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Nero Wolfe Supporting Characters
The Nero Wolfe stories are populated by a cast of supporting characters who help sustain the sense that each story takes place in familiar surroundings. Household Fritz Brenner Fritz Brenner is an exceptionally talented Swiss cook who prepares and serves all of Wolfe's meals except those that Wolfe occasionally takes at Rusterman's Restaurant. Fritz also acts as the household's majordomo and butler. Fritz's living quarters are in the basement of Wolfe's brownstone; here he keeps 289 cookbooks, the head of a wild boar he shot in the Vosges, and busts of Escoffier and Brillat-Savarin as well as a cooking vessel thought to have been used by Julius Caesar's chef. A reference to a war wound in 1935's ''The League of Frightened Men'' implies that Fritz fought in World War I. Archie and Fritz have an easygoing working relationship, and Archie often spends time in the kitchen, as he puts it, "chinning" with Fritz. Fritz's relationship with Wolfe is one of mutual respect, admiration an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant with an eye for attractive women, narrates the cases and does the legwork for the detective genius. Stout published 33 novels and 41 novellas and short stories featuring Wolfe from 1934 to 1975, with most of them set in New York City. The stories have been adapted for film, radio, television and the stage. The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated for Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was a nomine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hurst
David Hurst (born Heinrich Theodor Hirsch; 8 May 1926 – 15 September 2019) was a German actor, best known for his role in the film ''Hello Dolly! (film), Hello, Dolly'' as Rudolph the headwaiter. Biography Early life and career Hurst grew up in a family of actors. As a Jewish child living in 1930s Germany, he faced persecution from the Nazi regime. After the pogroms of Kristallnacht, the British government allowed for the rescue of Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig. He was one of the nearly 10,000 children in 1938–1939 moved with the Kindertransport to the United Kingdom. He was separated from his mother at 12 years old, and never saw her again. Housed in a manor in Northern Ireland, he lived with other young emigrants in the care of the family of an estate manager. His first stage experience was in Belfast at a repertory theatre, where he also changed his name from Heinrich Hirsch to David Hurst. During the Second W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plot It Yourself
''Plot It Yourself'' (British title ''Murder in Style'') is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1959, and also collected in the omnibus volume ''Kings Full of Aces'' (Viking 1969). Plot introduction A group of authors and publishers hires Nero Wolfe to investigate a series of plagiarism claims. Wolfe, by his own admission, bungles the investigation so badly that three murders result. In ''Plot It Yourself'', Stout draws on his lengthy experience with book publishers, with authors (via, for example, his presidency of the Authors Guild), and with the writing process itself. Apart from the series' continuing characters, all the players in the book are directly associated with the publishing industry. Stout adds as subtext his take on the peculiar relationship between book authors and book publishers — part symbiosis, part animosity. Stout himself experienced at least one instance of contentious relations with his publishers. Plot summary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Second Confession
''The Second Confession'' is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1949. The story was also collected in other omnibus volumes, including ''Triple Zeck'' (Viking 1974). This is the second of three Nero Wolfe novels that involve crime boss Arnold Zeck – Wolfe's Professor Moriarty. In this novel he telephones Wolfe to warn him off an investigation and retaliates when Wolfe refuses to cooperate. Though the crime is solved, the ending is left open. Plot summary Wealthy James U. Sperling approaches Nero Wolfe to investigate Louis Rony, an admirer of Sperling's younger daughter Gwenn. Sperling wants Wolfe to find evidence that Rony is a member of the American Communist Party. Wolfe is reluctant since he believes Rony has connections to “Z”, a shadowy criminal mastermind who has crossed Wolfe's path before. Nevertheless, Archie Goodwin is dispatched undercover to Sperling's Westchester estate to see if he can discover any grounds to c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
