Editing Sam Spade (section)

{{Short description|Fictional private detective}}
{{for-multi|the network-query tool designed to  hunt down spammers|Sam Spade (software)|the Without a Trace character|Samantha Spade}}
{{Infobox character
| name        = Sam Spade
| series      = 
| image       = CreditBogartMaltFalc1941Trailer.jpg
| caption     = [[Humphrey Bogart]] as Sam Spade in the trailer for ''[[The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)|The Maltese Falcon]]''
| first       = ''[[The Maltese Falcon (novel)|The Maltese Falcon]]''
| last        = ''Spade and Archer''
| creator     = [[Dashiell Hammett]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heitmann |first=Michael |date=2015 |title=Have You Seen Sam Spade?: How Literary Characters Are Denied Proper Copyright Protection |url=https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1810&context=student_scholarship |journal=Student Works |volume=794 |via=Seton Hall University eRepository @ Seton Hall}}</ref>
| portrayer   = [[Ricardo Cortez]]<br />[[Humphrey Bogart]]<br />[[Edward G. Robinson]]<br />[[Howard Duff]]<br />[[Stephen Dunne (actor)|Steve Dunne]]<br />Mike O'Malley<br />[[Tom Wilkinson]]<br />[[Michael Madsen]]<br />[[Clive Owen]]
| alias       =
| gender      = Male
| occupation  = [[Private investigator|Private detective]]
| title       =
| family      =
| spouse      = Unnamed wife (deceased)
| children    = Sam Spade Jr. (son)
| relatives   = 
| religion    = 
| nationality = [[Americans|American]]
}}

'''Sam Spade''' is a fictional character and the [[protagonist]] of [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s 1930 novel ''[[The Maltese Falcon (novel)|The Maltese Falcon]]''. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sparkes|first=Daryl|title=My favourite detective: Sam Spade, as hard as nails and the smartest guy in the room|url=http://theconversation.com/my-favourite-detective-sam-spade-as-hard-as-nails-and-the-smartest-guy-in-the-room-149295|access-date=2023-02-11|website=The Conversation|date=24 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

''The Maltese Falcon'', first published as a serial in the pulp magazine ''[[Black Mask (magazine)|Black Mask]]'', is the only full-length novel by Hammett in which Spade appears. The character, however, is widely cited as a crystallizing figure in the development of [[hard-boiled]] private detective fiction—[[Raymond Chandler]]'s [[Philip Marlowe]], for instance, was strongly influenced by Spade.

Spade was a departure from Hammett's nameless and less-than-glamorous detective, [[The Continental Op]]. Spade combined several features of previous detectives, most notably his detached demeanor, keen eye for detail, and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice.