Joan Hickson was born in 1906 at Kingsthorpe, Northampton. Her stage career began with provincial theater in 1927, going on to a long series of West End comedies, usually playing the part of a confused or eccentric middle-age woman. She performed at the Regent's Park Open Air Theater, at the time London was subject to World War II bombing. Her work gradually included screen roles: _The Guinea Pig .
Agatha Christie saw Ms. Hickson in the 1946 play of the Christie novel "Appointment With Death." Christie sent Ms. Hickson a note that read, "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple."
She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1987 Queens Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.
Received 2 BAFTA nominations as Best TV actress for playing Miss Marple.
After appearing in the play "Appointment with Death", Agatha Christie wrote Joan a letter telling her she hoped that she would one day play "Miss Marple". Nearly 40 years later, Joan did just that, and ended up being considered the closest to the character, Christie created, in her portrayal.
Won Broadways 1979 Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for "Bedroom Farce."
Appeared as Mrs Kidder with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple in Agatha Christies Murder She Said . She later remade the same film as Miss Marple: 4.50 from Paddington , playing Miss Marple.
As of 2009, she is the oldest actress to play the Agatha Christie character "Miss Marple" being 86 years old when Miss Marple: The Mirror Crackd from Side to Side premiered on 27th December 1992. Her closest rival is Helen Hayes who was 85 years old when she played the role in Murder with Mirrors .
Interred at Sidbury Cemetery under her married name, Joan Bogle Butler, in Sidbury, Devon.
Lived in Rose Lane, Wivenhoe along the River Colne in Essex. A plaque now marks the house where she lived for 40 years.
Trained for three years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made her stage debut aged 20.
Vice President of The Agatha Christie Society, with David Suchet , until her death.
Vowed not to do another film after Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery , but was persuaded to return for the final two films in 1991 and 1992. She then retired from the role, believing that she should stop while the programme was still at the peak of its popularity.
She had two children with her husband Eric Butler - a son, Nicholas (born 1936) and a daughter, Caroline (born 1939).
I was lucky not to have been born pretty.
I thought I was the wrong shape, that Miss Marple would be much fluffier,than me, much more wearing shawls and things. But I was persuaded and,now, well - I can only do it my way.
[on the death of her husband] I never really got over it, but my work,was an enormous help. You simply have to go on.
[on being taken to her first pantomime, Cinderella, at the age of five],I was utterly entranced, and asked my parents to move as near to the,theatre as possible. I knew immediately that the life I wanted was,there.
Retirement is fatal. If you retire you go POP.
[on being sent away to school during World War I] It was one of the,first co-educational schools. I remember my Aunt Lizzie in tweeds and a,flying helmet running up and down the touchline shouting for our boys.
I love getting back to Wivenhoe. I get out of my wig, bustle and costume,in three minutes flat at the end of the play before jumping into a taxi,outside the theater and catching the train home.
I watch these old films in black and white, and suddenly the door opens,and there I am. The other day, I was wearing the most awful hat. .
