Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006) was an American

writer of novels A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally

spy fiction Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intellige ...

, but also

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

s, such as ''

The Big Country ''The Big Country'' is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler, starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Burl Ives. The supporting cast features Charles Bickford and Chuck Connors. Filmed in ...

''. He is best known for his long-running

Matt Helm Matt Helm is a fictional character created by American author Donald Hamilton (1916-2006). Helm is a U.S. government counter-agent, a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of ...

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 William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

wrote: "Donald Hamilton has brought to the spy novel the authentic hard realism of

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade (' ...

; and his stories are as compelling, and probably as close to the sordid truth of espionage, as any now being told."

Life

Hamilton was born on March 24, 1916, in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

, 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 The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

(receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1938), and served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

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 Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label= Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “S ...

, 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 ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Coll ...

'' and ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

''. 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 Rinehart may refer to: People *Buck Rinehart (1946–2015), American politician *Cowboy Slim Rinehart (1911–1948), American singer *Frank Rinehart (1861–1928), American artist *Gina Rinehart (born 1954), Australian businesswoman *James Rineh ...

. 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 A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bo ...

has to save his kidnapped wife from a group of shadowy villains. Two classic western movies, ''

'' and ''

The Violent Men ''The Violent Men'' is a 1955 American Western film directed by Rudolph Maté and starring Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Dianne Foster, Brian Keith, and May Wynn. Based on the 1955 novel '' Smoky Valley'' by Donald Hamilton, ...

'', 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 The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Go ...

mystery writer

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and i ...

began reviewing books for ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...

'' 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 Cloud cuckoo land is a state of absurdly, over-optimistic fantasy or an unrealistically idealistic state of mind where everything appears to be perfect. Someone who is said to "live in cloud cuckoo land" is a person who thinks that things th ...

. Carr never valued realism in fiction." Hamilton died in his sleep on November 20, 2006. His papers are housed at the

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

Works

-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 ''The Shadowers'' is a novel by Donald Hamilton first published in 1964, continuing the exploits of assassin Matt Helm Matt Helm is a fictional character created by American author Donald Hamilton (1916-2006). Helm is a U.S. government counte ...

'' * 1964 '' The Ravagers'' * 1965 '' The Devastators'' * 1966 ''

The Betrayers ''The Betrayers'' is the tenth novel in the Matt Helm spy series by Donald Hamilton, which originated with ''Death of a Citizen'' in 1960. This novel was first published in 1966. It was reissued in 2014 by Titan Books. Up to this point, Hamilton ...

'' * 1968 '' The Menacers'' * 1969 '' The Interlopers'' * 1971 '' The Poisoners'' * 1973 '' The Intriguers'' * 1974 '' The Intimidators'' * 1975 ''

The Terminators ''The Terminators'' by Donald Hamilton is a spy novel first published in April 1975. It was the sixteenth episode in the Matt Helm series and was the first of the Helm books to portray him, on its cover, as a long-haired, side-burned citizen of ...

'' * 1976 '' The Retaliators'' * 1977 ''

The Terrorizers ''The Terrorizers'' was the eighteenth novel in the Matt Helm secret agent novel series by Donald Hamilton. It was first published in 1977. Following the publication of this book, Hamilton put his longtime character on hiatus; the next Matt Helm ...

'' * 1982 '' The Revengers'' * 1983 '' The Annihilators'' * 1984 ''

The Infiltrators ''The Infiltrators'' was the twenty-first novel in the spy series Matt Helm by Donald Hamilton Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006) was an American writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the out ...

'' * 1985 ''

The Detonators ''The Detonators'', published in 1985, is a novel in the long-running secret agent series ''Matt Helm'' by Donald Hamilton Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006) was an American writer of novels, short stories, ...

'' * 1986 ''

The Vanishers ''The Vanishers'' is a 1986 spy novel by Donald Hamilton. It is the twenty-third book in a series of novels featuring the adventures of assassin Matt Helm Matt Helm is a fictional character created by American author Donald Hamilton (1916-200 ...

'' * 1987 ''

The Demolishers ''The Demolishers'', published in 1987, is a novel in the long-running secret agent series Matt Helm by Donald Hamilton. Plot summary After Matt Helm's son is killed by a terrorist bomb, Helm goes on a mission of revenge against those responsibl ...

'' * 1989 '' The Frighteners'' * 1992 '' The Threateners'' * 1993 '' The Damagers'' * 2002 '' The Dominators'' (unpublished) Non Series Crime Novels * 1947 '' Date With Darkness'' * 1948 '' The Steel Mirror'' * 1954 ''

Night Walker ''Night Walker'' is a 1954 spy novel by Donald Hamilton. It was first serialized in Collier's Magazine in 1951 as ''Mask for Danger''. Plot summary Navy Lt. David Young hitches a ride with a friendly stranger and wakes up in a hospital bed with ...

'' * 1955 '' Line of Fire'' * 1956 '' Assignment: Murder / Assassins Have Starry Eyes'' * 1980 ''The Mona Intercept'' Short Stories * 1947 '' Murder Twice Told'' (features 2 stories, ''Deadfall'' and ''The Black Cross'')table of contents Westerns * 1954 ''

Smoky Valley ''Smoky Valley'' is a western novel by Donald Hamilton. Plot summary John Parrish doesn't run, even when the local land baron tries to burn him out of his home. The former soldier has to stay alive long enough to outwit his enemies. Film adapta ...

'' * 1956 '' Mad River'' * 1958 ''

'' * 1960 '' The Man From Santa Clara / The Two-Shoot Gun'' * 1960 ''

Texas Fever Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or ''Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ti ...

'' * 1955 ''

'' (movie adaption) Non Fiction * 1970 '' On Guns and Hunting'' * 1980 '' Cruises with Kathleen'' Editor * 1967 ''

Iron Men and Silver Stars ''Iron Men and Silver Stars'' is a collection of western novel, western short stories edited by Donald Hamilton. Hamilton's short story contribution, The Guns of William Longley, won the 1967 Western Writers of America Spur Award for Spur Award f ...

Film adaptations

'', 1955; adaptation of ''

'' ''

Five Steps to Danger ''5 Steps to Danger'' is a 1957 American film noir crime film directed, produced, and co–written by Henry S. Kesler. It stars Ruth Roman and Sterling Hayden, with a cast that also included Werner Klemperer, Richard Gaines, Charles Davis, Je ...

'', 1957; adaptation of '' The Steel Mirror'' ''

'', 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 Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

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'', 1969 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

Sources

* ''John Dickson Carr, The Man Who Explained Miracles'', by Douglas G. Greene, New York, 1995 *''Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection'', by

Chris Steinbrunner Peter Christian Steinbrunner (1934 – 7 July 1993) was an American author, broadcaster and historian specializing in detective film and fiction.

and

Otto Penzler Otto Penzler (born July 8, 1942) is a German-born American editor of mystery fiction, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Biography Born in Germany to a German-American mother and a German father, Penzler moved to The B ...

, New York, 1976,

External links

*
Matt Helm: The Unofficial Home Page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Donald 1916 births 2006 deaths American non-fiction outdoors writers American spy fiction writers American thriller writers Western (genre) writers Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico 20th-century American novelists American male novelists People from Uppsala Swedish emigrants to the United States University of Chicago alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers United States Navy reservists