Stacy Keach Dies at 85: The "Mike Hammer" Star Who Also Voiced the Apostles John and Paul

Stacy Keach, the veteran actor best known for playing private eye Mike Hammer on television, has died at 85.

Keach died Tuesday, Nov. 10, at his home in Magdalenka, Poland, according to his wife, Małgosia Tomassi Keach. She said he died peacefully after a long battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure.

Keach played Hammer in CBS's The New Mike Hammer, which began in 1984, and became one of America's most respected stage actors. He earned a 1970 Tony nomination for Indians, played Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2015. He also won a Golden Globe for playing Ernest Hemingway in the 1988 miniseries Hemingway.

Many faith audiences also knew him by voice. Keach performed Paul in The Word of Promise audio Bible and the Apostle John in the Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible. In a Catholic Online interview about the project, he said he was raised Episcopalian. He also said he did not want John to sound pompous or declamatory. He said religious faith is part of everything people do.

Keach is survived by his wife, daughters Shannon and Karolina, and his brother, James Keach.