Joan Hickson
Joan Hickson OBE | |
|---|---|
 Joan Hickson as Miss Marple | |
| Born | Joan Bogle Hickson[1] (1906-08-05)5 August 1906 Kingsthorpe, Northampton, England |
| Died | 17 October 1998(1998-10-17) (aged 92) Colchester, Essex, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1927–1993 |
| Spouse(s) | Eric Butler (m. 1932–1967; his death) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play 1979 Bedroom Farce |
Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series Miss Marple. She also narrated a number of Miss Marple stories on audio books.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Wivenhoe
3 Marriage
4 Death
5 Miss Marple filmography
6 Partial filmography
7 References
8 External links
Biography
Born in Kingsthorpe, Northampton, Hickson was a daughter of Edith Mary (née Bogle) and Alfred Harold Hickson, a shoe manufacturer. Boarding at Oldfield School at Swanage in Dorset she went on to train at RADA in London. Making her stage debut in 1927, she worked for several years throughout the United Kingdom and achieved success playing comedic, often eccentric characters in London's West End, including the role of the cockney maid Ida in the original production of See How They Run, at the Q Theatre in 1944, and then at the Comedy Theatre in January 1945.[2]
She made her first film appearance in 1934. The numerous supporting roles of her career included several Carry On films including Sister in Carry On Nurse and Mrs May in Carry On Constable.
In the 1940s she 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".[3] From 1963–66 she played Mrs. Peace, housekeeper to Reverend Stephen Young (played by Donald Sinden) in the highly rated TV series Our Man At St. Mark's. Hickson played the housekeeper in the Marple film Murder, She Said in 1961 (based on Agatha Christie's original novel 4.50 From Paddington), which starred Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. From 1970–71, she played Mrs Pugsley in Bachelor Father. Hickson played Mrs Chambers in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? In 1986, she played the part of Mrs. Trellis in Clockwise.
Her stage career included roles in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit, the Tony Hatch-Jackie Trent 1975 musical The Card, and Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, for which she won a 1979 Tony Award for 'Best Featured Actress in a Play'. In 1980 she appeared in yet another Agatha Christie production, as Mrs. Rivington in Why Didn't They Ask Evans?.
The BBC began filming the works of Agatha Christie in the mid 1980s, and were conscious of the criticism that had been levelled at the portrayal of Miss Marple given by Margaret Rutherford. In making a new series, the makers determined to remain faithful to the plotlines and locales of Christie's stories, and most importantly to represent Miss Marple as written. Hickson played the role in all 12 adaptations of the novels produced from 1984 to 1992, and received two BAFTA nominations for Best TV Actress, 1987 and 1988. When the OBE was bestowed on Hickson in June 1987,[4]Queen Elizabeth II was reported to have said, "You play the part just as one envisages it."[5] When Hickson retired from the role, believing that she should stop while the programme was still at the peak of its popularity, she stated that she had no intention of retiring from acting altogether.[6]
Wivenhoe
Number 2, Rose Lane, Wivenhoe
From 1958, Hickson lived in Rose Lane, Wivenhoe, along the River Colne 43 miles from London in Essex, until her death in 1998. A plaque now marks the house where she lived for 40 years.[7]
Marriage
In October 1932 in Hampstead, London, Hickson married Eric Norman Butler (born 2 September 1902 in Westbury, Wiltshire), a physician with whom she had two children.[8] Her husband died in June 1967 in Colchester, Essex.[9]
Death
Hickson died in Colchester General Hospital from a stroke, aged 92.[10][11] She is interred under her married name, Joan Bogle Butler, at Sidbury Cemetery in Devon.
Miss Marple filmography
Series 1
The Body in the Library (1984)
The Moving Finger (1985)
A Murder Is Announced (1985)
A Pocket Full of Rye (1985)
Series 2
The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) – BAFTA nomination
Sleeping Murder (1987)
At Bertram's Hotel (1987)
Nemesis (1987) – BAFTA nomination
Series 3
4.50 from Paddington (1987)
A Caribbean Mystery (1989)
They Do It With Mirrors (1991)
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1992)
Partial filmography
Trouble in Store (1934) -short as Mabel
Widow's Might (1935) as Burroughs
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) as Effie
Love from a Stranger (1937) as Emmy
The Lilac Domino (1937) as Katrina, school dustmaid
Second Thoughts (1938) as Ellen
Sailors Don't Care (1940) as Woman Carried Ashore (uncredited)
Freedom Radio (1941) as Katie
The Saint Meets the Tiger (1943) as Mary (Aunt Agatha's Maid) (uncredited)
Don't Take It to Heart (1944) as Mrs. Pike
The Rake's Progress (1945) as Miss Parker
The Trojan Brothers (1946) as Ada
I See a Dark Stranger (1946) as Manx Hotel Manageress
So Well Remembered (1947) as Mother (uncredited)
This Was a Woman (1948) as Miss Johnson
Just William's Luck (1948) as Hubert's Mother
Bond Street (1948) as Blanche - Seamstress (uncredited)
The Guinea Pig (1948) as Mrs. Read
It's Hard to Be Good (1948) as Mending Woman (uncredited)
Marry Me! (1949) as Mrs. Pearson
Don't Ever Leave Me (1949) as Mrs. Pearson (uncredited)
Celia (1949) as Mrs. Haldane
Seven Days to Noon (1950) as Mrs. Peckett
The Magnet (1950) as Mrs. Ward
Hell is Sold Out (1951) as Hortense, the housekeeper
High Treason (1951) as Mrs. Ellis
The Magic Box (1951) as Mrs. Stukely
Blind Man's Bluff (1952) as Mrs. Kipps
The Card (1952) as Mrs. Codleyn
The Tall Headlines (1952) as Waitress
Curtain Up (1952) as Harry's Landlady
No Haunt for a Gentleman (1952) as Mme. Omskaya
Hindle Wakes (1952) as Mrs. Hawthorn
Deadly Nightshade (1953) as Mrs. Fenton
Shoot First (1953) as Woman Station Announcer
Sailor of the King (1953) as Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Love in Pawn (1953) as Woman in Telephone Box (uncredited)
The Million Pound Note (1954) as Maggie (uncredited)
Doctor in the House (1954) as Mrs Groaker
The House Across the Lake (1954) as Mrs. Hardcastle
What Every Woman Wants (1954) as Polly Ann
Dance, Little Lady (1954) as Mrs. Matthews
The Crowded Day (1954) as Mrs. Jones
To Dorothy a Son (1954) as Pub Landlady (uncredited)
Mad About Men (1954) as Mrs. Forster
As Long as They're Happy (1955) as Barmaid
Doctor at Sea (1955) as Mrs. Thomas
Value for Money (1955) as Mrs. Perkins
The Woman for Joe (1955) as Publican's Wife (uncredited)
A Time to Kill (1955) as Miss Edinger
Simon and Laura (1955) as Barmaid
An Alligator Named Daisy (1955) as Piano Customer (uncredited)
Lost (1956) as Pharmacist (uncredited)
Jumping for Joy (1956) as Lady Emily Cranfield
The Man Who Never Was (1956) as Landlady
Port of Escape (1956) as Rosalie Watchett
The Extra Day (1956) as Mrs. West
The Last Man to Hang? (1956) as Mrs. Prynne
Child in the House (1956) as Cook
Carry on Admiral (1957) as Mother
No Time for Tears (1957) as Sister Duckworth
Barnacle Bill (1957) as Mrs. Kent
Happy Is the Bride (1958) as Mrs. Bowels
Law and Disorder (1958) as Aunt Florence
Chain of Events (1958) as Barmaid
Behind the Mask (1958) (uncredited)
The Horse's Mouth (1958) as Woman in queue at Tate Gallery (uncredited)
Carry On Nurse (1959) as Sister
The 39 Steps (1959) as Miss Dobson
Upstairs and Downstairs (1959) as Rosemary
Please Turn Over (1959) as Saleswoman
Carry On Constable (1960) as Mrs. May
Barnaby Rudge (1960) as Mrs. Varden
Doctor in Love (1960) as Nurse (uncredited)
The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960) as Patient at Dr. Gulliver's Surgery (uncredited)
No Kidding (1960) as Cook
His and Hers (1961) as Phoebe
Carry On Regardless (1960) as Head Matron
Raising the Wind (1961) as Mrs. Bostwick
Murder, She Said (1961) as Mrs. Kidder
Crooks Anonymous (1962)
In the Doghouse (1962) as Miss Gibbs
I Thank a Fool (1962) as Landlady
Nurse on Wheels (1963) as Mrs. Wood
Heavens Above! (1963) as Housewife
The Secret of My Success (1965) as Mrs. Pringle
Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (1968) as Landlady
Carry On Loving (1970) as Mrs. Grubb
Friends (1971) as Lady in Bookstore
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972) as Grace
Theatre of Blood (1973) as Mrs. Sprout
Carry On Girls (1973) as Mrs. Dukes
Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974) as Mrs. Radlett
One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975) as Mrs. Gibbons
Yanks (1979) as Mrs. Moody
Great Expectations (1981) as Miss Havisham
Gandhi (1982) as Woman in court (uncredited)
The Wicked Lady (1983) as Aunt Agatha
Clockwise (1986) as Mrs. Trellis
King of the Wind (1990) as Duchess of Marlborough
Century (1993) as Mrs. Whitweather (final film role)
References
^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. United Kingdom: ONS. Retrieved 22 May 2011..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
^ Haining, Peter. Agatha Christie – Murder in Four Acts (Page 140). 1990. Virgin Books.
ISBN 1-85227-273-2
^ "No. 50948". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1987. p. 9.
^ Deacon, Michael (22 September 2007). "Checking in to murder". Telegraph. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
^ Alexandra Younger and Tom Vallance. "Obituary: Joan Hickson | Culture". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
^ Essex - December 2016, retrieved 2 February 2017
^ England & Wales, Birth Index 1916-2005
^ England & Wales, Death Index, 1967
^ "Miss Marple actress dies at 92". BBC. 18 October 1998. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
^ Lyall, Sarah (20 October 1998). "Joan Hickson, Miss Marple on TV, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
External links
Joan Hickson at the Internet Broadway Database
Joan Hickson on IMDb
Joan Hickson at Find a Grave
- Performances by Joan Hickson in the Archive of the University of Bristol
Joan Hickson OBE (1906-1998) at The Wivenhoe Encyclopedia
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