Miss Marple is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fiction ...

's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

. Often characterized as an elderly

spinster ''Spinster'' is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally den ...

, 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 ''The Royal Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine that was published between 1898 and 1939. Its founder and publisher was Sir Arthur Pearson. ''The Royal Magazines first edition was published in November 1898. According to this iss ...

'' in December 1927, " The Tuesday Night Club", which later became the first chapter of ''

The Thirteen Problems ''The Thirteen Problems'' is a short story collection by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club in June 1932Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First E ...

'' (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 ''Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in October 1976 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK editio ...

'' in 1976.

Origins

The character of Miss Marple is based on friends of Christie's step grandmother/aunt (Margaret Miller, née West). Christie attributed the inspiration for the character to multiple sources, stating that Miss Marple 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 a young girl. This change saddened Christie and she determined to give old maids a voice: Miss Marple was born. Christie is popularly believed to have taken the name from

Marple railway station Marple railway station is on the Hope Valley Line and serves Marple, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is south-east of Manchester Piccadilly. The station, opened in 1865 by the Manchester, Sheffield an ...

, through which she passed, though a letter she wrote to a fan appears 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.

Character

The character of Jane Marple in the first Miss Marple book, '' The Murder at the Vicarage'', is markedly 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 citizens of St. Mary Mead like her but are often tired of her nosy nature and the fact she seems to expect the worst of everyone. In later books, she becomes a kinder and more modern 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 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 The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

, for official information when required. Miss Marple never married and has no close living relatives. Her nephew, the "well-known author"

Raymond West Sir Raymond West (18 September 1832 in County Kerry, Ireland – 8 September 1912) was a barrister King's Inns Dublin 1871, Puisne Judge of the High Court of Bombay, 1873–87; President of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, ...

('' A Caribbean Mystery'', 1964), appears in some stories, including ''

'', ''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 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 in. 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 is not from the aristocracy or

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, t ...

, but is quite at home among them; as a

gentlewoman A gentlewoman (from the Latin ''gentilis'', belonging to 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" ...

, Miss Marple may thus be considered a female version of the

gentleman detective The gentleman detective, less commonly lady detective, is a type of fictional character. He (or she) has long been a staple of crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories set in the United Kingdom in the Golden Age. The hero ...

, 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 is revealed that Miss Marple grew up in a cathedral close, and that she studied at an Italian finishing school with Americans 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 was 14 and almost 60 years have passed since then, implying that she's 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'', 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 In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The ...

'', set only 16 months later. Miss Marple's background is described in some detail, albeit in glimpses across 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'').

Bibliography

Miss Marple Series

# '' The Murder at the Vicarage'' (1930, Novel) # '' The Body in the Library'' (1942, Novel) # '' The Moving Finger'' (1943, Novel) # '' A Murder Is Announced'' (1950, Novel) # '' They Do It with Mirrors'' (1952, Novel) - also published as ''Murder With Mirrors'' # '' A Pocket Full of Rye'' (1953, Novel) # ''

4.50 from Paddington ''4.50 from Paddington'' is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in November 1957 by Collins Crime Club. This work was published in the United States at the same time as ''What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!'', by Dodd, Mead. Th ...

'' (1957, Novel) - also published as ''What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!'' # ''

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side ''The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'', a novel by Agatha Christie, was published in the UK in 1962 and a year later in the US under the title ''The Mirror Crack'd''. The story features amateur detective Miss Marple solving a mystery in St. ...

(''1962, Novel) # '' A Caribbean Mystery'' (1964, Novel) # ''

At Bertram's Hotel ''At Bertram's Hotel'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 15 November 1965Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Ed ...

'' (1965, Novel) # ''

'' (1971, Novel) # ''

'' (1976, Novel)

Miss Marple short story collections

* ''

'' (1932 short story collection featuring Miss Marple, also published as ''The Tuesday Club Murders'') *'' The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories'' (1939, Collection) * '' Three Blind Mice and Other Stories'' (1950, Collection) * '' The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding'' (1960, Collection) * '' Double Sin and Other Stories'' (1961, Collection) * '' Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories'' (short stories collected posthumously, also published as ''Miss Marple's Final Cases'', but only six of the eight stories actually feature Miss Marple) (written between 1939 and 1954, published 1979) * ''Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories'', published 1985, includes 20 from 4 sets: ''

'', '' The Regatta Mystery'', '' Three Blind Mice and Other Stories'', and '' Double Sin and Other Stories''. Miss Marple also appears in "Greenshaw's Folly", a short story included as part of 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".

Continuations not by Christie

* ''Marple: Twelve New Mysteries'', collection with stories written by Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo,

Alyssa Cole Alyssa Cole (born August 12, 1982) is an American author of historical, science fiction, and contemporary romance novels. Her stories include diverse casts of characters with a variety of professions, from Civil War spies to modern day epidemiolo ...

, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok,

Val McDermid Valarie "Val" McDermid, (born 4 June 1955) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of novels featuring clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill in a grim sub-genre that McDermid and others have identified as Tartan Noir. Biography ...

Karen M. McManus Karen M. McManus is an American author of young adult fiction. She is most known for her first novel, ''One of Us Is Lying'', which spent more than five years on the '' New York Times'' bestseller list. It received a starred review from ''Publish ...

, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse, and Ruth Ware (published 2022)

Books about Miss Marple

* ''The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple'' – a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

by Anne Hart

Stage

A stage adaptation of ''Murder at 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 The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...

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 the same play, culminating 12 months later when the show opened at London's

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

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 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.

Films

Margaret Rutherford

Margaret Rutherford played Miss Marple in four films directed by George Pollock between 1961 and 1964. These were successful light comedies, but Christie herself was disappointed with them. Nevertheless, Agatha Christie dedicated the novel ''

'' 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 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 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 the Gallop'' (1963), based on the 1953 Hercule Poirot novel ''

After the Funeral ''After the Funeral'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1953 under the title of ''Funerals are Fatal'' and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on 18 May of the same ye ...

'' (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 ''Mrs McGinty's Dead'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year.Chris Peers, Ralph Sp ...

''. '' 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., 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 Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-1 ...

''. 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 was 68 years old when the first film was shot in February 1961, insisted that she wear her own 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 the parodic Hercule Poirot adventure '' The Alphabet Murders'' (1965).

Angela Lansbury

In 1980,

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

played Miss Marple in ''

The Mirror Crack'd ''The Mirror Crack'd'' is a 1980 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton from a screenplay by Jonathan Hales and Barry Sandler, based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel ''The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'' (1962). It stars Ange ...

'' (EMI, directed by Guy Hamilton), based on Christie's 1962 novel. The film featured an all-star cast that included

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Gold ...

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...

, Tony Curtis, and

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

. Edward Fox appeared as Inspector Craddock, who did Miss Marple's legwork. Lansbury's Marple 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 Jessica Beatrice "J. B." Fletcher (born Jessica Beatrice MacGill) is a detective show character and the protagonist on the American television series ''Murder, She Wrote''. Portrayed by award-winning actress Angela Lansbury, Fletcher is a best ...

in ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...

'', a similar role.

Ita Ever

In 1983,

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also * ...

stage and film actress Ita Ever starred in the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living E ...

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output inclu ...

adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel '' A Pocket Full of Rye'' (using 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 Eesti Televisioon (ETV) ( en, Estonian Television) is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Televis ...

(ETV) series ''Miss Marple Stories'' in 1990, and onstage at the

Tallinn City Theatre Tallinn City Theatre ( et, Tallinna Linnateater) is a repertory theatre located in the medieval old town of Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn City Theatre was established in 1965 as Estonian SSR State Youth Theatre. In 1992, after the reindependence of ...

in a production of ''

'' in 2005.

Television

American TV was the setting for the first screen portrayal of Miss Marple with

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

, the British actress and singer, playing her in a 1956 episode of ''Goodyear TV Playhouse'' based on ''A Murder Is Announced'', the 1950 Christie novel. In 1970, the character of Miss Marple was portrayed by

Inge Langen Inge is a given name in various Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Estonian, Frisian, Ge ...

in a West German television adaptation of ''The Murder at the Vicarage '' (''Mord im Pfarrhaus''). In 2015, CBS planned a "much younger" version of the character, a granddaughter who takes over a California bookstore. In 2018, Miss Marple was portrayed by

Yunjin Kim Yunjin Kim (Hangul: 김윤진), also known as Kim Yun-Jin (born November 7, 1973) is a South Korean-American film and theater actress. She is best known for her role as Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series ''Lost'', and as the North K ...

in the South Korean television series '' Ms. Ma, Nemesis''.

Helen Hayes

American stage and screen actress

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

portrayed Miss Marple in two American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s near the end of her decades-long acting career, both for CBS: '' A Caribbean Mystery'' (1983) and ''

Murder with Mirrors ''Murder with Mirrors'' is a 1985 British-American television film starring Helen Hayes (in her final film role) and Bette Davis. It is based on Agatha Christie's novel '' They Do It with Mirrors'', using the novel's American title. The novel has b ...

'' (1985). Sue Grafton contributed to 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.

Joan Hickson

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 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 ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' Issue #1343–1344 (26 December 2014 – 3 January 2015), the writers picked Hickson as "Best Marple" in the "Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple" timeline. Listing of the TV series featuring Joan Hickson: * '' The Body in the Library'' (1984) * '' The Moving Finger'' (1985) * '' A Murder Is Announced'' (1985) * '' A Pocket Full of Rye'' (1985) * '' The Murder at the Vicarage'' (1986) – BAFTA nomination * ''

'' (1987) * ''

'' (1987) – BAFTA nomination * ''

'' (1987) * '' A Caribbean Mystery'' (1989) * '' They Do It With Mirrors'' (1991) * ''

'' (1992)

Geraldine McEwan (2004–2008)/Julia McKenzie (2009–2013)

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 Geraldine McEwan (born Geraldine McKeown; 9 May 1932 – 30 January 2015) was an English actress, who had a long career in film, theatre and television. Michael Coveney described her, in a tribute article, as "a great comic stylist, with ...

starred in the first three series. Julia McKenzie took over the role in 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 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: * '' The Body in the Library'' (2004) * '' The Murder at the Vicarage'' (2004) * ''

'' (2004) * '' A Murder Is Announced'' (2005) * ''

'' (2005) * '' The Moving Finger'' (2006) * '' By the Pricking of My Thumbs'' (2006) * ''

The Sittaford Mystery ''The Sittaford Mystery'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1931 under the title of ''The Murder at Hazelmoor'' and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on 7 Sep ...

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2007) * '' Ordeal by Innocence'' (2007) * '' Towards Zero'' (2008) * ''

'' (2008) * '' A Pocket Full of Rye'' (2009) * '' Murder Is Easy'' (2009) * '' They Do It with Mirrors'' (2010) * ''

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? ''Why Didn't They Ask Evans?'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of ...

'' (2011) * '' The Pale Horse'' (2010) * ''

The Secret of Chimneys ''The Secret of Chimneys'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in June 1925 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It introduces the character ...

'' (2010) * '' The Blue Geranium'' (2010) * ''

'' (2011) * '' A Caribbean Mystery'' (2013) * '' Greenshaw's Folly'' (2013) * '' Endless Night'' (2013)

Anime

From 2004 to 2005, Japanese TV network

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

produced a 39 episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

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 was a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture. From 1947 to 1957 she was a member of the Takarazuka Revue. After leaving the Revue, she was active in film, television, and narration. She famously quit part way through the filming of the televi ...

. Episodes adapted both short stories and novels. The anime series dramatised the following Miss Marple stories: * '' Strange Jest'' (EP 3) * '' The Case of the Perfect Maid'' (EP 4) * '' The Tape-Measure Murder'' (EP 13) * '' Ingots of Gold'' (EP 14) * '' The Blue Geranium'' (EP 15) * ''

'' (EP 21–24) * '' Motive versus Opportunity'' (EP 27) * ''

'' (EP 30–33)

Radio

June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television, and film actress. Her big break was a lead in the radio comedy ''Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1953. ...

starred as Miss Marple in Michael Bakewell's adaptations of all twelve novels, broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

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.

Other appearances

Marple was highlighted in volume 20 of the ''

Case Closed ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994, with its cha ...

'' 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 Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

spoof '' Murder by Death'', Miss Marple is parodied as "Miss Marbles" by

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British-American actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary '' Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the F ...

References

External links

Miss Marple
at the official Agatha Christie website
Miss Marple
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marple, Miss Book series introduced in 1930 British novels adapted into films British novels adapted into plays Characters in British novels of the 20th century Detective television series Agatha Christie characters Female characters in literature Fictional amateur detectives Literary characters introduced in 1927 Fictional English people Fictional female detectives Novel series Novels adapted into radio programs British novels adapted into television shows