Michael "Mike" Hammer is a fictional character created by the American author
Mickey SpillaneFrank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...
in the 1947 book
I, the JuryI, The Jury is Mickey Spillane's first novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-Plot summary:The novel is set in and around New York City in the summer of 1944. Although she runs a successful private psychiatric clinic on New York's Park Avenue, Dr...
(made into a movie in 1953 and 1982).
Several movies and radio and television series have been based on the books in the Hammer series. The actor most closely identified with the character in recent years has been
Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
, who portrayed Hammer in a
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
television series,
Mickey Spillane's Mike HammerMickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is the title used for two syndicated television series that followed the adventures of fictional private detective Mike Hammer...
, which ran from 1984–1987 and had a syndicated revival in 1997–1998.
Michael "Mike" Hammer is a fictional character created by the American author
Mickey SpillaneFrank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...
in the 1947 book
I, the JuryI, The Jury is Mickey Spillane's first novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-Plot summary:The novel is set in and around New York City in the summer of 1944. Although she runs a successful private psychiatric clinic on New York's Park Avenue, Dr...
(made into a movie in 1953 and 1982).
Description
Several movies and radio and television series have been based on the books in the Hammer series. The actor most closely identified with the character in recent years has been
Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
, who portrayed Hammer in a
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
television series,
Mickey Spillane's Mike HammerMickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is the title used for two syndicated television series that followed the adventures of fictional private detective Mike Hammer...
, which ran from 1984–1987 and had a syndicated revival in 1997–1998. (An earlier syndicated version, originally aired in 1957–1958, starred
Darren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and also his portrayal in the movie A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
as Hammer.) Spillane himself played Hammer in a 1963 motion picture adaptation of
The Girl HuntersThe Girl Hunters is a British made film, adaptated from the 1962 Mickey Spillane pulp novel The Girl Hunters.Mickey Spillane played Mike Hammer, one of the few occasions in film history in which an author of a popular literary hero has portrayed his own character. It also starred Bond girl Shirley...
. Spillane himself favoured ex-Marine and former Newburgh, New York police officer
Jack StangJack Stang born John A. Stang was a former U.S. Marine who served in the pacific theater-Samoa, Guadacanal and Bougainville campaign during World War Two, wounded in action, one of four men in his platoon to make it out and was later a Newburgh, New York policeman...
, on whom he based the character, to play him. Stang appeared with Spillane in the 1954 film
Ring of FearRing of Fear may refer to:*Ring of Fear , a 1954 murder mystery starring Mickey Spillane*"Ring of Fear" , an episode of TV show Police Squad!*Ring of Fear, a 1971 Anne McCaffrey romance novel...
and in the film adaptation of
I, the JuryI, the Jury is a mystery-thriller film from 1953, based on the novel by Mickey Spillane. It was directed by Harry Essex, produced by Victor Saville's company, Parklane Pictures and released through United Artists. It has never received an official video release in the United States.The film is...
.
Character
While
pulpPulp magazines were inexpensive fiction magazines. They were widely published from 1896 through the 1950s. The term pulp fiction can also refer to mass market paperbacks since the 1950s....
detectives such as
Sam SpadeSam Spade is a fictional character who is the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's novel The Maltese Falcon and the various films and adaptations based on it, as well as in three lesser known books by Hammett....
and
Philip MarlowePhilip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared, under that name, in The Big Sleep, published in 1939...
are hard-boiled and cynical, Hammer is in many ways the
archetypalAn archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all...
"hard man:" he is brutally violent,
misogynisticMisogyny is hatred of women or girls. Misogyny comes from Greek misogunia from misos and gynē . It is parallel to misandry—the hatred of men or boys. Misogyny is also comparable with misanthropy which is the hatred of humanity in general...
, and fueled by a genuine rage that never afflicts
Raymond ChandlerRaymond Thornton Chandler was an Anglo-American novelist and screenwriter who had an immense stylistic influence upon the modern private detective story, especially in the style of the writing and the attitudes now characteristic of the genre...
's or
Dashiell HammettSamuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , the newspaper comic strip Secret Agent X-9 and the Continental Op...
's heroes. In
The Big Kill Hammer describes himself to a bargirl as a
misanthropeMisanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, contempt, or hatred of the human species. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος and άνθρωπος .-Forms:...
.
While other hardboiled heroes bend and manipulate the law, Hammer holds it in total contempt, seeing it as nothing more than an impediment to justice, the one virtue he holds in absolute esteem. However unlike many fictional private detectives, Hammer has a strong respect for the majority of
policeA police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
, realising they have a difficult job and their hands are frequently tied by the law when trying to stop criminals. Hammer has no such ties.
Mike Hammer is a no-holds barred
Battle of GuadalcanalThe Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, was fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II...
veteranA war veteran is a person who has or is serving in the armed forces, or a person who has had long service or experience in an occupation or office....
private investigatorA private investigator or private detective is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigations. Private investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
who carries a .45 Colt M1911, named "Betsy" in a shoulder harness under his left arm. His love for his secretary Velda is only outweighed by his willingness to kill a killer. Hammer's best friend is Pat Chambers, Captain of Homicide NYPD.
Hammer is also
patrioticPatriotism is love of and/or devotion to one's country. The word comes from the Greek patris, meaning fatherland. However, patriotism has had different meanings over time, and its meaning is highly dependent upon context, geography and philosophy....
and anti-communist. The novels are peppered with remarks by Hammer supporting American troops in
KoreaThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
, and in
Survival...Zero VietnamThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
. In
One Lonely NightOne Lonely Night is Mickey Spillane's fourth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-Plot summary:After having been berated by a Judge, Mike Hammer goes for a walk and comes across a terrified woman and her pursuer. He kills the man but the woman, terrified, jumps to her death from a...
, where Hammer attends a communist meeting in a park, his reaction to the speaker's
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
is a sarcastic "Yeah."
So far as violence is concerned, the Hammer novels leave little to the imagination. Written in the
first personFirst-person narrative is a narrative mode in which a story is narrated by only one character at a time, who explicitly refers to him- or herself using words and phrases involving "I" and/or "we"...
, Hammer describes his violent encounters with relish. In all but a few novels, Hammer's victims are often left vomiting after a blow to the stomach or groin.
The
Washington Times obituary of Spillane said of Hammer, "In a manner similar to
Clint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American actor, film director, film producer and composer. He has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and five People's Choice Awards—including one for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star.Eastwood is...
's
Dirty HarryDirty Harry is a 1971 crime thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
, Hammer was a cynical loner contemptuous of the 'tedious process' of the legal system, choosing instead to enforce the law on his own terms."
Novels
- I, The Jury
I, The Jury is Mickey Spillane's first novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-Plot summary:The novel is set in and around New York City in the summer of 1944. Although she runs a successful private psychiatric clinic on New York's Park Avenue, Dr...
(1947)
- My Gun is Quick
My Gun Is Quick is a 1957 mystery film based on the novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. Written by Richard M. Powell and directed by Phil Victor and George White, the movie stars Robert Bray as private investigator Mike Hammer, Pamela Duncan as Velda, Hammer's secretary.The story begins when...
(1950)
- Vengeance Is Mine!
Vengeance Is Mine! is Mickey Spillane's third novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-Plot summary:Mike Hammer wakes up being questioned by the police in the same hotel room as the body of an old friend from World War II. His friend, Chester Wheeler, has apparently committed suicide...
(1950)
- One Lonely Night
One Lonely Night is Mickey Spillane's fourth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-Plot summary:After having been berated by a Judge, Mike Hammer goes for a walk and comes across a terrified woman and her pursuer. He kills the man but the woman, terrified, jumps to her death from a...
(1951)
- The Big Kill
The Big Kill is Mickey Spillane's fifth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-Plot:Drinking at a seedy bar on a rainy night, Hammer notices a man come in with an infant. The man, named Decker, cries as he kisses the infant goodbye, then walks out in the rain to be shot to death. ...
(1951)
- Kiss Me, Deadly
Kiss Me, Deadly is Mickey Spillane's sixth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. The novel was later adapted into the film Kiss Me Deadly in 1955....
(1952)
- The Girl Hunters
The Girl Hunters is a British made film, adaptated from the 1962 Mickey Spillane pulp novel The Girl Hunters.Mickey Spillane played Mike Hammer, one of the few occasions in film history in which an author of a popular literary hero has portrayed his own character. It also starred Bond girl Shirley...
(1962)
- The Snake
The Snake is Mickey Spillane's eighth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.- The Plot :The novel picks up where exactly where The Girl Hunters left off. Hammer has discovered the location of his long lost love and secretary, Velda...
(1964)
- The Twisted Thing
The Twisted Thing is Mickey Spillane's ninth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer....
(1966)
- The Body Lovers
The Body Lovers is Mickey Spillane's tenth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.- Synopsis:Mike Hammer finds himself investigating a sex-orgy cult with money and murder on the agenda....
(1967)
- Survival... Zero!
Survival... Zero! is Mickey Spillane's eleventh novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer....
(1970)
- The Killing Man
thumb|1st edition coverThe Killing Man is Mickey Spillane's twelfth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer....
(1989)
- Black Alley
Black Alley is Mickey Spillane's thirteenth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer, and the last one completed before his death ....
(1997)
- The Goliath Bone
The Goliath Bone is the 14th entry in the Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane. It is co-authored by Max Allan Collins and was first published on October 13, 2008...
(2008)
Radio series
A January 1953 to October 1953
Mutual Broadcasting SystemThe Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. Of the four national networks of American radio's classic era, Mutual had for decades the largest number of affiliates but the least certain financial position. In the golden age of U.S...
radio series titled
That Hammer Guy starred
Larry HainesLarry Haines, born Larry Hecht was an American actor. He was born in Mount Vernon, New York.Haines first became known in the 1930s as a voice actor on the radio crime series Gangbusters...
as Hammer and
Jan MinerJan Miner was an American actress best known for her iconic role as the manicurist Madge in a 27-year series of television commercials for Palmolive dish-washing detergent....
as the voice of many female characters on the show. It was written by Ed Adamson and was directed by Richard Lewis.
Television
There have been several television shows based on the exploits of Mike Hammer.
- A 1954 television pilot
A television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity, or pilot holes prepare the way for larger holes. Networks use pilots to...
was developed starring Brian KeithBrian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor, who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney film, The Parent Trap, the 1966 movie, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 movie, The Wind and the Lion...
that was written and directed by Blake EdwardsWilliam Blake Crump , better known as Blake Edwards, is an Academy Award–winning American film director, screenwriter, and producer.-Career:...
, it was not picked up.
- Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is the title used for two syndicated television series that followed the adventures of fictional private detective Mike Hammer...
(1958 - 1960 ; starring Darren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and also his portrayal in the movie A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
)
- Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is the title used for two syndicated television series that followed the adventures of fictional private detective Mike Hammer...
(Jan. 1984 - Jan. 1985 ; starring Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
)
- The New Mike Hammer
The New Mike Hammer was an American television series based on the exploits of the fictitious New York-based private detective Mike Hammer. The show starred Stacy Keach and was essentially a continuation of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, an earlier television program featuring an identical core cast...
(Sept. 1986 - May 1987 ; starring Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
)
- Mike Hammer, Private Eye
Mike Hammer, Private Eye is an American syndicated television program based on the adventures of the fictitious private detective Mike Hammer, created by novelist Mickey Spillane...
(Sept. 1997 - June 1998 ; starring Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
)
Movies
- I, the Jury
I, the Jury is a mystery-thriller film from 1953, based on the novel by Mickey Spillane. It was directed by Harry Essex, produced by Victor Saville's company, Parklane Pictures and released through United Artists. It has never received an official video release in the United States.The film is...
(United ArtistsUnited Artists Entertainment LLC is an American film studio. The current United Artists was formed in November 2006 under a partnership between producer/actor Tom Cruise and his production partner, Paula Wagner, and Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer Studios Inc., an MGM company...
, 1953)
- Filmed in 3-D starring Biff Elliot
Biff Elliot was an American actor. He was perhaps best known for his role as popular detective Mike Hammer in the 1953 version of I, the Jury, and as his guest appearance in the television series of Star Trek: The Original Series in the episode of The Devil in the Dark.-Early life:Biff Elliot was...
as Mike Hammer.
- Kiss Me Deadly
Kiss Me Deadly is a film noir drama produced and directed by Robert Aldrich starring Ralph Meeker. The screenplay was written by A.I. Bezzerides, based on the Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer mystery novel Kiss Me, Deadly. Kiss Me Deadly is often considered a classic of the noir genre...
(United Artists, 1955)
- Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich was an American film director, writer and producer, notable for such films as Kiss Me Deadly, The Big Knife, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Flight of the Phoenix, Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte and The Dirty Dozen.-Biography:Robert Burgess Aldrich was born in Cranston, Rhode...
was the director, Ralph MeekerRalph Meeker was a stage and film actor best-known for starring in the 1953 Broadway production of Picnic, and in the 1955 film noir cult classic Kiss Me Deadly....
was cast as Hammer, while Maxine Cooper portrayed Hammer's sexy secretary/companion Velda.
- My Gun Is Quick (United Artists, 1957)
- Robert Bray
Robert E. Bray was a film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the long-running CBS series Lassie....
was cast as Hammer, with more of the violence originated from the villain rather than the detective.
- The film grossed $308,000 with a total of $602 overseas.
- The Girl Hunters (Colorama Features, 1963)
- Mickey Spillane was given the rare opportunity to portray his own creation in this film. This is one of the few occasions in film history in which the creator of a literary character was later hired to portray that character in a film. Producer Robert Fellows
Robert Fellows or Robert M. Fellows born 23 August 1903 Los Angeles died 11 May 1969 in Hollywood was a prolific American film producer who was once a production partner with John Wayne and later Mickey Spillane.-Biography:...
and Spillane planned to follow the film with The Snake but it never materialised.
- Margin For Murder (TV movie, 1981)
- Kevin Dobson
Kevin Patrick Dobson is an American film and television actor of Irish descent, who is primarily known for his roles on television. His most prominent roles were as Det. Bobby Crocker on the popular 1970s TV crime drama Kojak, and as M...
plays Hammer in this made for TV movie.
- I, the Jury
I, the Jury is a 1982 film based on the best selling detective novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. The story was previously filmed in 3D in 1953. Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay and was first hired to direct the film but was replaced when the film's budget was already out of control after...
(20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
, 1982)
- Armand Assante
Armand Anthony Assante, Jr. is an American actor.Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York to Katherine, a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist...
plays Hammer in this version.
- Come Die With Me (Fox, 1994)
- Rob Estes
Robert Estes is an American actor.-Career:Estes caught the acting bug while training to be a stunt double. One of his first acting jobs was in the daytime drama Days of Our Lives playing Glenn Gallagher...
plays Hammer in this TV movie. Pamela Andersonthumb|rightPamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian/American actress, sex symbol, glamour model, producer, author, activist, and former Showgirl....
plays his secretary Velda.
- Mike Hammer: Song Bird (2003) (V) – a direct-to-video
A film that is released direct-to-video is one which has been released to the public on home video formats before or without being released in movie theaters or broadcast on television...
compilation of Mike Hammer, Private EyeMike Hammer, Private Eye is an American syndicated television program based on the adventures of the fictitious private detective Mike Hammer, created by novelist Mickey Spillane...
's 1998 episodes of "Songbird: Part 1" and "Songbird: Part 2", where Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
played Mike Hammer and Shannon WhirryShannon Whirry is an American actress.-Life and career:Whirry was born at Green Lake, Wisconsin. She trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the 1980s, appearing onstage in Butterflies Are Free and Mrs...
played his secretary Velda.
Comics
A short-lived
comic stripA comic strip is a sequence of cartoons that tells a story, often humorous, though adventures and soap opera-like dramas are also prevalent. They are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet.In the UK and the...
starring Mike Hammer was distributed by Phoenix Features Syndicate from 1953 to 1954. It was entitled
From the Files of... Mike Hammer and written by Spillane, Ed Robbins and Joe Gill, with art by Ed Robbins. Collections of the strip were published in the 1980s.
In other media
- An audiobook version of Spillane's novel Black Alley
Black Alley is Mickey Spillane's thirteenth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer, and the last one completed before his death ....
, read by actor Stacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
, was released by Penguin Audio on November 1, 1996.
- Novels featuring Hammer were referenced several times in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by Paramount...
. Both Odo and Miles O'BrienMiles Edward O'Brien, played by Colm Meaney, is Chief of Operations in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Before DS9, he appeared as a recurring transporter chief in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
were fans.
- The film The Hebrew Hammer
The Hebrew Hammer is a film that was released in 2003. It stars Adam Goldberg, Judy Greer, Andy Dick, Mario Van Peebles, and Peter Coyote. The plot concerns a Jewish superhero known as The Hebrew Hammer who must save Hanukkah from the evil son of Santa Claus who wants to destroy Hanukkah and make...
makes a reference to Mike Hammer as well.
- The Japan
is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese TV series Detective Mike stars a young detective called 'Hama Mike' (Japanese pronunciation of 'Mike Hammer').
- The 1986 video game Killed Until Dead by Artech Digital Entertainment features spoofs of famous characters including a "Mike Stammer".
- In 2008, Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles...
reprised the role for an Audie-nominated audio mini-series entitled The New Adventures of Mike Hammer. Both episodes, Dangerous Days and Oil and Water, were written by M. J. ElliottBorn in Preston, Great Britain in 1969, M. J. Elliot is a British writer and performer, sometimes credited as Matthew J. Elliott. Many of his credits are for US radio series.- Books :Curious Incidents 2 - Mad For a Mystery, 2003...
.
- John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn's recorded output is prolific with hundreds of album credits as a performer, composer, or producer...
's SpillaneSpillane is an album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn, composed of three 'file-card' pieces, as well as a work for voice, string quartet and turntables. Zorn later released the composition "Spillane" on the compilation album Godard/Spillane...
is a tribute to Mickey Spillane, which uses quotes of Mike Hammer voiced by John Lurie-Biography:Lurie was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, moved to New Orleans at the age of 6, then moved again to Worcester, Massachusetts.In 1978 he formed The Lounge Lizards, initially a "fake jazz" combo, with his brother Evan Lurie. The Lounge Lizards exhibited the talent of artists such as Calvin...
.
External links