102-669: Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie 's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective . Often characterised as an elderly spinster , she is one of Christie's best-known characters and has been portrayed numerous times on screen. Her first appearance was in a short story published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927, " The Tuesday Night Club ", which later became
204-559: A Morris Cowley , was discovered at Newlands Corner in Surrey , parked above a chalk quarry with an expired driving licence and clothes inside. It was feared that she might have drowned herself in the Silent Pool , a nearby beauty spot. The disappearance quickly became a news story. The press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks pressured police, and
306-772: A Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse (unpaid) then as a dispenser at £16 (approximately equivalent to £1,130 in 2023) a year from 1917 after qualifying as an apothecary's assistant. Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood . Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins 's The Woman in White and The Moonstone , and Arthur Conan Doyle 's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles , in 1916. It featured Hercule Poirot ,
408-681: A barrister in the Indian Civil Service , Archie was a Royal Artillery officer who was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913. The couple quickly fell in love. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Archie was sent to France to fight. They married on Christmas Eve 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Clifton , Bristol, close to
510-677: A gens , and English 'woman') in the original and strict sense is a woman of good family , analogous to the Latin generosus and generosa . The closely related English word " gentry " derives from the Old French genterise , gentelise , with much of the meaning of the French noblesse and the German Adel , but without the strict technical requirements of those traditions, such as quarters of nobility . By association with gentleman ,
612-578: A California bookstore. In 2018, Miss Marple was portrayed by Yunjin Kim in the South Korean television series Ms. Ma, Nemesis . From 2004 to 2005, Japanese TV network NHK produced a 39 episode anime series titled Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple , which features both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot . Miss Marple's voice is provided by Kaoru Yachigusa . Episodes adapted both short stories and novels. The anime series dramatised
714-424: A cook-housekeeper, a stage actress, a sailor, and criminal reformer, and is offered the chance to run a riding establishment-cum-hotel. Her education and genteel background are hinted at when she mentions her awards at marksmanship, fencing, and equestrianism (although these hints are played for comedic value). Murder, She Said (1961) was the first of the four British MGM productions starring Rutherford. This film
816-484: A deeper realisation about the true nature of a crime. She also has a remarkable ability to latch onto a casual comment and connect it to the case at hand. In several stories, she is able to rely on her acquaintance with Sir Henry Clithering , a retired commissioner of the Metropolitan Police , for official information when required. Miss Marple never married and has no close living relatives. Her nephew,
918-474: A fake as the auction had been held after the date of publication of the first Miss Marple story. The character of Jane Marple in the first Miss Marple book, The Murder at the Vicarage , is quite different from how she appears in later books. This early version of Miss Marple is a gleeful gossip and not an especially nice woman. The residents of St. Mary Mead like her but are often tired of her nosy nature and
1020-471: A firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right". Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories. Gentlewoman A gentlewoman (from the Latin gentilis , belonging to
1122-580: A flashback), Miss Marple had an affair with a married soldier, Captain Ainsworth, who was killed in action in World War I, in December 1915. It is also said (in A Murder Is Announced ) that she served as an ambulance driver during World War I. Listing of the TV series featuring Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie: In 2015, CBS planned a "much younger" version of the character, a granddaughter who takes over
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#17327866617451224-677: A former Belgian police officer with "magnificent moustaches" and a head "exactly the shape of an egg", who had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for the character came from Belgian refugees living in Torquay, and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen . After keeping
1326-591: A hamlet near Wallingford . This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society . The couple acquired the Greenway Estate in Devon as a summer residence in 1938; it
1428-472: A meagre income. Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister, Margaret West, married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, Margaret and Nathaniel agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley , Cheshire. The couple had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Frederick "Fred", from his previous marriage. Fred
1530-416: A newspaper offered a £100 reward (equivalent to £7,500 in 2023). More than 1,000 police officers, 15,000 volunteers, and several aeroplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a spirit medium one of Christie's gloves to find her. Christie's disappearance made international headlines, including featuring on the front page of The New York Times . Despite the extensive manhunt, she
1632-408: A result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin. Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Some of her earliest memories were of reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit . When a little older, she moved on to
1734-422: A series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title The Thirteen Problems . Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was", but her autobiography establishes
1836-575: A tour of his expedition site in Iraq. Christie and Mallowan married in Edinburgh in September 1930. Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. She accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as Peril at End House ) were set in and around Torquay, where she
1938-501: A young girl. This change saddened Christie and she determined to give old maids a voice; thus, Miss Marple was born. It is popularly believed that Christie may have taken her iconic character's name from Marple railway station , through which she passed, while a letter - ostensibly from Christie to a fan - appeared to prove that the name was inspired by a visit to a sale at Marple Hall in the same town, near her sister Margaret Watts ' home at Abney Hall . The letter has been established as
2040-403: Is not from the aristocracy or landed gentry , but is quite at home among them; as a gentlewoman , Miss Marple may thus be considered a female version of the gentleman detective , a staple of British detective fiction. She demonstrates a remarkably thorough education, including some art courses that involved the study of human anatomy using human cadavers. In They Do It with Mirrors (1952), it
2142-468: Is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood". Unlike Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's " Watson ", Captain Arthur Hastings , in an attempt to trim her cast commitments. Miss Jane Marple was introduced in
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#17327866617452244-413: Is revealed that Miss Marple grew up in a cathedral close , and that she studied at an Italian finishing school with American sisters Ruth Van Rydock and Caroline "Carrie" Louise Serrocold. While Miss Marple is described as "an old lady" in many of the stories, her age is rarely mentioned and is not consistently presented. In At Bertram's Hotel , published in 1965, it is said she visited the hotel when she
2346-462: The (Simplon) Orient Express to Istanbul and then to Baghdad . In Iraq, she became friends with archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife, who invited her to return to their dig in February 1930. On that second trip, she met archaeologist Max Mallowan , 13 years her junior. In a 1977 interview, Mallowan recounted his first meeting with Christie, when he took her and a group of tourists on
2448-745: The Ambassadors Theatre in the West End on 25 November 1952, and by 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was temporarily closed in 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns in London before it reopened in 2021. In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America 's Grand Master Award . Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she
2550-730: The BBC had acquired exclusive TV rights to Christie's works in the UK (previously associated with ITV ) and made plans with Acorn's co-operation to air new productions for the 125th anniversary of Christie's birth in 2015. As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime and And Then There Were None , both in 2015. Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of
2652-525: The Hercule Poirot films with Kenneth Branagh , plans to adapt more of Christie's work, including unspecified Miss Marple titles. The first on-screen portrayal of Miss Marple was by British actress and singer Gracie Fields , playing her in a 1956 episode of the American series Goodyear TV Playhouse based on A Murder Is Announced , the 1950 Christie novel. In 1970, the character of Miss Marple
2754-878: The leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield . It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890. She described her childhood as "very happy". The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater . A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees , Paris, Dinard , and Guernsey . Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions. She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of
2856-416: The "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott . In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies. Christie
2958-436: The "well-known author" Raymond West , appears in some stories, including The Thirteen Problems , Sleeping Murder , and Ingots of Gold (which also feature his wife, Joyce Lemprière). Raymond overestimates himself and underestimates his aunt's mental acuity. Miss Marple employs young women (including Clara, Emily, Alice, Esther, Gwenda, and Amy) from a nearby orphanage , whom she trains for service as general housemaids after
3060-583: The Air Force at the end of the war and began working in the City financial sector on a relatively low salary. They still employed a maid. Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featuring new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence , was also published by The Bodley Head. It earned her £50 (approximately equivalent to £3,400 in 2023). A third novel, Murder on the Links , again featured Poirot, as did
3162-485: The Desert but suggested a second novel. Meanwhile, Christie's social activities expanded, with country house parties, riding, hunting, dances, and roller skating. She had short-lived relationships with four men and an engagement to another. In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke , about 12 miles (19 km) from Torquay. The son of
Miss Marple - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-556: The Gallop (1963), based on the 1953 Hercule Poirot novel, After the Funeral (in this film, she is identified as Miss JTV Marple, though there was no indication as to what the extra initials might stand for). Murder Most Foul (1964), based on the 1952 Poirot novel Mrs McGinty's Dead . Murder Ahoy! (1964). The last film is not based on any Christie work but displays a few plot elements from They Do It With Mirrors (viz.,
3366-420: The Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of this profession in her fiction. According to UNESCO 's Index Translationum , she remains the most-translated individual author . Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at
3468-711: The Poirot collection The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960). Four stories in the Three Blind Mice collection (1950) feature Miss Marple: "Strange Jest", "Tape-Measure Murder", "The Case of the Caretaker", and "The Case of the Perfect Maid". The Autograph edition of Miss Marple's Final Cases includes the eight in the original plus "Greenshaw's Folly". A stage adaptation of Murder at
3570-637: The Reverend Mr Clement's nephew Dennis is a teenager; in The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side , it is mentioned that the nephew is now an adult and has a successful career. The effects of ageing are seen on Miss Marple, such as needing a holiday after illness in A Caribbean Mystery , but she is if anything more agile in Nemesis , set only 16 months later. Miss Marple's background is described in some detail, albeit in glimpses across
3672-673: The Russian edition's translated title, The Secret of the Blackbirds ), as the character of Miss Marple. Ever has also portrayed the character of Miss Marple in the Eesti Televisioon (ETV) series Miss Marple Stories in 1990, and onstage at the Tallinn City Theatre in a production of The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side in 2005. In October 2024, it was revealed that 20th Century Studios , who has produced
3774-530: The Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers. Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie. Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave", and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. In about 1959 she transferred her 278-acre home, Greenway Estate, to her daughter, Rosalind Hicks . In 1968, when Christie
3876-531: The Vicarage was still running at the Fortune, a stage adaptation by Leslie Darbon of A Murder Is Announced opened at the Vaudeville Theatre , with Dulcie Gray as Miss Marple. The show ran to the end of September 1978 and then toured. Margaret Rutherford played Miss Marple in four films directed by George Pollock between 1961 and 1964. These were successful light comedies, but Christie herself
3978-495: The Vicarage , by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy, was first seen at Northampton on 17 October 1949; it was directed by Reginald Tate , starred the 35-year-old Barbara Mullen as Miss Marple, and after touring, reached the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End on 14 December. Having run till late March 1950, it then went on tour again. In July 1974, Mullen (by then 60) returned to the role in another national tour of
4080-417: The breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother in 1926, she made international headlines by going missing for eleven days. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons that featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in
4182-732: The cast members. The three-part adaptation aired in April 2018. A three-part adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation. Since 2020, reissues of Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot novels by HarperCollins have removed "passages containing descriptions, insults or references to ethnicity". Christie's first published book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles ,
Miss Marple - Misplaced Pages Continue
4284-413: The chief pharmacist at UCH. In 1977, a thallium poisoning case was solved by British medical personnel who had read Christie's book and recognised the symptoms she described. The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M? , which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. MI5
4386-512: The cinema, or for wireless and television." Further, Dame Agatha's private pleasures were gardening – she won local prizes for horticulture – and buying furniture for her various houses. She was a shy person: she disliked public appearances, but she was friendly and sharp-witted to meet. By inclination as well as breeding, she belonged to the English upper middle class. She wrote about, and for, people like herself. That
4488-542: The city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. After living in a series of apartments in London, they bought a house in Sunningdale , Berkshire, which they renamed Styles after the mansion in Christie's first detective novel. Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. They had been exceptionally close, and the loss sent Christie into a deep depression. In August 1926, reports appeared in
4590-621: The company. In 2020, James Prichard was the company's chairman. Mathew Prichard also holds the copyright to some of his grandmother's later literary works including The Mousetrap . Christie's work continues to be developed in a range of adaptations. In 1998, Booker sold its shares in Agatha Christie Limited (at the time earning £2,100,000, approximately equivalent to £4,700,000 in 2023 annual revenue) for £10,000,000 (approximately equivalent to £22,200,000 in 2023) to Chorion , whose portfolio of authors' works included
4692-442: The disciplined atmosphere. In 1905, her mother sent her to Paris, where she was educated in a series of pensionnats (boarding schools), focusing on voice training and piano playing. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer. After completing her education, Christie returned to England to find her mother ailing. They decided to spend
4794-630: The event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. Christie's biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder. In January 1927, Christie, looking "very pale", sailed with her daughter and secretary to Las Palmas , Canary Islands, to "complete her convalescence", returning three months later. Christie petitioned for divorce and
4896-408: The fact she seems to expect the worst of everyone. In later books, she becomes a kinder person. Miss Marple solves difficult crimes thanks to her shrewd intelligence, and St. Mary Mead, over her lifetime, has given her seemingly infinite examples of the negative side of human nature. Crimes always remind her of a previous incident, although acquaintances may be bored by analogies that often lead her to
4998-521: The fictional Chimneys, Stonygates, and other houses in her stories are mostly Abney Hall in various forms." During World War II, Christie moved to London and lived in a flat at the Isokon in Hampstead , whilst working in the pharmacy at University College Hospital (UCH), London, where she updated her knowledge of poisons. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis,
5100-478: The first Britons to surf standing up, and extended their time there by three months to practise. She is remembered at the Museum of British Surfing as having said about surfing, "Oh it was heaven! Nothing like rushing through the water at what seems to you a speed of about two hundred miles an hour. It is one of the most perfect physical pleasures I have known." When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in
5202-535: The first chapter of The Thirteen Problems (1932). Her first appearance in a full-length novel was in The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930, and her last appearance was in Sleeping Murder in 1976. The character of Miss Marple is based on friends of Christie's step grandmother, Margaret Miller, née West. Christie attributed the inspiration for the character to multiple sources, stating that Miss Marple
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#17327866617455304-477: The following Miss Marple stories: June Whitfield starred as Miss Marple in Michael Bakewell 's adaptations of all twelve novels, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1993 and 2001. Three short stories with Whitfield ("Tape-Measure Murder", "The Case of the Perfect Maid" and "Sanctuary") were later broadcast under the collective title Miss Marple's Final Cases weekly 16 – 30 September 2015. Marple
5406-470: The fourth season. The adaptations change the plots and characters of the original books (e.g. incorporating lesbian affairs, changing the identities of some killers, renaming or removing significant characters, and even using stories from other books in which Miss Marple did not originally feature). In the Geraldine McEwan series, it is revealed that when she was young (portrayed by Julie Cox in
5508-574: The great interest in archaeology and Egyptology that developed in her later years. Returning to Britain, she continued her social activities, writing and performing in amateur theatrics. She also helped put on a play called The Blue Beard of Unhappiness with female friends. At 18, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. It consisted of about 6,000 words about "madness and dreams", subjects of fascination for her. Her biographer Janet Morgan has commented that, despite "infelicities of style",
5610-514: The highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan 's The Yeomen of the Guard , in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax. According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by the age of four. Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive her education at home. As
5712-734: The home of his mother and stepfather, when Archie was on home leave. Rising through the ranks, he was posted back to Britain in September 1918 as a colonel in the Air Ministry . Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the British Red Cross . From October 1914 to May 1915, then from June 1916 to September 1918, she worked 3,400 hours in the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital , Torquay, first as
5814-580: The integrity of her creations" and disapproved of " merchandising " activities. Upon her death on 28 October 2004, the Greenway Estate passed to her son Mathew Prichard. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust . Christie's family and family trusts , including great-grandson James Prichard, continue to own the 36% stake in Agatha Christie Limited, and remain associated with
5916-512: The literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley . In February 2012, after a management buyout , Chorion began to sell off its literary assets. This included the sale of Chorion's 64% stake in Agatha Christie Limited to Acorn Media UK. In 2014, RLJ Entertainment Inc. (RLJE) acquired Acorn Media UK, renamed it Acorn Media Enterprises , and incorporated it as the RLJE UK development arm. In late February 2014, media reports stated that
6018-403: The novels and short stories in which she appears. She has a very large family, including a sister, the mother of Raymond, and Mabel Denham, a young woman who was accused of poisoning her husband, Geoffrey ( The Thumb Mark of St. Peter ). Agatha Christie wrote 12 novels and 20 short stories featuring Miss Marple. Miss Marple also appears in "Greenshaw's Folly", a short story included as part of
6120-506: The parodic Hercule Poirot adventure The Alphabet Murders (1965). In 1980, Angela Lansbury played Miss Marple in The Mirror Crack'd (EMI, directed by Guy Hamilton ), based on Christie's 1962 novel. The film featured an all-star cast that included Elizabeth Taylor , Rock Hudson , Geraldine Chaplin , Tony Curtis , and Kim Novak . Edward Fox appeared as Inspector Craddock, who did Miss Marple's legwork. Lansbury's Marple
6222-546: The press that Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recuperate from a "breakdown" caused by "overwork". In August 1926, Archie asked Christie for a divorce. He had fallen in love with Nancy Neele, a friend of Major Belcher. On 3 December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. Late that evening, Christie disappeared from their home in Sunningdale. The following morning, her car,
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#17327866617456324-426: The retirement of her long-time maid-housekeeper, faithful Florence. She was briefly looked after by her irritating companion, Miss Knight. In her later years, companion Cherry Baker, first introduced in The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side , lives with her. Miss Marple has never worked for her living and is of independent means, although she benefits in her old age from the financial support of her nephew, Raymond. She
6426-637: The same play, culminating 12 months later when the show opened at London's Savoy Theatre on 28 July 1975. At the end of March 1976, the Miss Marple role was taken over by Avril Angers , after which the production transferred to the Fortune Theatre on 5 July. The role then passed to Muriel Pavlow in June 1977 and to Gabrielle Hamilton late the following year; the production finally closed in October 1979. On 21 September 1977, while Murder at
6528-604: The same time, Christie began work on her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert . Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Clara suggested that her daughter ask for advice from the successful novelist Eden Phillpotts , a family friend and neighbour, who responded to her enquiry, encouraged her writing, and sent her an introduction to his own literary agent, Hughes Massie, who also rejected Snow Upon
6630-484: The screenplay of the former. Hayes's Marple was benign and chirpy. She had earlier appeared in a television film adaptation of the non-Marple Christie story, Murder Is Easy , playing an elderly lady somewhat similar to Miss Marple. From 1984 to 1992, the BBC adapted all of the original Miss Marple novels as a series titled Miss Marple . Joan Hickson played the lead role. In the 1940s, she had appeared on stage in an Agatha Christie play, Appointment with Death , which
6732-581: The ship is used as a reform school for wayward boys and one of the teachers uses them as a crime force), and there is a kind of salute to The Mousetrap . The music to all four films was composed and conducted by Ron Goodwin . The same theme is used on all four films with slight variations in each. The score was written within a couple of weeks by Goodwin who was approached by Pollock after Pollock had heard about him from Stanley Black . Black had worked with Pollock on Stranger in Town in 1957 and had previously hired Goodwin as his orchestrator. Rutherford, who
6834-510: The short stories commissioned by Bruce Ingram , editor of The Sketch magazine, from 1923. She now had no difficulty selling her work. In 1922, the Christies joined an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition , led by Major Ernest Belcher . Leaving their daughter with Agatha's mother and sister, in 10 months they travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada. They learned to surf prone in South Africa; then, in Waikiki , they were among
6936-505: The story was "compelling". (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams" .) Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal . These included " The Call of Wings " and "The Little Lonely God". Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles. Around
7038-461: The submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. She did so, and signed a contract committing her next five books to The Bodley Head, which she later felt was exploitative. It was published in 1920. Christie settled into married life, giving birth to her only child, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa (later Hicks), in August 1919 at Ashfield. Archie left
7140-467: The surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll . As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope , Walter Scott , Charles Dickens , and Alexandre Dumas . In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip". By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems. Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease . Christie later said that her father's death when she
7242-472: The time of her death in 1976, "she was the best-selling novelist in history." One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $ 20 million (approximately $ 107.1 million in 2023). As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683 (approximately equivalent to £970,000 in 2023) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Her remaining 36% share of Agatha Christie Limited
7344-598: The winter of 1907–1908 in the warm climate of Egypt, which was then a regular tourist destination for wealthy Britons. They stayed for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel in Cairo . Christie attended many dances and other social functions; she particularly enjoyed watching amateur polo matches. While they visited some ancient Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza , she did not exhibit
7446-404: The writers picked Hickson as "Best Marple" in the "Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple" timeline. Listing of the TV series featuring Joan Hickson: Beginning in 2004, ITV broadcast a series of adaptations of Agatha Christie's books under the title Agatha Christie's Marple , usually referred to as Marple. Geraldine McEwan starred in the first three series. Julia McKenzie took over the role in
7548-462: Was Postern of Fate in 1973. Textual analysis suggested that Christie may have begun to develop Alzheimer's disease or other dementia at about this time. In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery." Christie
7650-423: Was "the sort of old lady who would have been rather like some of my step grandmother's Ealing cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl". Christie also used material from her fictional creation, spinster Caroline Sheppard, who appeared in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . When Michael Morton adapted the novel for the stage, he replaced the character of Caroline with
7752-399: Was 11 marked the end of her childhood. The family's financial situation had, by this time, worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle , Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment. Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to
7854-510: Was 14 and almost 60 years have passed since then, implying that she is nearly 75 years old; but in 4:50 from Paddington , published almost a decade earlier in 1957, she says she will be "90 next year." Excluding Sleeping Murder , 41 years passed between the first and last-written novels, and many characters grow and age. An example would be the Vicar's nephew: in The Murder at the Vicarage ,
7956-503: Was 68 years old when the first film was shot in February 1961, insisted that she wear her clothes during the filming of the movie, as well as having her husband, Stringer Davis , appear alongside her as the character Mr Stringer. The Rutherford films are frequently repeated on television in Germany , and in that country Miss Marple is generally identified with Rutherford's quirky portrayal. Rutherford also appeared briefly as Miss Marple in
8058-470: Was a British author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple . She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap , which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the " Golden Age of Detective Fiction ", Christie has been called
8160-511: Was a crisp, intelligent woman who moved stiffly and spoke in clipped tones. Unlike most incarnations of Miss Marple, this one smoked cigarettes. Lansbury was later cast as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote , a similar role. In 1983, Estonian stage and film actress, Ita Ever , starred in the Russian language Mosfilm adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, A Pocket Full of Rye (using
8262-639: Was a lifelong, "quietly devout" member of the Church of England , attended church regularly, and kept her mother's copy of The Imitation of Christ by her bedside. After her divorce, she stopped taking the sacrament of communion . The Agatha Christie Trust For Children was established in 1969, and shortly after Christie's death a charitable memorial fund was set up to "help two causes that she favoured: old people and young children". Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for
8364-552: Was almost 80, she sold a 51% stake in Agatha Christie Limited (and the works it owned) to Booker Books (better known as Booker Author's Division ), which by 1977 had increased its stake to 64%. Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than 80 of Christie's novels and short stories, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films. In the late 1950s, Christie had reputedly been earning around £100,000 (approximately equivalent to £3,000,000 in 2023) per year. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. At
8466-457: Was an essential part of her charm. Christie died peacefully on 12 January 1976 at age 85 from natural causes at her home at Winterbrook House. Upon her death, two West End theatres – the St. Martin's , where The Mousetrap was playing, and the Savoy , which was home to a revival of Murder at the Vicarage – dimmed their outside lights in her honour. She
8568-938: Was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours . She was co-president of the Detection Club from 1958 to her death in 1976. In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter . In the 1971 New Year Honours , she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. After her husband's knighthood, Christie could also be styled Lady Mallowan. From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. Her last novel
8670-438: Was based on the 1957 novel 4:50 from Paddington (U.S. title, What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! ), and the changes made in the plot were typical of the series. In the film, Mrs. McGillicuddy is cut from the plot. Miss Marple herself sees an apparent murder committed on a train running alongside hers. Actress Joan Hickson , who played Marple in the 1984–1992 television adaptations, has a role as a housekeeper in this movie. Murder at
8772-691: Was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school. He and Clara were married in London in 1878. Their first child, Margaret "Madge" Frary, was born in Torquay in 1879. The second, Louis Montant "Monty", was born in Morristown , New Jersey , in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States. When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately equivalent to £230,000 in 2023); in 1881 they used this to buy
8874-466: Was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay , Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles , featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie ; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. Following
8976-589: Was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper middle class family in Torquay , Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa "Clara" Margaret ( née Boehmer). Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann (née West). Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on
9078-433: Was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband 10 years previously. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. Thirty wreaths adorned Christie's grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play The Mousetrap and one sent "on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers" by
9180-521: Was concerned that Christie had a spy in Britain's top-secret codebreaking centre, Bletchley Park . The agency's fears were allayed when Christie told her friend, the codebreaker Dilly Knox , "I was stuck there on my way by train from Oxford to London and took revenge by giving the name to one of my least lovable characters." Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In honour of her many literary works, Christie
9282-420: Was disappointed with them. Nevertheless, Agatha Christie dedicated the novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side to Rutherford. Rutherford presented the character as a bold and eccentric old lady, different from the prim and birdlike character Christie created in her novels. As penned by Christie, Miss Marple has never worked for a living, but the character as portrayed by Margaret Rutherford briefly works as
9384-518: Was given to the National Trust in 2000. Christie frequently stayed at Abney Hall , Cheshire , which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts, and based at least two stories there: a short story, " The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding ", in the story collection of the same name and the novel After the Funeral . One Christie compendium notes that "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all its servants and grandeur being woven into her plots. The descriptions of
9486-448: Was granted a decree nisi against her husband in April 1928, which was made absolute in October 1928. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. Christie retained custody of their daughter, Rosalind, and kept the Christie surname for her writing. Reflecting on the period in her autobiography, Christie wrote, "So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak. There is no need to dwell on it." In 1928, Christie left England and took
9588-627: Was highlighted in volume 20 of the Case Closed manga's edition of "Gosho Aoyama's Mystery Library", a section of the graphic novels (usually the last page) where the author introduces a different detective (or occasionally, a villain) from mystery literature, television, or other media. In the 1976 Neil Simon spoof Murder by Death , Miss Marple is parodied as "Miss Marbles" by Elsa Lanchester . Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan , ( née Miller ; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976)
9690-508: Was inherited by Hicks, who passionately preserved her mother's works, image, and legacy until her own death 28 years later. The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works. In 2004, Hicks' obituary in The Telegraph noted that she had been "determined to remain true to her mother's vision and to protect
9792-746: Was not found for another 10 days. On 4 December, the day after she went missing, it is now known she had tea in London and visited Harrods department store where she marvelled at the spectacle of the store's Christmas display . On 14 December 1926, she was located at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate , Yorkshire, 184 miles (296 km) north of her home in Sunningdale, registered as "Mrs Tressa Neele" (the surname of her husband's lover) from "Capetown [ sic ] S.A." (South Africa). The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall , Cheadle, where she
9894-415: Was portrayed by Inge Langen [ de ] in a West German television adaptation of The Murder at the Vicarage ( Mord im Pfarrhaus ). American stage and screen actress, Helen Hayes , portrayed Miss Marple in two American television films near the end of her decades-long acting career, both for CBS : A Caribbean Mystery (1983) and Murder with Mirrors (1985). Sue Grafton contributed to
9996-914: Was raised. Christie drew on her experience of international train travel when writing her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express . The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author. Christie and Mallowan first lived in Cresswell Place in Chelsea , and later in Sheffield Terrace, Holland Park , Kensington . Both properties are now marked by blue plaques . In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook ,
10098-443: Was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot , who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories. Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep". Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation
10200-461: Was seen by Christie who wrote in a note to her, "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple". She portrayed a maid in the 1937 film, Love from a Stranger , which starred Ann Harding and Basil Rathbone, another Agatha Christie play adaptation. As well as portraying Miss Marple on television, Hickson narrated Miss Marple stories for audio books. In the "Binge!" article of Entertainment Weekly Issue #1343–1344 (26 December 2014 – 3 January 2015),
10302-454: Was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away". Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. Two doctors diagnosed her with "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state . The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned
10404-543: Was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association . In 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Many of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work. Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller
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