MikeHammer

One of television's longest and hardest working actors is in the hospital.

Stage, screen and television actor Stacy Keach suffered a stroke and has been admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for observation.

Fortunately, it doesn't appear to be life threatening or extremely serious. His reps characterized the stroke as "very mild" and said it has not impaired or affected his speech "whatsoever." That's good news since he's still working on the stage and screen.

Mystery writer Mickey Spillane has died in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina.

Spillane was the creator of tough guy private eye Mike Hammer, played on television by Darren McGavin in the 1950s and by Stacey Keach in the 1980s and 90s.

A lot of people look down on Spillane's Hammer novels, saying they are just cheap, blunt pulp novels full of sex and violence. And to that I say "hell yeah!" Spillane was an underrated writer. He also starred in a famous series of commercials for Miller Beer, and appeared in many of the Mike Hammer movies and on Columbo and other shows.