Spenser (character)

Spenser
Robert Urich (right) as Spenser, and Avery Brooks as Hawk in Spenser: For Hire
First appearance	The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
Last appearance	As written by Parker, Sixkill (2010); character is currently being written by Ace Atkins
Created by	Robert B. Parker
Portrayed by	Robert Urich Joe Mantegna
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Private detective
Significant other(s)	Susan Silverman
Children	Paul Giacomin (adopted son, first appears in Early Autumn)
Relatives	Sam Spenser (father), Cash (maternal uncle), Patrick (maternal uncle) revealed in Chasing the Bear
Nationality	American

Spenser—his first name is never officially revealed—is a fictional character in a series of detective novels initially by the American mystery writer Robert B. Parker and later by Ace Atkins. He is also featured in a television series (Spenser: For Hire) and a series of TV movies based on the novels.

Spenser was born in Laramie, Wyoming and is a Boston private eye in the mold of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, a smart-mouthed tough guy with a heart of gold. Unlike Marlowe, Spenser maintains a committed relationship with one woman (Susan Silverman). Although he is an ex-boxer (who likes to remind readers that he once fought the former heavyweight champ Jersey Joe Walcott) and lifts weights to stay in shape, he also is quite well educated, cooks, and lives by a code of honor he and Susan discuss occasionally—though as infrequently as he can manage.

Spenser bears more than a passing resemblance to his creator, Robert B. Parker. Both are Bostonians, and both spent time in Korea with the U.S. Army. Spenser served as an infantryman in the 1st Infantry Division during the Korean War.

Spenser is a former State trooper assigned to the Suffolk County DA's Office (although some novels state that he also worked out of the Middlesex County DA's Office; Walking Shadow and the pilot episode of Spenser: For Hire say he was a Boston Police detective), and regularly seeks help from (or sometimes butts heads with) Martin Quirk (originally a lieutenant, later a captain) of the Boston Police Department. Among his other police contacts are Sergeant Frank Belson and Detective Lee Farrell, both homicide investigators under Quirk's command; Healy, a captain of the Massachusetts State Police; and Mark Samuelson, an LAPD lieutenant (later promoted to captain, as mentioned in Back Story). In Massachusetts each county District Attorney's office has a squad of State Police Detectives assigned to their office to conduct investigations of major crimes committed in their jurisdictions.