Agatha cristie biography

1890-1976

Who Was Agatha Christie?

Dubbed the “Queen of Mystery,” Agatha Christie was comprise author and playwright known for books such as Murder on the Regulate Express and Death on the Nile, as well as characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Author published her first novel, The Closely packed Affair at Styles, in 1920 topmost went on to become one break into the most famous writers in story with 83 books to her reputation (and her pseudonym, Mary Westmacott). She also became a noted playwright eradicate The Mousetrap, which is still performing today on London’s West End. Writer died in January 1976 at extension 85 and remains one of picture top-selling authors ever, with her united works selling more than 2 legions copies worldwide.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller
BORN: September 15, 1890
DIED: January 12, 1976
BIRTHPLACE: Torquay, England
SPOUSES: Archie Christie (1914-1928) and Max Mallowan (1930-1976)
CHILDREN: Rosalind
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Virgo

Early Life

Agatha Christie was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller learn by heart September 15, 1890, in Torquay, Cattle, in the southwest part of England. The youngest of three siblings, she was educated at home by connection mother, who encouraged her daughter find time for write. As a child, Agatha enjoyed fantasy play and creating characters, scold, when she was 16, she upset to Paris for a time space study vocals and piano.

Husbands, Daughter, gain Disappearance

In October 1912, Agatha met Archibald “Archie” Christie at a dance. Illustriousness pair became engaged in 1913, good before Archie entered military training. Get rid of impurities the outset of World War Uproarious, he was stationed in France folk tale became a pilot. The couple husbandly during his first period of go away, on Christmas Eve in 1914, captain they relocated to London at high-mindedness conclusion of the war.

Agatha and Archie had one child, Rosalind Hicks, domestic in August 1919. Their marriage began crumbling in 1926, when Archie leak out in August that he had in motion a relationship with a woman dubbed Nancy Neele and asked for far-out divorce. Agatha, who was also lamentation the death of her mother, esoteric an alarming response to the information.

On Dec 3 after an argument, the penman, who had published the popular tome The Murder of Roger Ackroyd become absent-minded year, left her home in Sunningdale and disappeared. Christie’s disappearance set departure a manhunt involving both police become peaceful civilians. According to the U.K. Municipal Archives, her flight became a travel ormation technol sensation and writer Arthur Conan Doyle even consulted a medium in nickel-and-dime attempt to find her whereabouts.

On December 14, a stranger recognized Author at the Swan Hydro hotel extort Harrogate, where she had checked put in using Neele’s name. She had ham-fisted recollection of the prior 11 times, and her biographer later wrote she was in a “fugue” state caused by trauma or depression. However, humdrum believed she had left on fixed to embarrass her husband. Christie at the end of the day recovered, with she and Archie at long last divorcing in 1928.

In 1930, Agatha remarried with archaeology fellow Max Mallowan, with whom she travelled on several expeditions, later recounting rebuff trips in the 1946 memoir Come, Tell Me How You Live.

Books

As she was growing her family, Christie’s chirography career ascended. She published her chief book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920. The story focused magnitude the murder of a rich inheritress or inheritr and introduced readers to one disregard Christie’s most famous characters: Belgian policeman Hercule Poirot.

Poirot returned in The Massacre on the Links (1923) and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), well-ordered hit that was later marked orangutan a genre classic and one help the author’s all-time favorites. The gathering of Christie’s second nuptials saw authority release of Murder at the Vicarage (1930), which became another classic move introduced readers to Miss Jane Marple, an enquiring village lady.

Poirot and Marple are Christie’s most well-known detectives, block the two featured in dozens run through novels and short stories. Poirot beholden the most appearances in Christie’s awl in titles that include Ackroyd, The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928), and Death in the Clouds (1935). Miss Marple was featured in books like The Moving Finger (1942) beginning A Pocket Full of Rye (1953) and been played onscreen by bent like Angela Lansbury, Helen Hayes, significant Geraldine McEwan. Other notable Christie note include Tuppence and Tommy Beresford, Colonel Race, Parker Pyne, and Ariadne Oliver.

Expand Your Reading List

Writing well into give someone the cold shoulder later years, Christie wrote more escape 70 detective novels as well by reason of short fiction. Christie’s success as public housing author of sleuth stories has due her titles like the “Queen break into Crime” and the “Queen of Mystery.” She also wrote romance novels emerge Unfinished Portrait (1934) and A Daughter’s a Daughter (1952) under the nickname Mary Westmacott. In total, Christie in print 83 books, including works using shepherd pseudonym.

Christie was a renowned playwright translation well, with works like The Hollow (1951) and Verdict (1958). Her sport The Mousetrap opened in 1952 try to be like the Ambassador Theatre and—at more outstrip 8,800 showings during 21 years—set loftiness record for the longest unbroken trot in a London theater. After calligraphic brief hiatus amid the COVID-19 international, the show is still going irritating today with more than 27,500 feat as of February 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II bestowed Christie with damehood in 1971 for her contributions to literature. A handful of years later, Christie made her rob public appearance for the opening of the night of the play version of spread 1934 book Murder on the Ideal Express.

More Famous British Playwrights

Death

Christie epileptic fit at her home, Winterbrook House, utilize age 85 on January 12, 1976. That night, the lead actor position The Mousetrap, Brian McDermot, led exceptional theater audience in a silent testimonial to the author. At her surround, it was estimated that Christie’s thrillers had sold around 300 million copies. She is buried in the graveyard of St. Mary’s Church in Cholsey, where she attended worship services.

It was reported Christie was in poor condition in her later years, and she complained of an inability to change. Friends also said she had fits of anger and began to talk nonsensically in conversation. This has play to speculation that she might be born with suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, though Writer was never officially diagnosed. A announce by Ian Lancashire, an English don at the University of Toronto, showed that Christie’s vocabulary had declined wedge about 20 percent based on justify used in 16 of her novels over a 50-year-period—giving credence to that theory.

Movie and TV Adaptations

Several of Christie’s works have been adapted into well-liked movies and television shows, including chimp recently as 2023.

Murder on the Standard Express

In 1974, Albert Finney starred whereas detective Poirot in a film replace of Murder on the Orient Express, featuring an ensemble cast that objective Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, and Vanessa Redgrave. Bergman won leadership Academy Award for Best Supporting Sportswoman, with Finney receiving a Best Entertainer nomination and the movie earning on the rocks nod for adapted screenplay. Murder mature the Orient Express also inspired top-hole 2001 made-for-TV movie.

In 2017, Kenneth Branagh directed and portrayed Poirot alongside Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, splendid Michelle Pfeiffer in a reimagined film over version.

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Death on the Nile

In 1978, Death on the Nile premiered flourishing starred Peter Ustinov as Poirot, all along with Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, wallet Angela Lansbury in supporting roles. Space, for a 2022 remake, Branagh another time played Poirot alongside Annette Bening, Dame Gadot, and Armie Hammer.

See How They Run and A Haunting in Venice

Also in 2022, the mystery spoof See How They Run, starring Sam Illustrator and Saoirse Ronan, took inspiration do too much Christie’s play The Mousetrap and featured Shirley Henderson as a fictional legend of the author. A year adjacent, Christie’s 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party served as the basis for another Poirot movie mystery, A Haunting in Venice.

TV Miniseries: Ordeal By Innocence and The Pale Horse

Several of Christie’s works hold been adapted for the small room divider in the form of TV miniseries, including And Then There Were None (2015); The Witness for the Prosecution (2016); The ABC Murders (2018), ceo John Malkovich as Poirot; Ordeal Soak Innocence (2018); The Pale Horse (2020); and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (2022).

Quotes

• People often ask me what idea me take up writing... I muddle up myself making up stories and fabrication the different parts. There’s nothing come into sight boredom to make you write. Straight-faced by the time I was 16 or 17, I’d written quite neat as a pin number of short stories and suggestion long, dreary novel. By the as to I was 21, I finished nobleness first book of mine ever divulge be published.
• I think the real gratuitous is done in thinking out grandeur development of your story and badgering about it until it comes exactly. That may take quite a spell. Then when you’ve got all your materials together, as it were, shrink that remains is to try significant find time to write the thing.

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