Joan Hickson

Joan Hickson died in Colchester, England. She was survived by her husband (John Hansbury), mother (Paula Kahn), brother (Jeffrey Kahn), and niece (Eliza Kahn). Queen Elizabeth II, said to be a fan of both Miss Marple, and of Hickson, bestowed the latter award. She was only 57 years old. Hickson played the role in all 12 adaptations of the novels produced from 1984 to 1992, and received a BAFTA nomination and an OBE from the British Government. In the final years of her life, she played a major role on the sitcom Cosby and voiced Gypsy the moth in A Bug's Life, before succumbing to ovarian cancer on December 3, 1999. 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. At the end of her career, she returned to the stage and won a Tony Award for her role in The Sisters Rosensweig, a play by Wendy Wasserstein.

Though admired, Rutherford's Marple bore little resemblance to the character as written, and the plots of the early Christie film versions varied sharply from the author's carefully constructed plotlines. After her success in Brooks's films, she played in a number of less successful films in the 1980s. The BBC began filming the works of Agatha Christie in the early 1980s, and were conscious of the criticism that had been levelled at the most famous portrayal of Miss Marple given by Margaret Rutherford. Kahn's roles were primarily comedic rather than dramatic. In 1980 she appeared in yet another Agatha Christie production, as Mrs Rivington in Why Didn't They Ask Evans. For her work in Paper Moon and Blazing Saddles, the young comedienne received nominations for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her stage career included roles in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit and Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, for which she won a Tony Award in 1977. The final three films were all directed by Mel Brooks, who many Hollywood observers claimed was able to bring out the best of Kahn's comic talents.

She also appeared opposite Margaret Rutherford in the Marple film Murder, She Said (1961). Her most famous roles followed in the 1970s: she appeared in What's Up, Doc? (1972), Paper Moon (1973), Young Frankenstein (1974), Blazing Saddles (1974), and High Anxiety (1977). In the 1940s she appeared on-stage in an Agatha Christie play, Appointment with Death, which was seen by Christie who wrote to her "I hope one day you might play my dear Miss Marple". She debuted in the movies that same year with a role in De Düva: The Dove. She made her first film appearance in 1934, and the numerous supporting roles of her career included several Carry On films. In 1968, she earned her first break on Broadway with New Faces of 1968 and then performed her first lead role in the musical Candide. Born in Kingsthorpe, Northampton, England, she made her stage debut in 1927, and for several years worked throughout the United Kingdom and achieved success playing comedic, often eccentric characters in London's West End. Just before adopting the professional name of Madeline Kahn (Kahn was her stepfather's last name), she made her stage debut as a chorus girl in a revival of Kiss Me Kate which led her to join the Actors' Equity.

Joan Hickson ( August 5, 1906 – October 17, 1998) was an English actress of theater, film and television, who achieved fame in her old age playing Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Kahn began auditioning for professional acting roles shortly after her graduation from Hofstra; on the side, she briefly taught public school in Levittown, NY. The Mirror Crack'd (1992). After changing her major a number of times, Kahn graduated in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy. They Do It With Mirrors (1991). At Hofstra, she studied music, drama, and speech therapy and also performed in several campus productions. A Caribbean Mystery (1989). In 1960, she graduated from the Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, NY where she earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University.

4.50 from Paddington (1987). Ironically, Kahn soon began acting herself and performed in a number of school productions. Nemesis (1987). In 1948, Kahn was sent to a progressive boarding school in Pennsylvania and stayed there until 1952. During that time, her mother pursued her ambition as an actress. At Bertram's Hotel (1987). A few years later, her mother remarried and this union gave Kahn two half-siblings (Jeffrey and Robyn). Sleeping Murder (1987). After the divorce was finalized, Kahn and her mother moved to New York City.

The Murder at the Vicarage (1986). Although Kahn's parents were high-school sweethearts, they divorced when she was only two years old. A Pocket Full of Rye (1985). Her mother, Paula, was just 17 when Kahn was born. A Murder is Announced (1985). She was born on September 29, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts as Madeline Gail Wolfson. The Moving Finger (1985). Madeline Kahn was an actress of movie, television, and theatre.

The Body in the Library (1984) - BAFTA nomination. Cosby - 1996. London Suite - 1996. New York News - 1995. For Richer, for Poorer - 1992.

Lucky Luke - 1991. Welcome to the Monkey House - 1991. President - 1987. Mr.

Blazing Saddles - 1974. Frankweiler - 1973. Basil E. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.