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Wikipedia

Donald Hamilton

October 17, 2023

For the New Zealand rugby player, see Donald Cameron Hamilton.

Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006)[1] was an American writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction, but also crime fiction and westerns, such as The Big Country. He is best known for his long-running Matt Helm series (1960-1993), which chronicles the adventures of an undercover counter-agent/assassin working for a secret American government agency. The noted critic Anthony Boucher wrote: "Donald Hamilton has brought to the spy novel the authentic hard realism of Dashiell Hammett; and his stories are as compelling, and probably as close to the sordid truth of espionage, as any now being told."[2]

Donald Hamilton
BornDonald Bengtsson Hamilton
(1916-03-24)March 24, 1916
Uppsala, Sweden
DiedNovember 20, 2006(2006-11-20) (aged 90)
United States
OccupationNovelist, writer
LanguageEnglish
NationalitySwedish American
CitizenshipSweden, United States
GenreSpy fiction, non-fiction
Notable worksCreator of Matt Helm

Life Edit

Hamilton was born on March 24, 1916, in Uppsala, Sweden, to Dr. Bengt Leopold Knutsson Hamilton and Elise Franzisca Hamilton (née Neovius). On September 27, 1924, he boarded the S/S Stockholm with his mother and three sisters at the Port of Gothenburg, Sweden; the ship arrived at the Port of New York on October 6, 1924. The family's destination was Boston, Massachusetts, where they joined his father, Doctor Hamilton. Donald attended the University of Chicago (receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1938), and served in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II. He was married to Kathleen Hamilton (née Stick) from 1941 until her death in 1989. The couple had four children: Hugo, Elise, Gordon, and Victoria Hamilton.

A long-time resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For a number of years after leaving Santa Fe he lived on his own yacht, then moved to Sweden, where he lived until his death in 2006. A number of his Matt Helm novels are situated in the Santa Fe area and American Southwest in general; as Hamilton developed an interest in boating, many of the books began to have a nautical component as well.

Hamilton began his writing career in 1946, submitting pieces to fiction magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel, Date With Darkness, was published in 1947; over the next 46 years he published a total of 38 novels. His first three books were published in hardcover by Rinehart. After World War II, American publishers began to experiment with issuing original paperback fiction. Most of his early novels — published between 1954 and 1960 — were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers, whether suspense, spy, or western. The most interesting of them is, arguably, Assignment: Murder, (alternate title: Assassins Have Starry Eyes), in which a mathematician working on the design for a nuclear bomb has to save his kidnapped wife from a group of shadowy villains. Two classic western movies, The Big Country and The Violent Men, were adapted from his western novels (The Big Country and Smoky Valley respectively.)

More substantial was the Matt Helm series, published by Gold Medal, which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books, ending in 1993 with The Damagers. Helm, a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in assassinating Nazis, is drawn back, after 15 years as a civilian, into a post-war world of espionage and assassination. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. Over the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people. Hamilton completed one more Matt Helm novel, The Dominators in 2002, that has not been published.

The noted Golden Age mystery writer John Dickson Carr began reviewing books for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1969, and often praised thrillers of the day. According to Carr's biographer, "Carr found Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm to be 'my favorite secret agent,'" although Hamilton's books had little in common with Carr's. "The explanation may lie in Carr's comment that in espionage novels he preferred Matt Helm's Cloud cuckoo land. Carr never valued realism in fiction."[3]

Hamilton died in his sleep on November 20, 2006.[4] His papers are housed at the Charles E. Young Research Library at the University of California, Los Angeles.[5]

Works Edit

Matt Helm series

Other crime novels

Short stories

Westerns

Non-fiction

Editor

Film adaptations Edit

The Violent Men, 1955; adaptation of Smoky Valley

Five Steps to Danger, 1957; adaptation of The Steel Mirror

The Big Country, 1958; adaptation of The Big Country (Hamilton novel)

General audiences may be more familiar with Matt Helm through a series of popular action-comedy films produced in the late 1960s starring Dean Martin in the title role. These light-hearted films are only very loosely based upon Hamilton's writings, which are much more realistic, gritty and noir.

DreamWorks optioned the film rights to Hamilton's books in 2002 and began planning a more serious adaptation of the Matt Helm novels, but the project is in limbo.

Notes Edit

  1. ^ "Finding Aid for the Donald Hamilton papers, 1945-1995". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  2. ^ Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, by Chris Steinbrunner and Otto Penzler, New York, 1976, page 195.
  3. ^ John Dickson Carr, The Man Who Explained Miracles, by Douglas G. Greene, New York, 1995, page 443.
  4. ^ Pierce, J. Kingston (April 2, 2007). "Donald Hamilton Dies". The Rap Sheet. Retrieved May 27, 2014.[better source needed]
  5. ^ "Finding Aid for the Donald Hamilton papers, 1945-1995". Online Archive of California. University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  6. ^ table of contents

Sources Edit

External links Edit

  • "Donald Hamilton papers, 1945-1995". Online Archive of California. University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  • Matt Helm: The Unofficial Home Page
  • Thriller writer Donald Hamilton
  • Writer at Work: Donald Hamilton, A long article in two parts.

October 17, 2023
donald, hamilton, zealand, rugby, player, donald, cameron, hamilton, donald, bengtsson, hamilton, march, 1916, november, 2006, american, writer, novels, short, stories, fiction, about, outdoors, novels, consist, mostly, paperback, originals, principally, ficti. For the New Zealand rugby player see Donald Cameron Hamilton Donald Bengtsson Hamilton March 24 1916 November 20 2006 1 was an American writer of novels short stories and non fiction about the outdoors His novels consist mostly of paperback originals principally spy fiction but also crime fiction and westerns such as The Big Country He is best known for his long running Matt Helm series 1960 1993 which chronicles the adventures of an undercover counter agent assassin working for a secret American government agency The noted critic Anthony Boucher wrote Donald Hamilton has brought to the spy novel the authentic hard realism of Dashiell Hammett and his stories are as compelling and probably as close to the sordid truth of espionage as any now being told 2 Donald HamiltonBornDonald Bengtsson Hamilton 1916 03 24 March 24 1916Uppsala SwedenDiedNovember 20 2006 2006 11 20 aged 90 United StatesOccupationNovelist writerLanguageEnglishNationalitySwedish AmericanCitizenshipSweden United StatesGenreSpy fiction non fictionNotable worksCreator of Matt Helm Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 Film adaptations 4 Notes 5 Sources 6 External linksLife EditHamilton was born on March 24 1916 in Uppsala Sweden to Dr Bengt Leopold Knutsson Hamilton and Elise Franzisca Hamilton nee Neovius On September 27 1924 he boarded the S S Stockholm with his mother and three sisters at the Port of Gothenburg Sweden the ship arrived at the Port of New York on October 6 1924 The family s destination was Boston Massachusetts where they joined his father Doctor Hamilton Donald attended the University of Chicago receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1938 and served in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II He was married to Kathleen Hamilton nee Stick from 1941 until her death in 1989 The couple had four children Hugo Elise Gordon and Victoria Hamilton A long time resident of Santa Fe New Mexico Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book length collection of them For a number of years after leaving Santa Fe he lived on his own yacht then moved to Sweden where he lived until his death in 2006 A number of his Matt Helm novels are situated in the Santa Fe area and American Southwest in general as Hamilton developed an interest in boating many of the books began to have a nautical component as well Hamilton began his writing career in 1946 submitting pieces to fiction magazines like Collier s Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post His first novel Date With Darkness was published in 1947 over the next 46 years he published a total of 38 novels His first three books were published in hardcover by Rinehart After World War II American publishers began to experiment with issuing original paperback fiction Most of his early novels published between 1954 and 1960 were typical paperback originals of the era fast moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers whether suspense spy or western The most interesting of them is arguably Assignment Murder alternate title Assassins Have Starry Eyes in which a mathematician working on the design for a nuclear bomb has to save his kidnapped wife from a group of shadowy villains Two classic western movies The Big Country and The Violent Men were adapted from his western novels The Big Country and Smoky Valley respectively More substantial was the Matt Helm series published by Gold Medal which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books ending in 1993 with The Damagers Helm a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in assassinating Nazis is drawn back after 15 years as a civilian into a post war world of espionage and assassination He narrates his adventures in a brisk matter of fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor He describes gunfights knife fights torture and off stage sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation Over the course of the series this detachment comes to define Helm s character He is a professional doing a job the job is killing people Hamilton completed one more Matt Helm novel The Dominators in 2002 that has not been published The noted Golden Age mystery writer John Dickson Carr began reviewing books for Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine in 1969 and often praised thrillers of the day According to Carr s biographer Carr found Donald Hamilton s Matt Helm to be my favorite secret agent although Hamilton s books had little in common with Carr s The explanation may lie in Carr s comment that in espionage novels he preferred Matt Helm s Cloud cuckoo land Carr never valued realism in fiction 3 Hamilton died in his sleep on November 20 2006 4 His papers are housed at the Charles E Young Research Library at the University of California Los Angeles 5 Works EditMatt Helm series 1960 Death of a Citizen 1960 The Wrecking Crew 1961 The Removers 1962 The Silencers 1962 Murderer s Row 1963 The Ambushers 1964 The Shadowers 1964 The Ravagers 1965 The Devastators 1966 The Betrayers 1968 The Menacers 1969 The Interlopers 1971 The Poisoners 1973 The Intriguers 1974 The Intimidators 1975 The Terminators 1976 The Retaliators 1977 The Terrorizers 1982 The Revengers 1983 The Annihilators 1984 The Infiltrators 1985 The Detonators 1986 The Vanishers 1987 The Demolishers 1989 The Frighteners 1992 The Threateners 1993 The Damagers 2002 The Dominators unpublished Other crime novels 1947 Date With Darkness 1948 The Steel Mirror 1954 Night Walker 1955 Line of Fire 1956 Assignment Murder Assassins Have Starry Eyes 1980 The Mona InterceptShort stories 1947 Murder Twice Told features two stories Deadfall and The Black Cross 6 Westerns 1954 Smoky Valley 1956 Mad River 1958 The Big Country 1960 The Man From Santa Clara The Two Shoot Gun 1960 Texas Fever 1955 The Violent Men movie adaption Non fiction 1970 On Guns and Hunting 1980 Cruises with KathleenEditor 1967 Iron Men and Silver StarsFilm adaptations EditThe Violent Men 1955 adaptation of Smoky ValleyFive Steps to Danger 1957 adaptation of The Steel MirrorThe Big Country 1958 adaptation of The Big Country Hamilton novel General audiences may be more familiar with Matt Helm through a series of popular action comedy films produced in the late 1960s starring Dean Martin in the title role These light hearted films are only very loosely based upon Hamilton s writings which are much more realistic gritty and noir The Silencers 1966 Murderers Row novel 1966 The Ambushers 1967 The Wrecking Crew 1969DreamWorks optioned the film rights to Hamilton s books in 2002 and began planning a more serious adaptation of the Matt Helm novels but the project is in limbo Notes Edit Finding Aid for the Donald Hamilton papers 1945 1995 oac cdlib org Retrieved 2021 12 26 Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection by Chris Steinbrunner and Otto Penzler New York 1976 page 195 John Dickson Carr The Man Who Explained Miracles by Douglas G Greene New York 1995 page 443 Pierce J Kingston April 2 2007 Donald Hamilton Dies The Rap Sheet Retrieved May 27 2014 better source needed Finding Aid for the Donald Hamilton papers 1945 1995 Online Archive of California University of California Los Angeles Retrieved May 13 2015 table of contentsSources EditJohn Dickson Carr The Man Who Explained Miracles by Douglas G Greene New York 1995 Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection by Chris Steinbrunner and Otto Penzler New York 1976 ISBN 0 07 061121 1External links Edit Donald Hamilton papers 1945 1995 Online Archive of California University of California Los Angeles Retrieved May 13 2015 Matt Helm The Unofficial Home Page Thriller writer Donald Hamilton Writer at Work Donald Hamilton A long article in two parts Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Donald Hamilton amp oldid 1176118330, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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