'Blue Bloods' Star Stacy Keach Dies at 85 After Heart Condition and Heart Failure Battle
Stacy Keach, the actor who played private detective Mike Hammer and appeared in Blue Bloods, has died aged 85 after a long battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure. His wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, said he died at their home in Magdalenka, Poland.
Keach died on Tuesday, 10 November. In a statement, his wife said he had 'peacefully departed this world' and described him as a 'true warrior' who faced his illness with courage. He is survived by Malgosia, their children Shannon and Karolina, his grandchildren and his brother, actor and director James Keach.
Keach had previously suffered a heart attack onstage in Chicago in June 2017. He was performing in Pamplona, a one-man play about Ernest Hemingway, when the production was stopped.
Stacy Keach's Health
Keach suffered a heart attack on the opening night of Pamplona at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2017. He underwent bypass surgery the following day, and the theatre cancelled the run after doctors advised him to rest and recover. He returned to the role the following year.
In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, Keach said diet and exercise had helped his recovery. He described his health as 'never been better.'
Born in Savannah, Georgia, Keach studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and trained at Yale and in London. His career spanned more than six decades across theatre, television and film. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Buffalo Bill in Arthur Kopit's Indians.
Keach also played Shakespearean roles, including Hamlet and King Lear. His awards included four Drama Desk Awards and two Obie Awards, and he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. In 2006, he played King Lear at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.
From 'Mike Hammer' to 'Blue Bloods'
Keach played private detective Mike Hammer, a character created by crime novelist Mickey Spillane, in several television productions. Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer debuted on CBS in 1984 and earned Keach a Golden Globe nomination. He later reprised the role in The New Mike Hammer, television films and the 1997 series Mike Hammer, Private Eye.
Keach won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ernest Hemingway in the 1988 miniseries Hemingway. His other television roles included Ken Titus in Titus, prison warden Henry Pope in Prison Break, and Kevin Kearns in Blue Bloods.
He appeared as Kearns, first an archbishop and later a cardinal, in about a dozen episodes between 2016 and 2024, alongside Tom Selleck. He also played Robert Vesco in The Blacklist.
His film credits included Fat City (1972), American History X, The Bourne Legacy and Nebraska. He also appeared in Cheech and Chong films as a narcotics officer and narrated programmes including World's Most Amazing Videos.
Arrest, Prison and a Return To Work
In 1984, Keach was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport after cocaine was found in his luggage. He was sentenced to nine months in prison and served six. He later spoke publicly about his addiction, testified before a House panel and visited college campuses and rehabilitation centres to discuss the risks of drug dependence.
After his release, Keach returned to television and film, including in Intimate Strangers and The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. The Hammer series, which had been held back after his arrest, later returned to CBS. In 2019, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Keach married Tomassi, a Polish-born model and actress, in 1986 and became a Polish citizen in 2015.