Rex Stout
(1886-1975)
"Compose yourself, Archie. Why taunt me? Why upbraid me? I am merely a genius, not a god."
--Nero Wolfe humbly confesses, in Fer-de-Lance.
 At first glance, Rex Stout's NERO WOLFE might seem out of place among the hard-bitten, world-weary, pavement-pounding P.I.s to which this site is usually devoted. Massively overweight, a cranky, agoraphobic and sedentary gourmet who virtually never leaves his Manhattan brownstone, Wolfe is in nearly every sense an armchair detective. And yet, Stout provided a real shot in the arm to the then-fledgling genre when he published his first Nero wolfe novel in 1934.
Wolfe and his investigator/bodyguard/secretary ARCHIE GOODWIN are just as much "eyes" as their predecessors Holmes and Watson – but with a big helping of the American P.I. genes that defined the sub-genre.
Over Wolfe's 40-year literary lifespan (with several additional adventures written by Robert Goldsborough in the 1980s), the fat genius and his sharp-eyed, smart-mouthed assistant bring down murderers, blackmailers, wartime traitors, and even (on one memorable occasion) leave J. Edgar Hoover out in the snow. These are men who make a good living at a difficult and dangerous business, not minor lords, plucky spinsters or churchmen who just happened to be at the garden party when the butler was stabbed.
Rex Stout was born in Indiana in 1886 to Quaker parents and raised in Kansas and by most accounts was quite the precocious child, reading the Bible cover to cover (twice!) before he was four, and becoming state spelling champion at the age of thirteen. After a brief time at Kansas University, he joined the navy, and served on President Roosevelt's yacht from 1906 to 1908. He worked as a bookkeeper, a salesman, a hotel manager and a store clerk, while trying to crack the burgeoning pulp market, cranking out tales of science fiction, romance and adventure. Ever practical, Stout teamed up with his brother, and established a business whose success would enable him to continue with his writing.
The first of his forty-seven Nero Wolfe books, Fer-de-Lance was published in 1934, to much popular and critical acclaim, and by the start of World War II, Stout was a full-time writer. He was also a tireless promoter of the war effort, banking on his popularity by giving speeches, hosting radio shows and chairing the Writers War Board. After the war he actively worked for groups including Friends for Democracy, Society for the Prevention of World War III and Writers Board for World Government. Not surprisingly McCarthy's HUAC committee came sniffing around, but Stout managed to avoid appearing before them. Stout also served several terms as an officer of the Authors' League of America and one term as president of the Mystery Writers of America. In 1958 he was honored with the MWA Grand Master Award.
One thing which does set the Wolfe books apart from many others in the P.I. genre is their somewhat bouncy tone; the stories usually have reasonably happy endings. In fact, Stout's last Nero Wolfe novel, A Family Affair, written at the height of the Watergate scandal, is probably the darkest of the Wolfe stories. Stout seems to have been mightily ticked off at Nixon and his cronies.
Besides books featuring private eyes Dol Bonner, Alphabet Hicks and Tecumseh Fox, Stout wrote several non-series books, including Under the Andes (1914), How Like a God (1929), and the political thriller The President Vanishes (1934).
NOVELS
     
SHORT STORIES
- "Bitter End" (November 1940, The American Magazine; reworking of "Double For Death," the first Tecumseh Fox novel; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" (April 1942, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Not Quite Dead Enough" (December 1942, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Will To Murder" (The American Magazine; aka "Invitation to Murder"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Black Orchids" (1942, Black Orchids; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Booby Trap" (August 1944, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Help Wanted, Male" (August 1945, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Instead of Evidence" (May 1946, The American Magazine; aka "Murder on Tuesday;" Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Before I Die" (April 1947, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Man Alive" (December 1947, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Bullet for One" (July 1948, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Omit Flowers" (November 1948, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Door to Death" (June 1949, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "The Gun with Wings" (December 1949, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Disguise for Murder" (September 1950, The American Magazine; aka "The Twisted Scarf," included in Curtains For Three; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Cop Killer" (February 1951, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "See No Evil" (August 1951, The American Magazine; aka "The Squirt and the Monkey"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Home to Roost" (January 1952, The American Magazine; aka "Nero Wolfe and the Communist Killer"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "This Will Kill You" (September 1952, The American Magazine; aka "This Won't Kill You"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Scared to Death" (December 1953, The American Magazine; aka "The Zero Clue"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "When a Man Murders" (May 1954, The American Magazine; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "The Body in the Hall" (December 1954, The American Magazine; aka "Die Like a Dog"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "The Last Witness" (May 1955, The American Magazine; aka "The Next Witness"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Immune to Murder" (November 1955, American Magazine; also 1957, Three For the Chair; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Nero Wolfe and the Vanishing Chair" (May 1956, American Magazine; aka "A Window For Death," included in Three For the Chair; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Too Many Detectives" (September 14, 1956, Colliers; included in Three For the Chair; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Christmas Party" (January 4, 1957, Colliers; aka "The Christmas Party Murder," included in And Four To Go; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Easter Parade" (April 19, 1957, Look; aka "The Easter Parade Murder"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Fourth of July Picnic" (July 9, 1957, Look; aka "The Labor Union Murder"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Murder Is No Joke" (February 14, 1958, And Four To Go; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Frame-Up for Murder" (1958, The Saturday Evening Post; published in three parts in the June 21, June 28 and July issues; expanded from "Murder Is No Joke"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Method Three for Murder" (January 30, 1960, The Saturday Evening Post; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Poison à la Carte" (1960, Three at Wolfe's Door; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "The Rodeo Murder" (1960; Three at Wolfe's Door; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Counterfeit for Murder" (January 14, 1961, The Saturday Evening Post; aka "Counterfeiter's Knife"; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Death of a Demon" (June 10, 1961, The Saturday Evening Post; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo" (March 1962, EQMM; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Kill Now - Pay Later" (December 9, 1962, The Saturday Evening Post; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Murder Is Corny" (1962, The Saturday Evening Post; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Blood Will Tell" (December 1963, EQMM; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- "Assault on a Brownstone" (1985, Death Times Three; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
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- NOTES
- "Assault on a Brownstone" was a never published early version of "Counterfeit for Murder". Having finished the story Stout was displeased with it, and reworked it, keeping only a few starting pages and even changing who gets murdered. It was eventually published posthomously in Death Times Three (1985).
COLLECTIONS
- Black Orchids (1942; AKA The Case of the Black Orchids; two stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)...Buy this book
Some paperback editions contain only the title story.
- Not Quite Dead Enough (1944, two stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)...Buy this book
- Trouble in Triplicate (1949, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Three Doors to Death (1950, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Curtains for Three (1951, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Triple Jeopardy (1952, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Three Men Out (1954, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Three Witnesses (1956, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Three for the Chair (1957, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin) ...Buy this book
- And Four To Go (1958, four stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Three at Wolfe's Door (1960, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Homicide Trinity (1962, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Trio for Blunt Instruments (1964, three stories; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
- Death Times Three (1985, three stories; published posthumously; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
COMIC STRIP
- NERO WOLFE
Written by John Broome (credited to Rex Stout)
Artist: Mike Roy
FILM
- MEET NERO WOLFE
(1936, Columbia)
Based on the novel Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout
Directed by Herbert Biberman
Starring Edward Arnold as NERO WOLFE
with Lionel Stander as Archie Goodwin
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- THE LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN
(1937, Columbia)
Based on the novel by Rex Stout
Directed by Alfred E. Green
Starring Walter Connolly as NERO WOLFE
with Lionel Stander as Archie Goodwin
RADIO
- THE ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE
(1943, NBC Blue)
Based on characters created by Rex Stout
Produced by Himan Brown
Starring Santos Ortega as NERO WOLFE
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- NERO WOLFE
(1945-46)
Based on characters created by Rex Stout
Starring Francis X. Bushman as NERO WOLFE
and Elliot Lewis as Archie Goodwin
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- THE ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE
Based on characters created by Rex Stout
(1950-51, NBC)
Starring Sydney Greenstreet as NERO WOLFE
and Gerald Mohr as Archie Goodwin
(later replaced by Luis Van Rooten, Wally Maher, Harry Bartell, Herb Ellis, and Larry Dobkin. In the same one-year run!)
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- REX STOUT'S NERO WOLFE
(1982, CBC Radio)
Based on novellas and short stories by Rex Stout
Adapted and Produced by Ron Hartman
Music by Don Gillis
Starring Mavor Moore as NERO WOLFE
and Don Francks as ARCHIE GOODWIN
TELEVISION
- NERO WOLFE
(1977, Paramount Pictures)
Pilot
Based on the novel The Doorbell Rang, by Rex Stout
Written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy
Music: Leonard Rosenman
Starring Thayer David as NERO WOLFE
and Tom Mason as Archie Goodwin
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- NERO WOLFE
(1981, NBC)
14 60-minute episodes
Based on novellas and short stories by Rex Stout
Executive producers: Ben Roberts, Ivan Goff
Starring William Conrad as NERO WOLFE
and Lee Horsley as ARCHIE GOODWIN
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- LADY AGAINST THE ODDS
(1992, NBC)
First aired April 20, 1992)
Based on characters created by Rex Stout
Starring Crystal Bernard as DOL BONNER
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- NERO WOLFE: THE GOLDEN SPIDERS. .Buy this video
(March 5, 2000, A&E)
Made-for-TV movie/pilot for series
2 hours
Based on characters created by Rex Stout
Directed by Bill Duke
Starring Maury Chaykin as NERO WOLFE
with Timothy Hutton as ARCHIE GOODWIN
.
- NERO WOLFE
(2001-02, A&E)
Series
Based on characters created by Rex Stout
Starring Maury Chaykin as NERO WOLFE
with Timothy Hutton as ARCHIE GOODWIN
REFERENCE, ETC.
 At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout (1990, by J. Kenneth Van Dover)..Buy this book
First published in 1990, this new edition of the indispensable guide features additional material. Includes synopses of every mystery novel and short story. Each entry includes commentary and short essays, and comments on Stout's place in the genre.
.
- The Nero Wolfe Cookbook (1996, by Rex Stout, and the editors of Viiking Press)..Buy this book
Collection of recipes culled from the Nero Wolfe books, with plenty of period photos and quotes from the books.
- Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life (2002, by John J. McAleer)...Buy this book
Reprint of Edgar-winning biography. Features an intro by P. G. Wodehouse.
RELATED LINKS
- The Nero Wolfe Club
The Yahoo Nero Wolfe discussion group.
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- Nero Wolfe: A Social Commentary on the U.S.
An essay by Thrilling Detective Web Site contributor Marcia Kiser.
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- James A. Rock and Company
This publisher has several Stout-related offerings, with loads of info about the McAleer Biography, the Van Dover book, and the Rex Stout Interview.
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- The Wolfe Pack
The official site of the long-running (since 1969!) Nero Wolfe fan club. A real labour-of-love site, from web master Carol Novak. Tell her I said "Hi!"
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- A&E's Nero Wolfe
Official A&E site offered listings, program information, recipes, quizzes, contests and more for their TV series. I'm not sure how long this site will stay up, now that the show's been canned.
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- David Patty's Nero Wolfe Site
A great collection of paperback covers of the Wolfe canon and several Wolfe parodies.
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- The Art of Nero Wolfe
Mike Roehrman's fine-looking site devoted solely to the cover art of the Nero Wolfe canon. A book-by-book account, complete with cover scans.
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- John Webb's Nero Wolfe Home Page
Lots of quotes and a superb collection of links.
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- Muffy's Nero Wolfe Home Page
A lot of fan stuff, including a chronological listing of Wolfe's cases, a description of the layout of Wolfe's office, Q&A, and much more.
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- Avenarius' Book of Quotations: Rex Stout
Interesting collection of quotes from the man behind the Man. Or at least, it would have been, except for the lawyers and a little thing called copyright laws.
(C) 1999-2002, by Don B. Hilliard and Kevin B. Smith, with further contributions from Marc LaViolette, James A. Rock, Eric Jamborsky, Alex Avenarius, Mike Harris, Brian Baker (television), Jean Quinn-Manzo (comics) and Stewart Wright (radio).
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