Stacy Keach was best known for playing a hard-boiled private detective in the hit TV series 'The New Mike Hammer'. (EPA Images pic)WASHINGTON: Stacy Keach, the prolific and acclaimed American tough-guy actor who thrived in theatre, film and television, and whose roles ranged from Hamlet to detective Mike Hammer, has died, his wife said Wednesday. He was 85.
Malgosia Tomassi confirmed the news in a statement to Hollywood publication "Variety," saying her husband died Tuesday "after a long and difficult battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure."
The versatile and prolific Keach was a force of nature when he burst onto Broadway in the mid-1960s, winning praise as one of America's greatest Shakespearean actors and earning a Tony Award nomination for his role in "Indians."
