The Resume

(May 27, 1894-January 10, 1961)
Born in St. Mary's County, Maryland
Birth name was Samuel Dashiell Hammett
Wrote the novels 'Red Harvest' (1929), 'The Dain Curse' (1929), 'The Maltese Falcon' (1930), 'The Glass Key' (1931) and 'The Thin Man' (1934)
Father of the hardboiled detective story

Why he might be annoying:

He joined the Communist party (1937).
He served five months in jail for contempt of court (1951).
He had a 30-year affair with Lillian Hellman.
He wanted to get away from detective fiction and write 'serious' fiction, but never did.
His daughter Jo wrote that drinking 'turned my father maudlin, sarcastic and mean.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He was a former Pinkerton detective who incorporated his experiences into his writing.
'The Maltese Falcon' and 'The Thin Man' became classic films.
He served in World War I and, despite chronic tuberculosis, reenlisted for World War II.
He was blacklisted after refusing to cooperate with Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Raymond Chandler wrote, 'He did over and over again what only the best writers can ever do at all. He wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Blacklisted
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 08]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [May] (Ranked: 5271894)
• Cosmopolitan's 20 Best Escape Novels - Jane Clapperton [1980]
• Famous Campaigns to Get Me Out of Jail
• Golden Girls References
• I Am From Baltimore
• I Did Not Graduate High School [F-I]
• I Died in 1961 (Ranked: 66)
• I Have Lung Cancer
• I Have Tuberculosis
• I Served in Both World Wars
• I Write Pulp Fiction
• I'm a Communist
• I'm Buried at Arlington National Cemetery [Virginia]
• Known By a Middle Name
• Look at Me, I'm Reading
• Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century [1998] (Ranked: 56)
• National Endowment for the Arts’ The Big Read Selections [Authors] (Ranked: 2008)
• NPR's 100 Best Literary Characters of the 20th Century [Authors - 2002] (Ranked: 42)
• NPR's 100 Best Literary Characters of the 20th Century [Authors - 2002] (Ranked: 65)
• Pig Names
• Profiles 21751-22000 (Ranked: 21806)
• Served in World War I
• Served in World War II
• Someone Won an Oscar Portraying Me
• The Thin Man [Film Series]
• Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Novels [Authors]
• Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time (Ranked: 2)
• Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time (Ranked: 31)
• Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time (Ranked: 39)
• Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time (Ranked: 88)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 127 Votes: 66.93% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 11.11% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 22 Votes: 22.73% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 166 Votes: 65.06% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 179 Votes: 78.77% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 136 Votes: 71.32% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 52 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 49 Votes: 46.94% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 29 Votes: 51.72% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 66 Votes: 45.45% Annoying