of an illustration by Austin Briggs
in The Saturday Evening Post
(June 21, 1958) that began the three-part serialization of Rex Stout's
"Frame-Up for Murder"
Archie Goodwin is a fictional character and detective in Rex Stout's mysteries about Nero Wolfe. The witty voice of all the stories, he recorded the cases of the detective genius from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975 (A Family Affair).
Character
Born in Ohio. Public high school, pretty good at geometry and football, graduated with honor but no honors. Went to college two weeks, decided it was childish, came to New York and got a job guarding a pier, shot and killed two men and was fired, was recommended to Nero Wolfe for a chore he wanted done, did it, was offered a full-time job by Mr. Wolfe, took it, still have it.
– Archie Goodwin addressing the suspects in "Fourth of July Picnic" (1957)
Archie is Wolfe's live-in employee and partner in the private investigation business Wolfe runs out of his brownstone townhouse in New York City. Wolfe rarely leaves the house, so Archie does most of the actual investigating, followed by reporting his findings to Wolfe, who solves the mystery. It is not difficult for Archie to make either written or oral reports, because he has total recall of what he has heard, and he is an excellent typist, although he has a tendency to be inconsistent in some respects (notably as regards his own background). He also does Wolfe's bookkeeping and banking, types his correspondence, and keeps the germination and other records for the orchids Wolfe raises as a hobby. Archie's hobbies include dancing (usually at the Flamingo), poker, and baseball. He was a fan of the New York Giants until they relocated to San Francisco in 1957, then later became a fan of the New York Mets when that team was founded in 1962.
Although he is from the American Midwest, Archie has the "street smarts" to handle just about any situation he finds himself in, and he knows New York City like the back of his hand. He has a long-time social relationship with Lily Rowan, a wealthy society woman, but they do not try to limit each other's social lives.
Unlike his employer, Archie's only eccentricity is a deep love of milk.
When Wolfe leaves the brownstone after escalating threats from villain Arnold Zeck, Archie rents an office of his own and works as an independent detective. During this time, he manages to earn more than Wolfe had paid him—not that he needs the money, but as a matter of principle to convince himself his long-term loyalty to Wolfe was not due to any inability to function on his own. Naturally, after Archie and Wolfe have arranged for one of Zeck's victims to kill Zeck, they return to their prior relationship with a deepened appreciation for their mutual loyalties.
Actors who have played Archie Goodwin
- Lionel Stander in the Columbia Pictures feature films Meet Nero Wolfe (1936) and The League of Frightened Men (1937)
- Elliot Lewis in the 1940s radio series
- Gerald Mohr in the 1950s radio series
- Wally Maher in the 1950s radio series
- Harry Bartell in the 1950s radio series
- Herb Ellis in the 1950s radio series
- Larry Dobkin in the 1950s radio series
- Joachim Fuchsberger in the 1961 German TV movie
- Paolo Ferrari in the 1969–1971 Italian TV series
- Tom Mason in the 1977 TV movie Nero Wolfe
- Lee Horsley in the 1981 TV series Nero Wolfe
- Don Francks in the 1982 Canadian radio series Nero Wolfe
- Sergei Zhigunov in the 2000 Russian Wolfe TV movies
- Timothy Hutton in the A&E TV movie The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000) and the 2001–2002 series A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Trivia
- In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series by Lawrence Block, Bernie's friend Carolyn Kaiser owns a cat named Archie Goodwin, named after the detective.
- Archie is from Chillicothe, Ohio.
External links
- The Wolfe Pack, official site of the Nero Wolfe Society
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
