This question may be more suited to GQ, but here goes…
Reading the Nero Wolfe canon, it seems that whenever Archie Goodwin (Nero’s henchman) introduces himself, the person always responds with something like: “Oh, you work for Nero Wolfe. I’ll be damned! I’ve read about you in the papers!” [sub]Yes, I KNOW Nero Wolfe is fiction.[/sub]
Seems to me that the business of finding long-lost relatives, finding debtors, and getting proof of cheatin’ spouses (the purvey of most private eyes these days, around here anyway), would hardly lend itself to name recognition. But, hey, things may be different in bigger, wealthier, more on-the-move cities than Springfield.
So I ask, are there any private eyes that have reasonably high name recognition in their cities? Do they solve high-profile cases and collect outrageous fees? Do the people of the area read the papers and say, “Johnny Magnum is on the case. It’ll be solved in a week.”? Are these private eyes reclusive gourmets who grow orchids?
Probably not. First of all, most of a real PI’s work involves pretty dull things – serving subpoenas, for instance, is the bread-and-butter of the trade. Occasionally, they track down people for creditors, and, of course, there’s matrimonial work (checking out if someone is cheating), missing persons (where there’s no evidence of a crime), and background checks (evidently a growing area – people want to check out that new boyfriend that seems to good to be true). These rarely lead to anything particularly noteworthy – the guy might have a wife he didn’t tell his girlfriend about, or the wife really is cheating. This type of stuff rarely makes the papers.
I doubt a real PI would ever be involved in investigating a crime. The police have better resources, so it’s hard to believe a PI would be more effective if they’re on the case – though he could go to work on cases the police have dropped if someone pays him to do it. I’m doubful he’d do that more than once or twice a career.
In addition, it’s a good idea for a PI to keep a low profile. If you’re serving a subpoena, the last thing you want to be is a celebrith.
I read a very good book on the subject a few years ago, but I don’t recall the author or title.
The only one I can think of is Anthony Pellicano, who has surfaced from time to time in the media, usually for scandals like the Michael Jackson child molestation charges in the early 90’s: http://www.pellicano.com/
Gavin De Becker is more of a “security consultant” and not really a PI – he’s the author of Protecting the Gift and does a lot of work with celebrities.
The Pinkerton Agency is still around, isn’t it? Although they certainly don’t make the papers very frequently anymore, most people have heard of them from past exploits.
Isn’t there a former cop named Bo Deitl (sp?) who has gone private-eye with some degree of fame…I think he’s a semi-regular guest on Don Imus’s program.
JJ Armes came to mind immediately for me too. I remember reading an auto-bio by him when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, and once in a while he will pop up for commentary on a crime special on A&E, etc etc…
I don’t know if what he does is really private detective work, but Mark Fuhrman, as a private individual, investigated and wrote the book “Murder in Greenwich” stating the case for Michael Skakel having murdered Martha Moxley in 1974.
There are lots of ‘security consultants’ floating around, some with reasonable degrees of name recognition. “Bo” Gritz, Jeff Cooper, JJ Armes, and the like. A few mercenaries became well known among the types of people who would read ‘Soldier of Fortune’.
J.J. Armes has been in and out of politics here in El Paso for quite a while (he was on the city council for quite some time). I had no idea he was somewhat well known out of town. He is mainly known here for putting his foot in his mouth.
His house apparently has a lion on the grounds. When you go by there the walls obscure the dwelling, but there is some huge animal roaring in there.
Pinkerton still has an investigation division which is seperate from their security division (both are now owned by Securitas, a Swedish company). While I don’t know of any individual Pinkerton agents who have made a name for themselves, I do know that the agency itself is involved in a lot of serious things, including product & software counterfieting, a billion dollar crime.
2 investigators come to my mind: First is Ed Pankau.
The second is Ira Robins a hack who made his career trying to get a murder off. In the early 80’s his mug was on every news show in the nation.
Beau Dietl does have Beau Dietl & Associates, but he made his name as a detective for the NYPD. So he was already famous - or infamous for his interrogation tactics and goofy, affected way of speaking - before he set up his corporate security and investigation agency.
His appearances on “Imus In The Morning” are combination incoherent rants, plugs for his friends’ businesses/products/restuarants/movies/whatever, self-promotions, name dropping tales, and brown-nosing sessions.
There is Fay Faron, of Rat Dog Dick Detective Agency in San Francisco. She’s had her own newspaper column, been featured in a couple books, written a couple books, been on various TV shows, etc. That’s probably about as well-known as you can get in the private detective world.
One of the books that featured her was Hastened to the Grave: The Gypsy Murder Investigation, which she basically solved without any real help from the police. You can read my review of the book here.
Hey, websites aren’t free, ya know. All you have to do is close it. Or go back now – it only pops once/day (or once/12 hours or something like that) per person.
When I was a kid I owned a JJ Armes action figure and Mobile Crimefighting Lab. You could unscrew his hands and add attachments like hooks, guns, and suction cups. I don’t know how popular it was but it was sold nationally. Strange but true.
