Product Description

She was one of our most individual actresses, appearing in such thoroughly English classics as Blithe Spirit, The importance of Being Earnest, Passport to Pimlico and I'm All Right, Jack! But above all she was Miss Marple, in four films - and entirely created for the screen the role of Agatha Christie's elderly and fearless private detective that subsequent actresses like Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwan have continued. She first played Miss Marple at the age of 70, and insisted on wearing her own clothes to feel right in the part. But it was as a comic actress that she enjoyed her finest hours - she admitted, however, that she didn't set out to be funny: her appearance, with its air of doleful, distracted confusion, meant people inevitably saw her so. Andy Merriman's biography is the first for over 20 years, and by the author of a very well-received authorised biography of Hattie Jacques Aurum published three years ago - "What an altogether good book this is - excellently researched and infused with a love of its subject", said the Daily Telegraph. Andy Merriman is also the author of Hattie (978 1 84513 362 7) and A Minor Adjustment, a book about his daughter who has Down's syndrome. He lives in London

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1366 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Review
`Merriman paints a fascinating picture of Margaret's emergence as a national treasure'
-- Daily Mail, October 9, 2009

Customer Reviews

At last an in-depth biography
I picked up a copy of this book yesterday and didn't put it down until I'd read it.

Andrew Merriman has delved deeply into this most admired of British comedy actresses revealing her strengths and weaknesses. We find out all about her troubled childhood and an act of murder within her immediate family which no doubt contributed to her manic depression later in life.

The fact that her warmth on screen, theatre, television and radio lit up British people for over 30 years is a testament to her pfofessionalism.

Mr Merriman has sought out many of her colleagues, friends, neighbours and associates to compile this fact-filled biography. It cannot have been an easy task as it's been over 37 years since her passing, but she still remains a big part of British cinema history and many of her films are still shown on television all over the world.

Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners
A really fascinating book about one of the unsung heroines of British theatre and cinema, a true eccentric but also capable of a surprising versatility - much more than just Miss Marple, for which she is unjustly remembered - but demonstrating, as the book describes, a range (Madame Arcati to Mistress Quickly) that is very impressive. What is really a revelation, however, and what makes the book such a compelling read, is the detail about her family life, and how she survived a family background of madness, murder and suicide and was able to have a creative life and a successful career. It is beautifully written, well researched, and most importantly, makes the great lady come alive, in both her eccentricity and her vulnerability. A very enjoyable read, and its on my list of Christmas presents for any of my friends with an interest in British theatre and cinema of this period.

Riveting stuff
Reading this thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining book as an admirer of Margaret Rutherford, I was stunned at how much emotional upheaval there was going on `behind the scenes,' especially in regards to her eccentric family life and behaviour. Revered by so many as a comic actor, Rutherford certainly had some trying times in an eventful and sometimes tragic life. Andy Merriman masterfully details the ups and downs while also exploring her illustrious film/theatre successes and inevitably, failures. The author has certainly conversed with those who knew her best and peppers the biography with notable stories of encounters with colleagues now also since long gone such as Sir John Gielgud, Charlie Chaplin and Peter Sellers, in what is a real in-depth and touching profile of the Oscar-winning actress and British treasure. The book brings Margaret Rutherford even closer to one's heart and will no doubt preserve her status as a household name for plenty of time to come.