The Long Goodbye characters

Appears from the start

A Los Angeles private detective whose willingness to help a damaged acquaintance draws him into the affairs of two wealthy households. Marlowe values personal loyalty but resists pressure from police, lawyers, criminals, and clients who expect money or influence to settle the truth.

Appears from the start

A scarred, well-mannered man whom Marlowe first finds drunk and abandoned outside a nightclub. Terry has little money, a troubled marriage to a rich woman, and memories of wartime injury. Marlowe gradually becomes his friend without learning everything about his past.

Appears from the start

Terry Lennox's wealthy wife and the daughter of newspaper owner Harlan Potter. Beautiful and accustomed to privilege, she treats Terry's dependence and drinking with open impatience when Marlowe first encounters them.

First appears in chapter 8

A homicide investigator and longtime police acquaintance of Marlowe. Ohls gives him an early warning about the Lennox case and understands that Marlowe's loyalty will make him difficult to intimidate.

First appears in chapter 9

A police lieutenant questioning Marlowe after Sylvia Lennox's death. Green wants an immediate account of Terry's flight and treats Marlowe's refusal to cooperate as obstruction rather than friendship.

First appears in chapter 11

An attorney who appears while Marlowe is jailed over the Lennox investigation. Endicott represents the interests surrounding the powerful Potter family and offers a legal route out of trouble without giving Marlowe a full explanation of the arrangements behind it.

First appears in chapter 16

A prosperous gangster who says Terry Lennox once saved his life. Menendez is fiercely protective of Terry's reputation and warns Marlowe against continuing to ask questions about his friend's supposed crime and death.

First appears in chapter 18

A New York publisher's representative who asks Marlowe to help with one of his writers. Spencer is practical and discreet: he wants Roger Wade kept safe and working, while avoiding publicity about the novelist's drinking and disappearances.

First appears in chapter 19

A successful novelist living in wealthy Idle Valley. Wade is intelligent and capable of charm, but his severe alcoholism produces disappearances, violence, shame, and long periods when he cannot work.

First appears in chapter 19

Roger Wade's elegant wife. She asks Marlowe to find her missing husband and manage his drinking crises, presenting herself as composed despite the strain of life with an unstable alcoholic.

First appears in chapter 19

The Wades' Chilean houseman. Candy is protective of Eileen, contemptuous of Roger's drunken behavior, and openly suspicious of Marlowe's presence in the household.

First appears in chapter 25

The operator of a remote establishment where wealthy alcoholics are hidden and controlled for a fee. Verringer insists on professional authority, but his treatment of Roger Wade and dependence on a violent attendant make his operation questionable.

First appears in chapter 27

Sylvia Lennox's immensely wealthy father, whose newspaper interests and political influence surround the murder investigation. Potter remains personally distant while lawyers and officials act in ways that protect the family's name from scandal.