Dashiell Hammett Biography

Hammett grew up in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Leaving school at 14, to help support his family, he did odd jobs until joining the Pinkerton Detective Agency at 20.

As an ambulance man in World War I, Hammett contracted tuberculosis and suffered ill health for the rest of his life. Invalided out of the army, Hammett returned to the Pinkerton, and supplemented his income writing adverts for a San Francisco jewellery store.

Black Mask published Hammett’s first short story in 1923, under the pseudonym Peter Collinson. The protagonist was a short, fat unnamed detective working for an agency known as The Continental Op. From his experience at Pinkertons’, Hammett created a believable and gritty detective hero.

A new private eye, Sam Spade, became Hammett’s central character after 1929. The Spade stories – the most famous of which is 'The Maltese Falcon' - were told in the third person in a detached, journalistic tone, leaving all the judgements to the reader. Spade became the archetypal American private eye, thanks to Humphrey Bogart’s portrayal of him in the 1941 film.

Hammett’s career as a novelist only lasted until 1934, with the publication of 'The Thin Man', after which he concentrated on writing scripts, drinking, womanising and attending Communist party rallies.

He was later grilled for his politics by Senator McCarthy’s infamous committee and sentenced to five months in prison for refusing to testify against fellow Communists.

He was blacklisted and harassed by the authorities and, as a result, he died penniless.