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Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including '' The Big Sleep '' and '' The Long Goodbye ''. Marlowe first appeared in ''The Big Sleep'', published in 1939. Marlowe appeared in none of Chandler's early Short Stories , though many of his early stories were republished years later with the names of the Protagonist s changed to Philip Marlowe; this change was presumably made with the approval of Chandler. Philip Marlowe's character is foremost within the genre of Hardboiled Crime Fiction that originated in the 1920s, most notably in '' Black Mask '' magazine, in which Dashiell Hammett 's The Continental Op and Sam Spade first appeared. Underneath the wisecracking, hard drinking, tough private eye, Marlowe is quietly contemplative and philosophical. He enjoys Chess and Poetry . While he is not afraid to risk physical harm, he does not dish out violence merely to settle scores. Morally upright, he is not bamboozled by the genre's usual Femmes Fatales , like Carmen Sternwood in ''The Big Sleep''. As Chandler wrote about his detective ideal in general, "I think he might seduce a duchess, and I am quite sure he would not spoil a virgin." Chandler's treatment of the detective novel exhibits a continuing effort to develop the art form. His first full length book, ''The Big Sleep'', was published when Chandler was 51; his last, '' Playback '', when he was 70. All seven novels were produced in the last two decades of his life. All maintain the integrity of Philip Marlowe's character, but each novel has unique qualities of narrative tone, depth and focus that set it apart from the others. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES In a letter to D. J. Ibberson, written April 19 , 1951 , Chandler noted among other things that Marlowe is 38 years old and was born in Santa Rosa , California . He had a couple of years at college and some experience as an investigator for an insurance company and the district attorney's office of Los Angeles County. Marlowe is slightly over six feet (about 185 Centimeters ) tall and weighs about 190 pounds (86 Kilograms / thirteen Stone eight). His office is number 615 on the 6th floor of the Cahuenga Building, which is located on Hollywood Boulevard near Ivar. North Ivar Avenue is between North Cahuenga Boulevard to the west and Vine Street to the east. The office telephone number is GLenview 7537. He smokes and prefers Camels . He drinks '') Marlowe is adept at using liquor to loosen the tongues of people from whom he needs to extract information. An example is in '' The High Window '', when Marlowe finally persuades the detective-lieutenant, whose "solid old face was lined and grey with fatigue", to take a drink and thereby loosen up and give out. "Breeze looked at me very steadily. Then he sighed. Then he picked the glass up and tasted it and sighed again and shook his head sideways with a half smile; the way a man does when you give him a drink and he needs it very badly and it is just right and the first swallow is like a peek into a cleaner, sunnier, brighter world." He makes good coffee, eschewing the use of filters (see '' Farewell My Lovely ''). He takes his coffee with cream in the mornings, but has it black at other times. At the time of writing he was probably carrying a Smith And Wesson .38 Special Revolver with a four-inch barrel. See also Raymond Chandler, ''Novels and Other Writings'' ( Library Of America , 1995, ISBN 1-883011-08-6) for other letters. INFLUENCES AND ADAPTATIONS Marlowe's name may derive from the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe , author of Doctor Faustus ; or from Marlow, a narrator found in Joseph Conrad fiction including the novel '' Heart Of Darkness ''; or from the name of Chandler's house, Marlowe (itself named after the dramatist), at Dulwich College ; from some combination of these three; or from none of the above. Marlowe has been played on the screen by Humphrey Bogart , Robert Montgomery , George Montgomery , Robert Mitchum , Dick Powell , Elliot Gould , Danny Glover , James Garner , and James Caan . In radio, in ''The Adventures of Philip Marlowe'', the character was portrayed by Van Heflin on NBC ( 17 June – 9 September 1947 ) and by Gerald Mohr on CBS ( 26 September 1948 – 15 September 1951 ). 1 Powers Boothe had the title role in the HBO series, ''Philip Marlowe, Private Eye'', which ran from 1984 to 1986. Ed Bishop portrayed Marlowe in BBC Radio 's ''The Adventures of Philip Marlowe''.2 Marlowe has appeared in short stories and novels by writers other than Chandler, such as ''Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe: A Centennial Celebration'' (1988). The central character in the original TV version of Dennis Potter 's '' The Singing Detective '' is crime novelist Philip E. Marlow (portrayed by Michael Gambon ). The female sleuths of the anthology ''Tart Noir'' (Berkeley, 2002 ) are described as "half Philip Marlowe, half femme fatale". MARLOWE BIBLIOGRAPHY Works by Raymond Chandler
Works by others
Film adaptations
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