Nero Wolfe

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Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective created by American author Rex Stout in the 1930s and featured in dozens of novels and novellas for more than 40 years.

In the stories, Wolfe is one of the most famous private detectives in the United States. He weighs "a seventh of a ton" (about 286 pounds<ref>Not an exceptionally massive weight by modern standards partly because of increase in average height and size of the population; present-day fit persons with weights in the 220 pound range are not uncommon among professional athletes</ref>), in Archie Goodwin's words, and is 5'11" tall. He raises orchids in a roof-top greenhouse in his New York City brownstone on West 35th Street <ref>near Penn Station and Madison Square Garden</ref>, helped by his live-in gardener, Theodore Horstmann. Wolfe drinks beer throughout the day and is a gourmand. He employs a Swiss French live-in chef, Fritz Brenner, with whom he confers frequently about up-coming meals. He is multilingual and brilliant, though apparently self-educated, with reading being his third passion after food and orchids. He works from his book-lined office on the ground floor of his brownstone and almost never leaves home, even to pursue the detective work that finances his expensive lifestyle<ref>His orchid raising could also be a business, considering that several stories in the books attach great cost to repairing just the damage to a few of them, but Wolfe steadfastly refuses to sell orchids, although he is not averse to Archie using them to gain the cooperation of women in their investigations, a technique used to great effect in the early Wolfe book The Red Box and much later in Murder by the Book. The orchids are also much admired by Archie's "companion" (the books never quite specify their relationship) Lily Rowan, a fact that Nero Wolfe uses in the story Not Quite Dead Enough when Lily and Goodwin are having a tiff to calm the situation because in that paticular situation Lily, as in a few other stories, is central to the mystery itself</ref> . Instead, his leg work is done by another live-in employee, Archie Goodwin, who is also the first-person narrator of the Wolfe adventures. While both Wolfe and Goodwin are licensed detectives, Goodwin is more of the classic fictional gumshoe, tough, wise-cracking, and skirt-chasing. He tells the stories in a breezy semi-hard-boiled style<ref>Some commentators saw this as a conscious device by Stout to fuse the hard-school of Dashiell Hammett with the urbanity Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. In fact, sole operative Tecumseh Fox, who is perhaps a fusion of the best qualities Wolfe and Goodwin into a real person without Wolfe's collection of idiosyncracies, is arguably a better and more effective fictional character, as evidenced in the novel The Broken Vase, but that was never translated into commercial success, and only 3 books with this character were written, one of which was later adapted in a Wolfe story at the urging of Stout's publisher.</ref>.

Wolfe was born in 1892 or 1893 in Montenegro<ref>This is inferred from assorted information in the earlier stories but never stated. In point of fact, as the years went by, Stout pointedly allowed Wolfe and Archie's ages to advance much less than real time, if at all, except as in the case of the books A Right To Die or The Black Mountain, the books are sequels to books written many years before.</ref>. He is reticent about his youth, but clearly was slim, fit, and daring. Before World War I, he spied for the Austrian Empire, but had a change of heart when the war began. He joined the Serbian-Montenegrin army and fought the Austrians and Germans in some of the grimmest combat of the war. After time in Europe and North Africa, he came to the United States.

In 1956, John D. Clark put forth a theory in the Baker Street Journal that Wolfe was the offspring of an affair between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler (a character from A Scandal in Bohemia). Clark suggested that the two had had an affair in Montenegro in 1892, and that Nero Wolfe was the result. The idea was later co-opted by William S. Baring-Gould, but there is no evidence that Rex Stout had any such connection in mind. Certainly there is no mention of it in any of the stories. Some commentators, noting both physical and psychological resemblances, suggest Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes as a more likely father for Wolfe.

In the course of the stories, Wolfe displays a pronounced, even pathological, dislike for the company of women. Although some readers interpret this attitude as misogyny, various details in the stories, particularly the early ones, suggest it has more to do with an unfortunate encounter in early life with a femme fatale. He avoids not so much women as their perceived frailties, especially a woman having hysterics. In an early Wolfe novel Over My Dead Body, we learn that he has a daughter, albeit adopted, who plays an important part in the 1954 novel The Black Mountain.


Contents

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Bibliography

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Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout

The Nero Wolfe stories are browsable by title on the Nero Wolfe books page, and most of the individual Nero Wolfe titles are part of the Category:Rex Stout books page (except those written by Robert Goldsborough).

  • 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
  • The Rubber Band (1936)
  • The Red Box (1937) — In the midst of a murder investigation, one of the suspects visits Wolfe and begs Wolfe to handle his estate and especially the contents of a certain Red Box. Wolfe is at first concerned about a possible conflict of interest, but feels unable to refuse when the man dies in his office before even telling Wolfe where to find the red box. Naturally the police think he told Wolfe just a little more before inconviently dying. One of the very best of the Wolfe stories. You have more hope than Archie in figuring out the mystery if you remember your French and Latin.
  • Too Many Cooks (1938)
  • Some Buried Caesar (1939)
  • Over My Dead Body (1940) This novel and its much later sequel The Black Mountain concern themselves with Montenegrin (Yugoslavian) politics.
  • Where There's a Will (1940)
  • Black Orchids (1942)
  • Not Quite Dead Enough (1944) Book version of two novellas previously published separately: "Not Quite Dead Enough" and "Booby Trap" (see below).
  • The Silent Speaker (1946)
  • Too Many Women (1947)
  • And Be a Villain (1948) (British: More Deaths than One). This novel, The Second Confession, and In the Best Families (see below) were later published together in the book Triple Zeck: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus (1974) and concern Nero Wolfe's struggle with Arnold Zeck, an organized crime kingpin.
  • 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) Viking Press edition of three Wolfe stories that had previously appeared in the The American Magazine: "Man Alive", "Omit Flowers", and "Doors to Death" (appearing in the Viking volume under the title Door to Death).
  • 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) — A collection of four short novellas, each one connected with a holiday. One involves Wolfe leaving home — without Archie requesting, suggesting, or even knowing about it until long after it has happened.
  • 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)
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Nero Wolfe novellas or novelettes by Rex Stout

  • "Bitter End" (1940)
  • "Black Orchids" (1941)
  • "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" (1942)
  • "Not Quite Dead Enough" (1942) — How Archie joined Army Intelligence in WWII and got Wolfe involved in it. This story was later published, along with "Booby Trap" (see below) in an epynomously named book, in which form it is still available today.
  • "Booby Trap" (1944) — Another story of Archie in uniform, this time involving dealing with attempts by the munitions industry to bribe Congress to steal industrial secrets for use after the war.
  • "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" (1949) First appeared in 1949 in the American Magazine with the title "Doors to Death"; later included in the Viking books Three Doors to Death (1950) (see above) and Five of a Kind: The Third Nero Wolfe Omnibus (1961)
  • "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) — Wolfe is invited by the State Department, at the behest of a ambassador from an oil rich country, to cook a special meal for him at an oil baron's private retreat in the Adirondacks, which naturally could not but result, with Wolfe around, in a death to investigate — now included in the book Three for the Chair.
  • "Window for Death" (1955)
  • "Christmas Party" (1956)
  • "Easter Parade" (1956)
  • "Too Many Detectives" (1956) — Wolfe and Goodwin are called to Albany, along with all the other licensed private detectives in New York when there are complaints about how lax the licensing of detectives in the state is, and how they violate the rights of respectable private citizens by tapping their phones — originally published separately but now included in the book Three for the Chair.
  • "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) — Now published as part of the Trio for Blunt Instruments collection.
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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) — A novel about academic intrigue combined with the attractions and pitfalls of having dedicated groupies as graduate students.
  • The Last Coincidence (1989) — A novel concerning the fallout of the (alleged) date rape of the niece of Lily Rowan, Archie's girlfriend.
  • Fade to Black (1990) — The second of two Wolfe books about the advertising agency. The first was Rex Stout's Before Midnight. Fade to Black has, among other things, material about the Cherokee Trail of Tears and a realistic opportunity for the reader to zero in on the likely culprit without any extra info supplied later by Wolfe.
  • Silver Spire (1992) — A novel concerning the politics of a successful televangelism ministry based in Staten Island.
  • The Missing Chapter (1994) — In retrospect, an explicit farewell to Nero Wolfe by Goldsborough: this novel concerns the murder of a mediocre (at best) continuator of a popular detective series.
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Nero Wolfe books by John T. Lescroart

While not mentioning Wolfe by name, it is strongly hinted in these books that the main character Auguste Lupa (the son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler) later becomes Nero Wolfe.

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Books about Nero Wolfe

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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
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Nero Wolfe Commentaries

The following works may be said to represent Mr. Wolfe's biographies and assessments of his career. They also contain insight into 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
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Wolfe in other media

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Cinema

The Nero Wolfe mysteries inspired two feature films in the 1930s. Meet Nero Wolfe (1936) was an adaptation of the first Wolfe novel, "Fer-de-Lance," and starred Edward Arnold as Wolfe and Lionel Stander as Archie Goodwin. The League of Frightened Men (1937), an adaptation of the second Wolfe novel, starred Walter Connolly as Wolfe, with Stander repeating his role as Goodwin. Reviews of these two movies were generally lukewarm, and Rex Stout disliked the way his characters were portrayed. For the rest of his life, he declined to authorize any more Hollywood adaptations.

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Radio

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

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Television

Rex Stout, disappointed in the Nero Wolfe movies of the 1930s and unimpressed with television in general, vetoed Nero Wolfe film and TV projects in America until his death in 1975. 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 played Wolfe and Lee Horsley played Goodwin in a short-lived television series.

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

Hutton had a strong creative hand in the A&E series, producing and directing some episodes. It was certainly the most accurate adaptation of the Wolfe stories ever seen on American television. The episodes followed the plots of the stories closely, but unlike previous Wolfe shows, they were not updated to contemporary times. They were colorful period pieces, set in a somewhat vague past (the 1940s to the early '60s). Whether Rex Stout would have liked this approach or not, the production values were high. Media critics and fans of the books generally had good things to say about the show. But people who had not read the books, especially viewers who knew Wolfe only through the rather pedestrian William Conrad series, responded less favorably.

One distinguishing feature of the series was the use of an ensemble cast to play non-recurring characters. The same actor who played the murder victim in one episode might play the murderer in another. Sometimes an actor, using a wig or other such disguise, would play two characters in one episode. Kari Matchett had a recurring role as Archie Goodwin's sometime girlfriend Lily Rowan while frequently playing other characters as well. This was intended to mimic the experience of watching a play put on by a repertory company, as might have been done in the early 20th century.

Between 1969 and 1971, the Italian network RAI broadcast 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.

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.

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Notes

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External links

it:Nero Wolfe

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