Famous Private Detectives in
Novels, Movies, and Television--

David Addison (with Mattie Hayes) → Portrayed by Bruce Willis
A fast-talking P.I. who partners with Mattie in the TV series Moonlighting (Created by Glenn Gordon Caron).
•TV series: 1985‑1989.

Stuart Bailey (with partner Jeff Spencer) → Bailey portrayed by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Spencer portrayed by Roger Smith
Two private detectives and former government secret agents with an office on Sunset Strip in LA in the TV series 77 Sunset Strip (Created by Roy Huggins).
•TV series: 1958‑1964.

Dick Barton → Portrayed by Tony Vogel
An ex-Commando who solved all sorts of crimes in the radio series, movies and the TV series Dick Barton: Special Agent (Produced by Raymond Raikes and others).
•Radio series: 1946‑1951 •Movies: 1948, 1949, 1950  •TV series: 1979.

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford → TV portrayal of Tommy by David Walliams, of Tuppence by Jessica
A typical upper middle class couple in novels, short stories and in the TV series Partners in Crime (Created by Agatha Christie).
•Novels: 1922‑1973 •TV series: 2015.

Rosemary Boxer (with Laura Thyme) → Portrayed by Felicity Kendal
A gardening detective in British TV series Rosemary andThyme (Created by Brian Eastman).
•TV series: 2003‑2007.

Jackson Brodie → TV portrayed by Jason Isaacs.
A tough former soldier and policeman in several novels and the TV series Case Histories (Created by Kate Atkinson).
•Novels: 2004‑2010 •TV series: 2011‑2013.

Father Brown → Portrayed by Mark Williams
A Catholic priest in several media including the TV series Father Brown (Created by G. K. Chesterton).
•TV series: 1974, 2013.

Brother Cadfael → Portrayed by Derek Jacobi
An early 12th-century monk in the novel series and TV series Cadfael (Created by Ellis Peters also known as Edith Pargeter).
•Novels: 1977‑1994 •TV series: 1994‑1998.

Jack Casey → Portrayed by Richard Carlye
A photographer who helps the police solve crimes in books, movies, radio, and the TV series Casey, Crime Photographer (Created by George Harmon Coxe).
•Books: 1942‑1964 •Movies: 1936, 1938  •TV series: 1951‑1952.

Elly Chandler (with partner Dee Tate shown on the right) → Portrayed by Catherine Russell and her co-star Barbara Flynn
Two female private detectives, Elly Chandler and Dee Tate, who run their own private investigation agency in London in the British TV series Chandler & Co. (Created and written by Paula Milne).
•TV series: 1994‑1995.

Jack Cleary → Portrayed by Michael Woods
An ex-cop working in 1950s L.A. in the TV series Private Eye (Created by Anthony Yerkovich).
•TV series: 1987‑88.

Don Corey (with partners Jed Sills and Dr. Carl Hyatt) → Portrayed by Anthony George, with partners Doug McClure and Sebastian Cabot
Owner of a detective agency named Checkmate, Inc. in San Francisco in the TV series Checkmate (Created by Eric Ambler).
•TV series: 1960‑1962.

Richard Diamond → Portrayed by David Janssen
A former police officer and a hard-boiled private detective in the TV series Richard Diamond Private Detective (Written by Blake Edwards).
•TV series: 1957‑1960.

Frankie Drake (with partner Trudy Clarke) → Portrayed by Lauren Lee Smith (Trudy is portrayed by Chantel Riley)
The first female private detective in 1920s Toronto, with her crime-solving partner in the Canadian TV series Frankie Drake Mysteries (Created by Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci).
•TV series: 2017‑now.

Angie Everett (with partner Matt Kevin) → Portrayed by Cindy Sampson
With her partner, private investigators solving crimes in Toronto in the Canadian TV series Private Eyes (Created by Tim Kilby and Shelley Eriksen).
•TV series: 2016‑2021.

Sister Fidelma → No screen presence
A Celtic nun in the middle of the 7th century who solves mysteries in the book series Sister Fidelma Mysteries (Created by Berresford Ellis, aka Peter Tremayne).
•Books: 1994‑2015.

Jessica Fletcher → Portrayed by Angela Lansbury
A widowed writer residing in Cabot Cove, Maine in the TV series Murder She Wrote (Written by William Link and Richard Levin).
•TV series: 1984‑1996.

Cordelia Gray → Portrayed by Helen Baxendale
A shy young woman who inherited a detective agency in two novels and several TV series including An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Created by P. D. James).
•Novels: 1972, 1982 •TV series: 1997‑2001.

Burton Guster (with Shawn Spencer) → Portrayed by Dule Hill
Shawn's partner in the TV series Psych  (Created by Steve Franks).
•TV series: 2006‑2014.

Mike Hammer → Portrayed on TV by Stacy Keach
A P.I. who doesn't shy away from violence in the series of novels, movies, and several TV series such as Mike Hammer, ;Private Eye (Created by Mickey Spillaine).
•Novels: 1947‑2014 •Movies: 1952‑2003  •TV series: 1958‑1960, 1984‑1998.

Jonathan and Jennifer Hart → Portrayed by Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers
A millionaire couple in the TV series Hart to Hart (Created by Sidney Sheldon).
•TV series: 1979‑1984.

James Hazell → Portrayed by Nicholas Ball.
A cockney private detective in the British TV drama Hazell (Created by Gordon Williams and Terry Venables).
•TV drama: 1978‑1979.

Sherlock Holmes-2 → Portrayed in the 2009 movie by Robert Downey Jr.
A renowned detective in a series of novels and adaptations on stage and radio, in TV series, and movies, including Sherlock Holmes  (Directed by Guy Ritchie).
•Movie: 2009.

Matt Houston → Portrayed by Lee Horsley
A wealthy mustachioed Texas oilman in the TV series Matt Houston (Created by Lawrence Gordon).
•TV series: 1082‑1985.

Patrick Jane → Portrayed by Simon Baker
A con artist and police consultant in the TV series The Mentalist (Created by Bruno Heller).
•TV series: 2008‑2015.

Jessica Jones → Portrayed by Krysten Ritter
A super-powered woman who had a brief superhero career once known as Jewel in the TV series Jessica Jones (Created by Melissa Rosenberg).
•TV series: 2016‑2018 •Comic book: 2016‑2020.

Sydney Kells → Portrayed by Valerie Bertinelli
Daughter of a now-deceased policeman in the TV series Sydney (Created by Michael J. Wilson).
•TV series: 1990.

Sally Lockhart → Portrayed by Billie Piper
A teen-age girl in the novel series and TV shows such as The Shadow in the North (Created by Philip Pullman).
•Novels: 1872‑1882 •Movie: 2006, 2007.

Thomas Magnum (with Higgins in later series) → Portrayed by Tom Selleck and in the later series Jay Hernandez
A private eye living a luxurious life in Hawaii in the TV series Magnum, P.I. (Created by Donald P. Bellisario).
•TV series: 1980‑1988, 2018‑2019.

Philip Marlowe → Portrayed in the 1978 movie by Robert Mitchum
A wisecracking, hard-drinking, tough P.I. in novels, TV series, and movies including The Big Sleep (Created by Raymond Chandler).
•Novels: 1939‑1989 •Movies: 1942‑1978  •TV series: 1959‑1960, 1983‑1986.

Veronica Mars → Portrayed by Kristin Bell
A school girl whose father is a private detective in the TV series Veronica Mars (Created by Rob Thomas).
•TV series: 2004‑2007 •Movie: 2014.

unknown McGraw (no first name mentioned) → Portrayed by Frank Lovejoy
Hard-hitting detective in the TV series Meet McGraw (Written by Blake Edwards).
•TV series: 1957‑1958.

Adrian Monk → Portrayed by Tony Shalhouby
A brilliant police consultant with obsessive compulsive disorder in the TV series Monk (Created by Andy Breckman).
•TV series: 2002‑2009.

Victoria "Vicki" Nelson → Portrayed by Christine Cox
Based on the Blood Books by Tanya Huff, a former Toronto Police Service officer in the Canadian TV series Blood Ties (Series created by Peter Mohan).
•Novels: 1991‑1997 •TV series: 2007.

Hercule Poirot → Portrayed in the British TV series by David Suchet
A dignified and meticulous Belgian detective in novels, short stories, movies and TV including Agatha Christie's Poirot (Created by Agatha Christie).
•Novels: 1926‑1975 •Movies: 1931‑1986  •TV series: 1989‑2013.

Agatha Raisin → Portrayed by Ashley Jensen
Based on the mystery novels by Marion Chesney, a former public relations professional in the British TV series Agatha Raisin (Created by Marion Chesney using the pseudonym M. C. Beaton).
•Novels: 1992‑2019 •TV series: 2014‑2020.

Rex Randolph with partner Cal Calhoun → Randolph portrayed by Richard Long and Calhoun portrayed by Andrew Duggan
Couple of PIs with an office above the Old Absinthe House in New Orleans' French Quarter in the TV series Bourbon Street Beat (Created by Charles Hoffman).
•TV series: 1959‑1960.

Nick Ryder (and his partners Cody Allen and Murray Bozinsky) → Portrayed by Joe Penny, Perry King, and Thom Bray
Three buddies and their boat-based detective agency in the TV series Riptide (Created by Frank Lupo and Stephen Cannell).
•TV series: 1983‑1986.

Eliza Scarlet → Portrayed by Kate Phillips
A Victorian young woman who continues her father's detective agency after his death Miss Scarlet and the Duke (Created by Rachael New).
•TV series: 2020‑2021.

Eddie Shoestring → Portrayed by Trevor Eve
A former computer expert in the British TV series Shoestring (Created by Robert Banks Stewart and Richard Harris).
•TV series: 1979‑1980.

China Smith → Portrayed by Dan Duryea
A tough, shrewd, charming, and disreputable private eye in Singapore in the TV series China Smith (Written by Jack Laird and Robert C. Dennis).
•TV series: 1952‑1955.

Spenser → Portrayed by in the TV series Robert Urich
A smart-mouthed tough P.I. in novels, movies and the TV series Spenser: For Hire (Created by Robert B. Parker).
•Novels: 1973‑2014 •TV series: 1985‑1988  •Movies: 1999, 2000, 2001.

Remington Steele → Portrayed by Pierce Brosnan
A former thief and con man hired to be a front P.I. in the TV series Remmington Steele  (Created by Robert Butler).
•TV series: 1982‑1987.

Jake Styles → Portrayed by Joe Penny
An investigator working with a fat prosecutor in the TV series Jake and the Fatman (Created by Dean Hargrove and Joel Steiger).
•TV series: 1987‑1992.

Simon Templar (known as The Saint) → Portrayed by Roger Moore in the TV series
A British amateur detective portrayed in books, radio, movies and TV by various actors over many years; for example, in the TV series The Saint (Originally created by Leslie Charteris).
•Books: 1928‑1963 •Movies: 1938‑1943  •Radio: 1944‑1951  •Comics: 1948‑1961.

Dr. John Thorndyke → Portrayed in the 1964 TV series by Peter Copley
A medical doctor and forensic specialist in a series of novels and short stories and TV series including The Case of Oscar Brodski (Created by R. Austin Freeman).
•Novels: 1907‑1942.

Michael Tree (image from a comic book cover) → No screen presence
A female private detective who takes over her murdered husband's investigation business in the comic series Ms. Tee (Created by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty).
•Comic strip: 1982‑1993.

E. L. ("Early Leroy") "Tenspeed" Turner (with partner Lionel "Brownshoe" Whitney) → Portrayed by Ben Vareen
A hustler who worked as a detective to satisfy his parole requirements in the TV series Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (Created by Stephen M. Cannell).
•TV series: 1980.

Hetty Wainthropp → Portrayed by Patricia Routledge
A retired working-class woman in the British TV series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (Created by David Cook).
•TV series: 1996‑1998.

Honey West → Portrayed by Anne Francis
A detective and ocelot owner who communicates with her partner via a radio hidden in her lipstick case in a book series and the TV series Honey West (Created by Gloria and Forest Fickling).
•Books: 1957‑1972 •TV series: 1965‑1966.

Lionel "Brownshoe" Whitney (with partner E. L. "Tenspeed" Turner) → Portrayed by Jeff Goldblum
An archetypal accountant in the TV series Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (Created by Stephen M. Cannell).
•TV series: 1980.

Lord Peter Wimsey → Portrays in the TV 1987 series by Edward Petherbridge
A wealthy English gentleman in a series of novels, short stories and TV series including Strong Poison (Created by Dorothy L. Sayers).
•Novels: 1923‑2014 •TV series: 1972‑1975, 1987.