Sam Spade

Sam Spade is a fictional character who was the leading character in the novel The Maltese Falcon (1930) and the various movies and adaptations based on it. The fictional character was created by Dashiell Hammett, and the novel was first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Black Mask.

Sam Spade is most closely associated with actor Humphrey Bogart, who played the character in the third and most famous filmed version of The Maltese Falcon. Although Bogart failed to dye his hair blonde as called for in the novel, and was considered too small and dark for the role (and was even slighted for not playing enough of a lecher), his Spade turned out to be the archetypal private detective. His character has influenced film noir characters ever since.

Spade was played by Ricardo Cortez in the pre-code first filmed version (1931). (An attempt to re-release the film in 1936 was denied approval by the Production Code Office due to the film's "lewd" content.)

In the second filmed version, Satan Met a Lady (1936), a comedy, the central character was renamed Ted Shane and was played by Warren William.

On the radio, Sam Spade was played by Edward G. Robinson in a 1943 Lux Radio Theatre production, and by Bogart in a 1946 Academy Award Theatre production, both on CBS. A 1946-1951 radio show called the The Adventures of Sam Spade (on ABC, CBS, and NBC), starred Howard Duff (and later, Steve Dunne), and took a considerably more tongue-in-cheek approach to the character.

George Segal played Sam Spade, Jr., son of the original, in the film spoof, The Black Bird (1975).

• The Maltese Falcon (1930)
  • Serialized in 5 parts, in the September 1929 to January 1930 issues of Black Mask

• "A Man Called Spade" (1932, The American Magazine; also collected in A Man Named Spade and Other Stories)
• "Too Many Have Lived" (1932, The American Magazine; also collected in A Man Named Spade and Other Stories)
• "They Can Only Hang You Once" (1932, The American Magazine; also in A Man Named Spade and Other Stories)

• A Man Named Spade and Other Stories (1944) (contains three Sam Spade stories from The American Magazine -- listed above)

• The Maltese Falcon (1931, Warner Brothers) (AKA Dangerous Female), starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade
• Satan Met a Lady (1936, Warner Brothers), starring Warren William as Ted Shane, a character based on Sam Spade
• The Maltese Falcon (1941, Warner Brothers), starring Humphrey Bogart
• The Black Bird (1975, Columbia), starring George Segal as Sam Spade, Jr.

• Lux Radio Theatre: "The Maltese Falcon" (1943, CBS) - a 60 minute version of the novel, starring Edward G. Robinson as Sam Spade and Laird Cregar as Casper Gutman
• Academy Award Theatre: "The Maltese Falcon" (1946, CBS) - 30 minute version of the story, starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sidney Greenstreet
• Suspense: "The Khandi Tooth Caper" (January 10, 1948? episode) - 60 minutes, starring Howard Duff
• The Adventures of Sam Spade, starring Howard Duff and Steve Dunne as Sam Spade
  • The Adventures of Sam Spade (1946, ABC) - 13 30-minute episodes
  • The Adventures of Sam Spade (1946-49, CBS) - 157 30-minute episodes
  • The Adventures of Sam Spade (1949-50, NBC) - 51 30-minute episodes
  • The Adventures of Sam Spade (1950-51, NBC) - 24 30-minute episodes

• The Maltese Falcon (1946, Feature Books #48, David McKay Publications) Artist: Rodlow Willard
• Sam Spade Wildroot Hair Tonic Ads (1950's)
  • Single page comic strips, appeared in newspapers, magazines, comic books. Tie-in with radio show The Adventures of Sam Spade, which Wildroot also sponsored. Artist: Lou Fine.

• In the television series Without a Trace, Poppy Montgomery plays the role of an FBI agent named Samantha "Sam" Spade

• Thrilling Detective Website