Nero Wolfe

From Freepedia

Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective created by the prolific American author Rex Stout in the 1930s and featured in dozens of books and short stories (many of which were later collected into books). Wolfe, probably the best-known consulting detective after Sherlock Holmes, was born in 1892 or 1893 in Montenegro and fought in World War I against the Germans. He weighs about 285 pounds and is 5'11" tall. He raises orchids as a hobby in a rooftop greenhouse in his New York City brownstone rowhouse on West 35th Street with the help of his employee Theodore Horstmann, drinks copious amounts of beer throughout the day and is a gourmand (and so employs a live-in cook, Fritz Brenner), and almost never leaves his house (where his office is). His leg-work is done by another live-in employee, Archie Goodwin, who is also a licensed detective.

The idea that Nero Wolfe was the product of an affair between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler (whom Holmes always called "the Woman") in Montenegro in 1892 and was subsequently born in Trenton, New Jersey, instead of Montenegro, was put forth in the Baker Street Journal in 1956 by John D. Clark, and later co-opted by William S. Baring-Gould. The actual creators of Wolfe and Holmes had no such connection in mind. Stout, who had the opportunity to accept or reject the suggestion, did neither. Others, noting both physical and psychological resemblances, suggest Mycroft Holmes as Wolfe's father rather than Sherlock.

Image:Nero wolfe stamp.jpg

Contents

Bibliography

Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout

  • Fer-de-Lance (1934) — 1st Nero Wolfe mystery & 1936 movie: Meet Nero Wolfe
  • The League of Frightened Men (1935) — 1937 movie: The League of Frightened Men
  • Rubber Band (1936)
  • Red Box (1937)
  • Too Many Cooks (1938)
  • Some Buried Caesar (1939)
  • Over My Dead Body (1940)
  • Where There's a Will (1940)
  • Black Orchids (1942)
  • Not Quite Dead Enough (1944)
  • The Silent Speaker (1946)
  • Too Many Women (1947)
  • And Be a Villain (1948) (British: More Deaths than One)
  • The Second Confession (1949)
  • Trouble in Triplicate (1949)
  • Curtains for Three (1950)
  • In the Best Families (1950) (British: Even in the Best Families)
  • Three Doors to Death (1950)
  • Murder by the Book (1951)
  • Prisoner's Base (1952) (British: Out Goes She)
  • Triple Jeopardy (1952)
  • The Golden Spiders (1953)
  • The Black Mountain (1954)
  • Three Men Out (1954)
  • Before Midnight (1955)
  • Might As Well Be Dead (1956)
  • Three Witnesses (1956)
  • If Death Ever Slept (1957)
  • Three for the Chair (1957)
  • And Four to Go (1958)
  • Champagne for One (1958)
  • Plot It Yourself (1959) (British: Murder in Style)
  • Three at Wolfe's Door (1960)
  • Too Many Clients (1960)
  • The Final Deduction (1961)
  • Gambit (1962)
  • Homicide Trinity (1962)
  • The Mother Hunt (1963)
  • A Right to Die (1964)
  • Trio for Blunt Instruments (1964)
  • The Doorbell Rang (1965) — 1977 movie (pilot for tv series): Nero Wolfe
  • Death of a Doxy (1966)
  • The Father Hunt (1968)
  • Death of a Dude (1969)
  • Please Pass the Guilt (1973)
  • Three Trumps (1973)
  • A Family Affair (1975) — last Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout
  • Death Times Three (1985)

Nero Wolfe short stories by Rex Stout

  • "Bitter End" (1940)
  • "Black Orchids" (1941)
  • "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" (1942)
  • "Not Quite Dead Enough" (1942)
  • "Booby Trap" (1944)
  • "Help Wanted, Male" (1945)
  • "Instead of Evidence" (1946)
  • "Before I Die" (1947)
  • "Man Alive" (1947)
  • "Bullet for One" (1948)
  • "Omit Flowers" (1948)
  • "Gun with Wings" (1949)
  • "Disguise for Murder" (1950)
  • "Door to Death" (1950)
  • "Cop-Killer" (1951)
  • "Home to Roost" (1951)
  • "Invitation to Murder" (1952)
  • "Squirt and the Monkey" (1952)
  • "Zero Clue" (1952)
  • "This Won't Kill You" (1953)
  • "Next Witness" (1954)
  • "When a Man Murders" (1954)
  • "Die like a Dog" (1955)
  • "Immune to Murder" (1955)
  • "Window for Death" (1955)
  • "Christmas Party" (1956)
  • "Easter Parade" (1956)
  • "Too Many Detectives" (1956)
  • "Fourth of July Picnic" (1957)
  • "Murder Is No Joke" (1957)
  • "Frame-Up for Murder" (1958)
  • "Method Three for Murder" (1960)
  • "Poison a la Carte" (1960)
  • "Rodeo Murder" (1960)
  • "Assault on a Brownstone" (1961) — earlier version of "Counterfeit for Murder" (not actually published until 1985)
  • "Counterfeit for Murder" (1961)
  • "Death of a Demon" (1961)
  • "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo" (1961)
  • "Kill Now—Pay Later" (1961)
  • "Blood Will Tell" (1963)
  • "Murder Is Corny" (1963)

Nero Wolfe books by Robert Goldsborough

  • Murder in E-Minor (1986) — 1st Nero Wolfe novel by Robert Goldsborough
  • Death on Deadline (1987)
  • The Bloodied Ivy (1988)
  • The Last Coincidence (1989)
  • Fade to Black (1990)
  • Silver Spire (1992)
  • The Missing Chapter (1994)

Books about Nero Wolfe

Biographies of Rex Stout

  • Bourne, Michael, Rex Stout: An Informal Interview, in Corsage, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers.
  • McAleer, John J, Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life with foreword by P. G. Wodehouse, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers, 2002. (A reprint, with additional forewords, of Rex Stout: A Biography, Little, Brown, 1977.)
  • McAleer, John J, Royal Decree - Conversations with Rex Stout Pontes Press, Ashton, MD, 1983.
  • McAleer, John J, Queens Counsel - Conversations with Ruth Stout on her brother Rex Stout Pontes Press, Ashton, MD, 1987.
  • McAleer, John J, Rex Stout Journals Pontes Press, Ashton, MD, 1987.

No. 1 - Autumn, 1984 No. 2 - Spring, 1985 No. 3 - Autumn, 1985 No. 3 - Spring, 1986

  • Townsend, Guy M. (Editor) with McAleer, John, J. and Sapp, Judson C. and Schemer, Arriean, Rex Stout An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography, Garland, 1980

Nero Wolfe Commentaries

Mr. Wolfe's Biographies and career assessments may perhaps be said to be represented with the following works. However, these also contain insight into Mr. Stout's career.

  • Anderson, David R., Rex Stout, Frederick Ungar, 1983
  • Baring-Gould, William S., Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street, Viking, 1969
  • Darby, Ken, The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe, Little, Brown, 1983
  • Gotwald, Rev. Frederick G., The Nero Wolfe Handbook, Revised, 2000
  • Gotwald, Rev. Frederick G., Nero Wolfe Commentaries
  • Kaye, Marvin, Editor The Nero Wolfe Files: From The Wolfe Pack Gazettes Wildside Press, Publishers, 2005 (First of a two volume Anthology)
  • McBride, O. E., A Stout Fellow iUniverse, Incorporated, 2003
  • Stout, Rex & The Editors of Viking Press, The Nero Wolfe Cook Book, Viking Press, 1987
  • Symons, Julian; Adams, Tom (Illustrator) Great Detectives, Harry N. Abrams, 1981
  • Van Dover, J. Kenneth, At Wolfe's Door -- The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers, 2003 (A reprint, with additional material, of the original, Borgo Press, 1991).
  • Van Dover, J. Kenneth, At Wolfe's Door -- The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout, The Borgo Press, 1991

Wolfe in other media

Cinema

The Nero Wolfe mysteries have been turned into several movies, including Meet Nero Wolfe (1936), an adaptation of the first Wolfe novel starring Edward Arnold as Wolfe and Lionel Stander as Archie Goodwin, and The League of Frightened Men (1937), an adaptation of the second Wolfe novel starring Walter Connolly and Lionel Stander.

Radio

A number of radio series have been made based on the Nero Wolfe stories:

Television

In 1977, Thayer David, Tom Mason, and Brooke Adams starred in a telemovie based on "The Doorbell Rang", intended as the pilot episode for a television series that did not eventuate, it was held back for release until 1979 due to the death of Thayer David shortly after filming.

In 1981, William Conrad and Lee Horsley starred in a short-lived television series.

In 2001, Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton starred in The Golden Spiders, an telemovie adaptation of the 1953 story of the same name. This led to an ongoing series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, which played for two seasons before being cancelled. Both seasons are available on DVD as two boxed sets (the telemovie bundled with the second).

Between 1969 and 1971, the Italian network RAI broadcasted a successful series of black and white telemovies starring Tino Buazzelli (Nero Wolfe), Paolo Ferrari (Archie Goodwin), Pupo De Luca (Fritz Brenner) and Renzo Palmer (Inspector Cramer). Ten episodes of this series are currently (2004) available on DVD. Tino Buazzelli is depicted in the San Marino stamp, above.

The German-made mini-series of Too Many Cooks (Zu viele Köche, 1961) has some information available on the Internet Movie database: [1]. Heinz Klevenow starred as Nero Wolfe and Joachim Fuchsberger as Archie Goodwin.

The Russian Wolfe TV movies were made in 2001-2002. The teleplay for the series was written by Vladimir Valutskiy who had previously written the Russian Sherlock Holmes TV series (around 1980). The IMDB link for more information: [2]. Nero Wolfe is played by Donatas Banionis and Archie Goodwin by Sergei Zhigunov.

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Nero_Wolfe.html"


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