Donald Hamilton facts for kids

Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (born March 24, 1916 – died November 20, 2006) was a talented American writer. He wrote many books, including exciting spy stories, crime novels, and Westerns. He also wrote non-fiction articles about the outdoors.

Hamilton is best known for his long series of books about a secret agent named Matt Helm. These books tell the adventures of Helm, who works for a secret American government agency. A famous book critic once said that Donald Hamilton brought a very real and serious style to spy novels.

Life Story of Donald Hamilton

Donald Hamilton was born in Uppsala, Sweden, on March 24, 1916. His parents were Dr. Bengt Leopold Knutsson Hamilton and Elise Franzisca Hamilton. In 1924, when he was eight years old, Donald traveled with his mother and three sisters from Sweden to New York. They then joined his father in Boston, Massachusetts.

Donald went to the University of Chicago and earned a science degree in 1938. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy Reserve as a chemist.

For many years, Hamilton lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He loved being outdoors and was a skilled hunter. He wrote many articles for outdoor magazines and even published a book of these writings. Later, he lived on his own yacht for a while before moving back to Sweden. He lived there until he passed away in 2006.

Many of his Matt Helm novels take place in the Santa Fe area and the American Southwest. As he became interested in boating, some of his later books also featured stories on the water.

Donald Hamilton's Writing Career

Donald Hamilton started his writing career in 1946. He wrote for popular magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel, Date With Darkness, came out in 1947. Over the next 46 years, he wrote a total of 38 novels.

Many of his early books were paperback originals. These were often fast-paced stories with exciting covers. They included suspense, spy, and Western tales. One interesting early book was Assignment: Murder. In this story, a mathematician designing a nuclear bomb must save his kidnapped wife from bad guys.

Two classic Western movies were made from his novels. The Big Country was based on his book of the same name. The Violent Men came from his novel Smoky Valley.

The Matt Helm Series

The Matt Helm series is Donald Hamilton's most famous work. It began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and included 27 books. The last book in the series, The Damagers, was published in 1993.

Matt Helm was a secret agent during wartime. After 15 years as a regular person, he is called back into the world of spies and dangerous missions. He tells his adventures in a calm and straightforward way, sometimes with a bit of humor. Matt Helm is a professional who does his job, which often involves stopping dangerous people. Hamilton also wrote one more Matt Helm novel, The Dominators, in 2002, but it was not published.

Donald Hamilton passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 20, 2006. His writings and papers are kept at the Charles E. Young Research Library at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Personal Life

Donald Hamilton was married to Kathleen Stick from 1941 until she passed away in 1989. They had four children together: Hugo, Elise, Gordon, and Victoria Hamilton.

Works

Here are some of Donald Hamilton's published works:

Matt Helm Series

• 1960 Death of a Citizen
• 1960 The Wrecking Crew
• 1961 The Removers
• 1962 The Silencers
• 1962 Murderer's Row
• 1963 The Ambushers
• 1964 The Shadowers
• 1964 The Ravagers
• 1965 The Devastators
• 1966 The Betrayers
• 1968 The Menacers
• 1969 The Interlopers
• 1971 The Poisoners
• 1973 The Intriguers
• 1974 The Intimidators
• 1975 The Terminators
• 1976 The Retaliators
• 1977 The Terrorizers
• 1982 The Revengers
• 1983 The Annihilators
• 1984 The Infiltrators
• 1985 The Detonators
• 1986 The Vanishers
• 1987 The Demolishers
• 1989 The Frighteners
• 1992 The Threateners
• 1993 The Damagers
• 2002 The Dominators (unpublished)

Other Crime Novels

• 1947 Date With Darkness
• 1948 The Steel Mirror
• 1954 Night Walker
• 1955 Line of Fire
• 1956 Assignment: Murder / Assassins Have Starry Eyes
• 1980 The Mona Intercept

Short Stories

• 1947 Murder Twice Told (features two stories: Deadfall and The Black Cross)

Western Novels

• 1954 Smoky Valley
• 1956 Mad River
• 1958 The Big Country
• 1960 The Man From Santa Clara / The Two-Shoot Gun
• 1960 Texas Fever
• 1955 The Violent Men (movie adaption)

Non-Fiction Books

• 1970 On Guns and Hunting
• 1980 Cruises with Kathleen

Edited Works

• 1967 Iron Men and Silver Stars

Movie Adaptations

Several of Donald Hamilton's books have been made into movies:

• The Violent Men, 1955; based on Smoky Valley.
• Five Steps to Danger, 1957; based on The Steel Mirror.
• The Big Country, 1958; based on The Big Country (Hamilton novel).

You might know the Matt Helm character from a series of action-comedy movies from the late 1960s. These movies starred Dean Martin as Matt Helm. However, these movies are quite different from Hamilton's books, which are much more serious and realistic.

The Matt Helm movies include:

• The Silencers, 1966
• Murderers' Row (novel), 1966
• The Ambushers, 1967
• The Wrecking Crew, 1969

In 2002, DreamWorks bought the rights to Hamilton's books. They planned to make a more serious movie version of the Matt Helm novels. However, this project is not currently being worked on.