Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), better known as Dame Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is remembered for her 80 mystery novels, particularly featuring detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, which have given her the title the 'Queen of Crime' and made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the mystery novel.

Her appeal is so huge that Christie is often called - by the Guiness Book of World Records, among others - the best-selling writer of fiction of all time, and the best-selling writer of any kind second to William Shakespeare. An estimed billion copies of her novels have been sold in English, and another billion in 103 other languages. [1].As an example of her broad appeal, she is the all-time best-selling author in France, with over 40 million copies sold in French (as of 2003) versus 22 million for Emile Zola, the nearest contender.

Her stage play The Mousetrap holds the record for the longest run ever in London, opening at the Ambassadors Theatre on November 25, 1952, and as of 2006 is still running after more than 20,000 performances.

Film versions

Most of her books and short stories have been filmed, some many times over (Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, 4.50 From Paddington). The BBC has produced television and radio versions of most of the Poirot and Marple stories. A later series of Poirot dramatizations starring David Suchet was made by Granada Television (Agatha Christie's Poirot). In 2004, the Japanese broadcasting company turned Poirot and Marple into animated characters in the anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, introducing Mabel West (daughter of Miss Marple's mystery-writer nephew Raymond West, a canonical Christie character) and her duck Oliver as new characters.

Biography

A plaque from the Agatha Christie Mile at Torre Abbey in Torquay.

Christened Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, in Torquay, Devon, she was the daughter of an American father (from New Jersey) and a British mother. Her father was permanently resident in England, however, and she never claimed or held U.S. citizenship.

Her first marriage, an unhappy one, was in 1914 to Colonel Archibald Christie, an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps. The couple had one daughter, Rosalind Hicks, and divorced in 1928.

During World War I she worked at a hospital and then a pharmacy, a job that also influenced her work: many of the murders in her books are carried out with poison.

In December 1926 she disappeared for eleven days, causing quite a storm in the press. Her car was found abandoned in a chalk pit. She was eventually found staying at a hotel in Harrogate, where she claimed to have suffered amnesia due to a nervous breakdown following the death of her mother and her husband's confessed infidelity. Opinions are still divided as to whether this was a publicity stunt or not. A 1979 film, Agatha, starring Vanessa Redgrave as Christie, recounted a fictionalised version of the disappearance. Other media accounts of this event exist; it was featured on a segment of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, for example.

In 1930, Christie married a Roman Catholic (despite her divorce), the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. Mallowan was 14 years younger than Agatha, and her travels with him contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Their marriage was happy in the early years, and endured despite Mallowan's many affairs in later life, notably with Barbara Parker, whom he married in 1977, the year after Agatha's death. Other novels (such as And Then There Were None) were set in and around Torquay, Devon, where she was born. Christie's 1934 novel, Murder on the Orient Express was written in the Pera Palas hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, the southern terminus of the railroad. The hotel maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author.

Agatha Christie's room at the Pera Palas hotel where she wrote Murder on the Orient Express.

In 1971 she was granted the title of Dame Commander of the British Empire.

Agatha Christie died on January 12, 1976, at age 85 from natural causes, at Winterbrook House, Cholsey near Wallingford, Oxfordshire. She is buried at St. Mary's Churchyard in Cholsey, Oxon.

Christie's only child, Rosalind Hicks, died on October 28, 2004, also aged 85, from natural causes. Christie's grandson, Mathew Prichard, now owns the royalties to his grandmother's works.

At the height of her career, Christie wrote two novels that she intended to be published after her death. The were the last cases of her two great detectives, Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple - respectively, Curtain and Sleeping Murder. When she wrote the novels, Christie had not thought she would live so long. Following the success of the film version of Murder on the Orient Express in 1974, Christie authorised the release of Curtain, in which Poirot is killed off.

In her diary, Christie explained that she had always found him insufferable. She had a great fondness for Miss Marple, on the other hand, who was apparently based on Christie's grandmother. After Miss Marple solves the mystery in Sleeping Murder, she returns home to her regular life in Saint Mary Mead.

Upon seeing the great success of Curtain, Christie gave permission to release Sleeping Murder sometime in 1975, but died in January 1976 before the book could be released. That may explain some of the inconsistencies of the book with the rest of the Marple series - for example, Colonel Arthur Bantry, husband of Miss Marple's friend, Dolly, whose library had the body in it in 1942, is still alive and well in Sleeping Murder (which, like Curtain, was written in the 1940's) despite the fact he is noted as having died, in books that were written after but published before the posthumous release of Sleeping Murder in 1976. It may be that Christie simply did not have time to revise the manuscript before she died.

Works

Novels

* 1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles (introducing Hercule Poirot, Chief Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings)
* 1922 The Secret Adversary (introducing Tommy and Tuppence)
* 1923 Murder on the Links
* 1924 The Man in the Brown Suit
* 1925 The Secret of Chimneys
* 1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
* 1927 The Big Four
* 1928 The Mystery of the Blue Train
* 1929 The Seven Dials Mystery
* 1930 The Murder at the Vicarage (introducing Jane Marple)
* 1931 The Sittaford Mystery (also known as Murder at Hazelmore)
* 1932 Peril at End House
* 1933 Lord Edgware Dies (also known as Thirteen at Dinner)
* 1934 Murder on the Orient Express
* 1935 Three Act Tragedy (also known as Murder in Three Acts)
* 1935 Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (also known as The Boomerang Clue)
* 1935 Death in the Clouds (also known as Death in the Air)
* 1936 The A.B.C. Murders (also known as The Alphabet Murders)
* 1936 Murder in Mesopotamia
* 1936 Cards on the Table
* 1937 Death on the Nile
* 1937 Dumb Witness (also known as Poirot Loses a Client)
* 1938 Appointment with Death
* 1939 And Then There Were None (also known as Ten Little Indians and originally as Ten Little Niggers)
* 1939 Murder is Easy (also known as Easy to Kill)
* 1939 Hercule Poirot's Christmas (also known as Murder for Christmas and A Holiday for Murder)
* 1940 Sad Cypress
* 1941 Evil Under the Sun
* 1941 N or M?
* 1941 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (also known as An Overdose of Death)
* 1942 The Body in the Library
* 1942 Five Little Pigs (also known as Murder in Retrospect)
* 1942 The Moving Finger
* 1944 Towards Zero
* 1944 Sparkling Cyanide (also known as Remembered Death)
* 1945 Death Comes as the End
* 1946 The Hollow (also known as Murder After Hours)
* 1948 Taken at the Flood (also known as There is a Tide)
* 1949 Crooked House
* 1950 A Murder is Announced
* 1951 They Came to Baghdad
* 1952 Mrs McGinty's Dead (also known as Blood Will Tell)
* 1952 They Do It with Mirrors
* 1953 A Pocket Full of Rye
* 1953 After the Funeral (also known as Funerals are Fatal and Murder at the Gallop)
* 1955 Hickory Dickory Dock (also known as Hickory Dickory Death)
* 1955 Destination Unknown (also known as So Many Steps to Death)
* 1956 Dead Man's Folly
* 1957 4.50 From Paddington (also known as What Mrs. McGillycuddy Saw)
* 1957 Ordeal by Innocence
* 1959 Cat Among the Pigeons
* 1961 The Pale Horse
* 1962 The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (also known as The Mirror Crack'd)
* 1963 The Clocks
* 1964 A Caribbean Mystery
* 1965 At Bertram's Hotel
* 1966 Third Girl
* 1967 Endless Night
* 1968 By the Pricking of My Thumbs
* 1969 Hallowe'en Party
* 1970 Passenger to Frankfurt
* 1971 Nemesis
* 1972 Elephants Can Remember
* 1973 Akhnaton - A play in three acts
* 1973 Postern of Fate (final Tommy and Tuppence, last novel Christie wrote)
* 1975 Curtain (Poirot's last case, written four decades earlier)
* 1976 Sleeping Murder'' (Miss Marple's last case, written four decades earlier)

Collections of Short Stories

* 1924 Poirot Investigates (eleven short stories)
* 1929 Partners in Crime (fifteen short stories)
* 1930 The Mysterious Mr. Quin (twelve short stories; introducing Mr. Harley Quin)
* 1933 The Hound of Death (twelve short mysteries)
* 1933 The Thirteen Problems (thirteen short mysteries; featuring Miss Marple, also known as The Tuesday Club Murders)
* 1934 Parker Pyne Investigates (twelve short mysteries; introducing Parker Pyne and Ariadne Oliver)
* 1934 The Listerdale mystery (twelve short mysteries)
* 1937 Murder in the Mews (four short stories; featuring Hercule Poirot)
* 1939 Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (nine short stories)
* 1947 The Labours of Hercules (twelve short mysteries; featuring Hercule Poirot)
* 1948 The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (eleven short stories)
* 1950 Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (nine short stories)
* 1951 The Under Dog and Other Stories (nine short stories)
* 1960 The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (six short stories)
* 1961 Double Sin and Other Stories (eight short stories)
* 1971 The Golden Ball and Other Stories (fifteen short stories)
* 1974 Poirot's Early Cases (eighteen short mysteries)
* 1979 Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories (eight short stories)
* 1992 Problem at Pollensa Bay (eight short stories)
* 1997 The Harlequin Tea Set (nine short stories)

Co-authored works

* 1931 The Floating Admiral written together with G. K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers and certain other members of the Detection Club.

Plays adapted into novels by Charles Osborne

* 1998 Black Coffee
* 2001 The Unexpected Guest
* 2003 The Spider's Web

Works written as Mary Westmacott

* 1930 Giant's Bread
* 1934 Unfinished Portrait
* 1944 Absent in the Spring
* 1948 The Rose and the Yew Tree
* 1952 A Daughter's a Daughter
* 1956 The Burden

Plays

* 1928 Alibi
* 1930 Black Coffee
* 1936 Love from a Stranger
* 1937 or 1939 A Daughter's a Daughter (Never Performed)
* 1940 Peril at End House
* 1943 Ten Little Indians
* 1945 Appointment with Death
* 1946 Murder on the Nile/Hiddon Horizon
* 1949 Murder at the Vicarage(dramatized from her novel by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy)
* 1951 The Hollow
* 1952 The Mousetrap
* 1953 Witness for the Prosecution
* 1954 The Spider's Web
* 1956 Towards Zero
* 1958 Verdict
* 1958 The Unexpected Guest
* 1960 Go Back for Murder
* 1962 Rule of Three
* 1972 Fiddler's Three (Originally written as Fiddler's Five. Never Published. Final play she wrote.)
* 1973 Aknaton (Written in 1937)
* 1977 Murder is Announced
* 1981 Cards on the Table
* 1992 Problem at Pollensa Bay
* 1993 Murder is Easy
* 2005 And Then There Were None

Radio Plays

* 1937 The Yellow Iris
* 1947 Three Blind Mice
* 1948 Butter In a Lordly Dish
* 1960 Personal Call

Television Plays

* 1937 Wasp's Nest

Movie Adaptions

Agatha Christie is no stranger to the cinema. Over the last 78 years, Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence, Mr. Quin, Parker Pyne, and many others have been portrayed on numerous occasions:
* 1928 Die Abenteuer G.m.b.H. (The Secret Adversary)
* 1928 The Passing of Mr. Quinn
* 1931 Alibi
* 1931 Black Coffee
* 1934 Lord Edgware Dies
* 1937 Love From A Stranger
* 1945 And Then There Were None
* 1947 Love From A Stranger
* 1957 Witness for the Prosecution
* 1960 The Spider's Web
* 1962 Murder, She Said (Based on 4.50 From Paddington)
* 1963 Murder at the Gallop (Based on After the Funeral)
* 1964 Murder Most Foul (Based on Mrs. McGinty's Dead)
* 1964 Murder Ahoy! (An original Movie, not based on any of the books)
* 1966 Ten Little Indians
* 1966 The Alphabet Murders (Based on The ABC Murders)
* 1972 Endless Night
* 1974 Murder on the Orient Express
* 1975 Ten Little Indians
* 1978 Death on the Nile
* 1980 The Mirror Crack'd
* 1982 Evil Under the Sun
* 1984 Ordeal by Innocence
* 1988 Appointment with Death
* 1989 Ten Little Indians

Television Plays

* 1938 Love from a Stranger
* 1947 Love from a Stranger
* 1949 Ten Little Indians
* 1959 Ten Little Indians
* 1970 Murder at the Vicarage
* 1980 Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
* 1982 The Spider's Web
* 1982 The Seven Dials Mystery
* 1982 The Agatha Christie Hour
* 1982 Murder is Easy
* 1982 The Witness for the Prosecution
* 1983 Partners in Crime
* 1983 A Caribbean Mystery
* 1983 Sparkling Cyanide
* 1984 The Body in the Library
* 1985 Murder With Mirrors
* 1985 The Moving Finger
* 1985 A Murder Is Announced
* 1985 A Pocket Full of Rye
* 1985 Thirten At Dinner
* 1986 Dead Man's Folly
* 1986 Murder in Three Acts
* 1986 Murder at the Vicarage
* 1987 Sleeping Murder
* 1987 At Bertram's Hotel
* 1987 Nemesis
* 1987 4.50 From Paddington
* 1989 The Man In The Brown Suit
* 1989 Agatha Christie's Poirot
* 1989 A Caribbean Mystery
* 1990 Peril at End House
* 1990 The Mysterious Affair at Styles
* 1991 They Do It With Mirrors
* 1992 The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
* 1994 Hercule Poirot's Christmas
* 1995 Murder on the Links
* 1995 Hickory Dickory Dock
* 1996 Dumb Witness
* 1997 The Pale Horse
* 2000 The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd
* 2000 Lord Edgware Dies
* 2001 Evil Under the Sun
* 2001 Murder on the Orient Express
* 2001 Murder in Mesopotamia
* 2003 Sparkling Cyanide
* 2004 Five Little Pigs
* 2004 Death on the Nile
* 2004 Sad Cypress
* 2004 The Hollow
* 2004 Marple
* 2004 The Body in the Library
* 2004 Murder at the Vicarage
* 2004 Appointment with Death
* 2005 A Murder is Announced
* 2005 The Mystery of the Blue Train
* 2005 Cards on the Table
* 2005 Sleeping Murder
* 2005 Taken at the Flood
* 2006 After the Funeral
* 2006 The Moving Finger
* 2006 By the Pricking of My Thumbs
* 2006 The Sittaford Mystery
* 2007 Hercule Poirot's Christmas (A French film adaption)

Video games

* 2005 And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie in fiction

Dame Agatha appears as one of the title characters, with Dorothy L. Sayers, in the fictional murder mystery Dorothy and Agatha by Gaylord Larsen.

The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley contains characters based on Christie, Sayers, Carr, and Chesterton.

The movie Agatha (1979) is about a fictional solution to the real mystery of Agatha Christie's disappearance in 1926.

Her characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple inspired the 2005 anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple.

See also

* The Agatha Christie disappearance

External links

*Official Agatha Christie site
*Agatha Christie profile and articles at "The Guardian"
*Agatha Christie profile on PBS.ORG
*Agatha Christie Bibliography first editions - illustrated
*Free Audiobook of The Mysterious Affair at Styles at LibriVox
*"Biography of an Author"
*Free ebook of Agatha Christie at Project Gutenberg
*Historical and cultural background to Christie's mystery novels
*Delicious Death Agatha Christie Works List
*All About Agatha Christie A Comprehensive guide to the life and work of Agatha Christie
*Agatha Christie Chinese Site Simplified Chinese