhere!), created more than one interesting private eye. Laidback bon vivant ARCHIBALD "ARCHY" MCNALLY was the last, but he was also probably the most fun. Droll, detached upper class twit Archy works as a … Continue reading Archy McNally
“Mac” Robinson
Created by Thomas B. Dewey Pseudonyms include Tom Brandt and Cord Wainer (1915-81) "It may be that the recent white Anglo-Saxon Christian struggle to canonize the informer will be lost in the rivers and back streets of America, where 'rat' is still spelled with three letters and the only way to save your life is … Continue reading “Mac” Robinson
Sharon McCone
Created by Marcia Muller (1944--) "Marcia Muller is the founding mother of the contemporary female hard-boiled private eye." -- Sue Grafton Generally credited with being the first liberated female private detective of the modern era, Marcia Muller's SHARON McCONE paved the way for the subsequentsuccess of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski, Laura Lippmann's … Continue reading Sharon McCone
Harry Kilmer (The Yakuza)
Created by Paul & Leonard Schrader and Robert Towne "A man never forgets. A man pays his debts." -- from the poster. Imagine Chandler writing a samurai flick... In this forgotten classic from the mid-seventies, Robert Mitchum is HARRY KILMER, an aging former G.I., and sometime P.I. (his past is suitably murky), set loose in … Continue reading Harry Kilmer (The Yakuza)
Cassie Holland (Cassie & Co.)
Created by Nigel McKeand, Abram S. Ginnes & Howard Berk By the early eighties, most of the Rat Pack and its various hanger-ons were starting to show their age, but they still had enough industrial clout and retro cool to have various projects green-lit on their names alone. That seems to be the case with … Continue reading Cassie Holland (Cassie & Co.)
Harold “Shill” Shillman (One Shoe Makes It Murder)
Created by Eric Bercovici Some P.I.'s are thick-headed, and some are pretty down on their luck, but alcoholic, divorced, impotent sad sack ex-cop HAROLD "SHILL" SHILLMAN may take the cake. In his only appearance in print, So Little Cause For Caroline (1980), he not only tries to take his own life with a gun, but the … Continue reading Harold “Shill” Shillman (One Shoe Makes It Murder)