8 actresses that took on Agatha Christie’s infamous detective – and what they've been up to since

Margaret Rutherford’s sizeable series of 1960s Marple movies features Murder, She Said, Murder at the Gallop, Murder Most Foul, Miss Marple: Murder Ahoy, and The Alphabet Murders.

This case-by-case approach is likely familiar to television and film fans alike, particularly in the case of Christie's numerous murder novels. The actress also starred alongside Orson Welles in his 1966 original comedy-drama Chimes at Midnight and made her final cinematic mark in the animated children’s film The Wacky World of Mother Goose in the titular Role. Margaret worked until just five years before her death in 1972.

Previously thought lost to time, the very first Miss Marple adaptation aired in 1956 starring Gracie Fields in A Murder is Announced. This adaptation of Christie’s 1950 novel of the same name, produced by Goodyear Television Playhouse, aired only in America and only once. The singer, comedian and actress was made famous for her song ‘Sally’, appearing in ten Royal Variety Performances and starring in several films, including her most famous 1931 role in Sally In Our Alley. 

She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1939 but continued working, performing to troops around the world. Settling in Capri with her second husband, Gracie’s final appearance on the London stage in 1978 closed the Royal Variety show with a performance of Sally. Appointed a Dame in 1979, the actress died a few months later aged 81.

None other than the “First Lady of the American Theatre”, Helen Hayes took on the role of Miss Marple for an American audience in two television movies, A Caribbean Mystery in 1983 and Murder with Mirrors two years later. 

Her final film Murder with Mirrors was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and neatly concluded Hayes’ 80-year-long career. Hayes died of congestive heart failure in 1993, 10 years after retiring.

Joan Hickson is, for many, synonymous with the role of Miss Marple. At 78 years old, Agatha Christie’s famous heroine would be her one of her last, and most culturally significant role. Her first steps into Christie’s world was a staged performance of Appointment with Death in 1946, after which the author wrote to Joan, saying, “I hope you will play my dear Miss Marple”.

When Joan was in her late seventies, Christie’s hopes would come true in this twelve-episode adaptation, beginning with The Body in the Library in 1984 and concluding with The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side in 1992. Joan died of a stroke at the age of 92 in 1998, six years after her last performance as Miss Marple.

Angela Lansbury’s sole outing as the lady detective debuted in 1980 with an adaptation of The Mirror Crack’d alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. It seems Angela got a taste for the role of detective, going on to star in Murder, She Wrote for over a decade between 1984 and 1996. 

Unlike her more life-threatening plots, Angela made a mark on children’s cinema with roles in Nanny McPhee (2005), Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and animated classics Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Anastasia (1997). The renowned actress died at the age of 96 in 2022 at her Los Angeles home.

Kaoru Yachigusa voiced Miss Jane Marple for 18 episodes between 2004 and 2005 in the Japanese animated series Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot and Marple. This alternative take on Christie’s detectives explores the beloved detective through the eyes of Miss Marple’s great-niece, who splits her time between working for Hercule Poirot and countryside sleuthing with her great-aunt Jane. 

Kaoru was best known for her roles in the 1950s Samurai films, Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954) and Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956). She is credited with over 100 roles in TV and film, with a career spanning around 67 years and continued acting until 2018. She passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 88 the following year.

The BAFTA-winning actress got her start at just 14 at Windsor’s Theatre Royal. Four years later, she was starring on the West End and joined the Royal Shakespeare company in 1961. Geraldine McEwan starred as the titular detective in 12 episodes of Marple between 2004 and 2007 with guest stars including Joanna Lumley, Simon Callow, Mark Gatiss and Miriam Margolyes to name a few. 

Aside from Marple, Geraldine is best known for her roles in The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). She passed away in January 2015 aged 82, following a stroke.

Julia McKenzie took over from Geraldine McEwan on Agatha Christie's Marple in 2008 for 11 episodes. Her first season on the show included well-known instalments of the detective such as Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? and They Do It with Mirrors. During her time on the show, Julia worked alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Penelope Wilton and Tom Hughes. 

She’s no stranger to a period piece, with previous credits including Bright Young Things (2003) and a role in Cranford for 7 episodes as Mrs Forrester running alongside her detective adventures. The BAFTA-nominated actress has since appeared in Doctor Who, starred as the titular Nan in Gangsta Granny and made a return to mystery in The Casual Vacancy. Most recently, she joined Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi in Allelujah (2022), Richard Eyre’s story of a Yorkshire geriatric ward threatened with closure.