Stacy Keach, the actor who starred as Mike Hammer and served as grand marshal of the 2012 Greater Manassas Christmas Parade, died Tuesday at 85 after a long battle with heart failure, Deadline reported.
Keach died at his family home in Magdalenka, Poland. His wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, said in a statement that he “peacefully departed this world” after “a long and difficult battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure.”
In November 2012, organizers named Keach grand marshal of the 67th Greater Manassas Christmas Parade, held Dec. 1. He had recently joined the faculty at George Mason University as Heritage Professor of Stage and Screen and also took part in the city’s tree lighting that weekend. Potomac Local News has covered the parade for years; the 80th edition steps off Dec. 5, 2026, under the theme “80 Years. Still Sleighin’.”
Keach was known for stage work including Shakespeare productions and for films such as Fat City and The New Centurions. He also starred in the television series Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.
