Best Miss Marple on TV and a protégé of Agatha Christie herself: Joan Hickson

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

She became a record holder, starring in one of the leading English TV series at the age of eighty-six. Joan Hickson parted with Miss Marple deliberately, deciding to retire at the pinnacle of success. The actress spent the remaining years in her beloved home near London, probably recalling a long and eventful creative path, which, of course, did not end with the role of an old detective from the works of Agatha Christie.

From "Cinderella" to "characteristic ladies"

Joan Hickson was born on August 5, 1906 to Alfred Hickson and Edith, nee Bogle. Her father was engaged in the production of shoes, and nothing seemed to foreshadow an acting career for the girl - but at the age of five, Joan found herself at the production of Cinderella and realized: this is the world to which she wants to belong. Despite the skeptical attitude of the family to her plans, Hickson, after graduating from school, went to London, where she entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. There the future "Miss Marple", a very young girl with, if not spectacular, then at least a memorable appearance, studied for three years.

At twenty-one, Joan Hickson first appeared on stage - she played the role of Lady Shoreham in the play "His Wife's Children." The production of the provincial theater toured the country for some time. The first appearance of the actress on the movie screen took place in 1934, in the comedy "Problem in the Store". Hickson was noticed and began to receive more and more new offers. After the Second World War, she was already a successful actress, best of all she succeeded in the roles of eccentric middle-aged women, character, comedic characters.

Joan Hickson and Agatha Christie

The queen of detectives drew attention to the then rather young Joan Hickson in 1946, when she saw her in the play "Date with Death". The actress received a gracious letter from Agatha Christie, where the writer expressed the hope that one day Joan would play "dear Miss Marple." And so it eventually happened - thirty-eight years later.

True, Hickson took part in the film about the investigations of the famous old woman much earlier. In 1961, she played the role of housekeeper Miss Kidder in the film adaptation of 4.50 from Paddington. Miss Marple in this film was played by Margaret Rutherford, Agatha Christie's most beloved performer of this role - the actress to whom the writer will dedicate the book “The Mirror Cracked” - of course, about the adventures of the same restless old lady.

Joan Hickson, meanwhile, continued to build her career. In the late sixties, she made her Broadway debut and was dubbed "an underrated actress in the UK." In 1979 she was awarded the American Tony Award for theatrical achievement.

Miss Marple

When the actress was already 78 years old, she was invited to the main role in the next television series based on the novels of Agatha Christie. The first film was the adaptation of the book "The Body in the Library". In just eight years of filming, twelve television episodes were released - for each of the novels about Miss Marple. True, back in 1989, after the release of "Caribbean Mystery", Joan Hickson planned to end her career, but under the influence of persuasion she agreed to star in several more film adaptations, bypassing Helen Hayes, another performer of the role of Miss Marple - she played an old woman when she was 85 years old, while Hickson was a year older.

Given the popularity of the show, it's no surprise that the nickname "Miss M" quickly became attached to the actress. She herself spoke of her character as “a beautiful woman with a very clear outlook on life. Miss Marple believes in fairness and has very high standards. "Indeed, looking at how Joan Hickson embodied this book image on the screen, one cannot but admit that the old lady from St. Mary Meade knows how to set the bar, and besides, nothing, perhaps, can shock her - after all, for every loud an incident, she will find a similar case in her memory - one has only to look at things objectively and do not forget to see human nature in the people around.

Joan Hickson, along with David Suchet, on-screen Hercule Poirot, were members of the Agatha Christie Society. And in 1987, one of the actress's fans, the English Queen Elizabeth II herself, elevated Miss M to the status of an officer of the Order of the British Empire. On account of Hickson and two British BAFTA awards - for her role in the same series. Joan Hickson differs in many ways from her most famous heroine, including the fact that, unlike Jane Marple, she has a family. In 1932, the actress married Eric Norman Butler, a doctor, two children were born in the marriage - a son, Nicholas and a daughter, Carolyn. According to Joan, her husband was not interested in the theater, and therefore for a long time she lived as if two lives: one took place in the theater, in the other, the famous actress became simply Mrs. Butler. In 1967, Hickson was widowed, she never married again.

For forty years, until her death, the actress lived in Essex, about 43 miles from London. She died of a stroke in 1998, already in the age of mobile phones and high technologies, which witnessed two world wars and the history of the 20th century in general. Joan Hickson said in an interview: "I'm lucky that I was not born pretty." The role of the actress imposed certain restrictions on the choice of plays - for example, she never played Shakespeare.

About what other Miss Marple knew film and television screens - here.