Donald Strachey

Last updated
Donald Strachey
Donald Strachey.jpg
Chad Allen as Donald Strachey in the 2005 TV movie Third Man Out .
First appearanceDeath Trick (novel); Third Man Out (film)
Created by Richard Stevenson
Portrayed by Chad Allen
In-universe information
GenderMale
Occupation Private investigator
SpouseTimothy Callahan
Nationality American

Donald "Don" Strachey is a fictional character who appears in novels by mystery writer Richard Stevenson.

Contents

Strachey, a gay man, lives in Albany, New York, with his partner Timothy Callahan. Don's clients often feel that his sexual orientation gives him an edge when called upon to investigate cases that involve Albany's gay community.

Shavick Entertainment has adapted four of the Donald Strachey books into films for the LGBT television network Here!. The films have starred openly gay actor Chad Allen as Strachey.

Supporting characters

Timothy Callahan

Timothy "Tim" Callahan is a legislative aide to a New York state senator, and Strachey's life partner. He is the only character besides Strachey to have appeared in all the novels and the films, in the latter of which he is portrayed by actor Sebastian Spence. In Ice Blues , Tim recalls how his sister Kelly was forced out of their home because of an estrangement between her and their parents. Tim and Kelly hadn't talked for years because of this, but at the end of the film, Donald manages to use his P.I. abilities to locate her, reuniting them.

Detective Sean 'Bub' Bailey

Detective Bailey meets Strachey in Third Man Out , wherein he tries to convince Strachey to persuade gay rights activist John Rutka to leave Albany. In Ice Blues, Bub is revealed to have had an affair with Joan Lenigan after she killed her husband. He is portrayed in the films by Daryl Shuttleworth. The character in the novels most analogous to him is Detective Sergeant Ned Bowman, but it is arguable whether they can be considered "the same" due to the substantial differences between the two characters.

Kenny Kwon

An original character developed for the films, Kenny Kwon is played by Nelson Wong. Strachey first meets him at the Parmalee Plaza Hotel, and trashes Kwon's boss's office while working on a case to find out who might have killed Rutka. In Shock to the System , Kwon tracks down Strachey and reveals that he was fired shortly after that incident, and lays the blame at Strachey's feet. Donald agrees to give him a job as Strachey Investigations' receptionist. In On the Other Hand, Death , Kenny reveals that he is taking class to get a P.I. license of his own, and Strachey sends him out to tail a corrupt cop so he can fulfill the field experience requirements to obtain it.

Donald Strachey mysteries

Films

Related Research Articles

These lists of television programs with LGBT characters include:

<i>The City and the Pillar</i>

The City and the Pillar is the third published novel by American writer Gore Vidal, written in 1946 and published on January 10, 1948. The story is about a young man who is coming of age and discovers his own homosexuality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincente Minnelli</span> American stage and film director

Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), The Band Wagon (1953), and Gigi (1958). An American in Paris and Gigi both won the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Minnelli winning Best Director for Gigi. In addition to having directed some of the best-known musicals of his day, Minnelli made many comedies and melodramas. He was married to Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951; the couple were the parents of Liza Minnelli.

<i>The Interpretation of Dreams</i> 1899 book by Sigmund Freud

The Interpretation of Dreams is an 1899 book by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in which the author introduces his theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation, and discusses what would later become the theory of the Oedipus complex. Freud revised the book at least eight times and, in the third edition, added an extensive section which treated dream symbolism very literally, following the influence of Wilhelm Stekel. Freud said of this work, "Insight such as this falls to one's lot but once in a lifetime."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridley Pearson</span> American author

Ridley Pearson is an American author of suspense and thriller novels for adults, and adventure books for children. Some of his books have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Shock to the System is a 2006 gay-themed mystery film. It is the second film adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey. The film premiered at the 2006 Outfest film festival before going into rotation on the here! television network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Cruse</span> American cartoonist (1944–2019)

Howard Cruse was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s, during the underground comix movement with Barefootz, he was the founding editor of Gay Comix in 1980, created the gay-themed strip Wendel during the 1980s, and reached a more mainstream audience in 1995 when an imprint of DC Comics published his graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby.

<i>City of Night</i>

City of Night is a novel written by John Rechy. It was originally published in 1963 in New York by Grove Press. Earlier excerpts had appeared in Evergreen Review, Big Table, Nugget, and The London Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles R. Jackson</span> American writer (1903–1968)

Charles Reginald Jackson was an American writer. He wrote the 1944 novel The Lost Weekend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT themes in horror fiction</span>

LGBT themes in horror fiction refers to sexuality in horror fiction that can often focus on LGBTQ+ characters and themes within various forms of media. It may deal with characters who are coded as or who are openly LGBTQ+, or it may deal with themes or plots that are specific to gender and sexual minorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay pulp fiction</span> Genre of pulp fiction literature

Gay pulp fiction, or gay pulps, refers to printed works, primarily fiction, that include references to male homosexuality, specifically male gay sex, and that are cheaply produced, typically in paperback books made of wood pulp paper; lesbian pulp fiction is similar work about women. Michael Bronski, the editor of an anthology of gay pulp writing, notes in his introduction, "Gay pulp is not an exact term, and it is used somewhat loosely to refer to a variety of books that had very different origins and markets". People often use the term to refer to the "classic" gay pulps that were produced before about 1970, but it may also be used to refer to the gay erotica or pornography in paperback book or digest magazine form produced since that date.

<i>Other Voices, Other Rooms</i> (novel) Novel by Truman Capote

Other Voices, Other Rooms is a 1948 novel by Truman Capote. It is written in the Southern Gothic style and is notable for its atmosphere of isolation and decadence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Allen (actor)</span> American actor and psychologist

Chad Allen is an American retired actor and psychologist. Beginning his career at the age of seven, Allen is a three-time Young Artist Award winner and GLAAD Media Award honoree. He was a teen idol during the late 1980s as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama Our House and as Zach Nichols on the NBC sitcom My Two Dads before transitioning to an adult career as Matthew Cooper on the CBS western drama Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman. He announced his retirement from acting in April 2015.

Richard Stevenson Lipez, commonly known by his pen name Richard Stevenson, was an American journalist and mystery author, most recently residing in Massachusetts. He was best known for his Donald Strachey mysteries.

<i>Third Man Out</i> 2005 gay-themed mystery film, based on the Richard Stevenson novel of the same name

Third Man Out is a 2005 gay-themed mystery film. It is the first film adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey.

On the Other Hand, Death is a 2008 gay-themed mystery film. It is the third film adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey. The film was screened at several LGBT film festivals, including the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, 2008 before going into rotation on the here! television network. The film was nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series.

Ice Blues is a 2008 gay-themed mystery television film starring Chad Allen and Sebastian Spence, and directed by Emmy-nominated Canadian-born director Ron Oliver. featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey. It is the third adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel, though it was the fourth to be released.

Noretta Koertge is an American philosopher of science noted for her work on Karl Popper and scientific rationality.

References