Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961)

Death: 10th January 1961
Location: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA Plot: Section 12, Lot 508, Grid Y/Z-23
Cause of death: Cancer - Lung
Photo taken by: Wayne
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American author of hard-boiled detective fiction, best remembered for creating the character Sam Spade, who was famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the 1941 film adaptation of the The Maltese Falcon.

Hammett was born in Maryland and left school aged thirteen. He had several jobs before working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency between 1915 and 1921. During the First World War he joined the US Army and served in the Ambulance Corp, however he spent a large part of the War in hospital in America after contracting Spanish Flu and then tuberculosis.
After leaving the Pinkerton Detective Agency he turned to writing, his time with the agency serving as inspiration. In 1931 he began an affair with the playwright Lillian Hellman, this lasted for thirty years.
He wrote his final novel in 1934 before devoting the rest of his life to activism, joining the American Communist Party in 1937. He enlisted into the US Army in 1942, even though he was a disabled veteran of World War One. During the 1950’s he was investigated by the US Congress and was blacklisted after he refused to name other American Communists.

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