Sam Spade

Sam Spade
Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in the trailer for The Maltese Falcon
First appearance	The Maltese Falcon
Last appearance	Spade and Archer
Created by	Dashiell Hammett[1]
Portrayed by	Ricardo Cortez Humphrey Bogart Edward G. Robinson Howard Duff Steve Dunne Mike O'Malley Tom Wilkinson Michael Madsen Clive Owen
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Private detective
Spouse	Unnamed wife (deceased)
Children	Sam Spade Jr. (son)
Nationality	American

Sam Spade is a fictional character and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett.^[2]

The Maltese Falcon, first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Black Mask, is the only full-length novel by Hammett in which Spade appears. The character, however, is widely cited as a crystallizing figure in the development of hard-boiled private detective fiction—Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, for instance, was strongly influenced by Spade.

Spade was a departure from Hammett's nameless and less-than-glamorous detective, The Continental Op. Spade combined several features of previous detectives, most notably his detached demeanor, keen eye for detail, and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice.