Her father was Frederick Alvah Miller, a rich American stockbroker, and her mother was Clarissa Margaret Boehmer, the daughter of a British army captain. She never claimed United States citizenship. 4.2 Fictional works featuring Agatha ChristieĪgatha Christie was born as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller in Torquay, Devon, to an American father and an English mother.3.2 Popular novels with heavy archaeological influences.3.1 Archaeological influences found in her writing.1.1 Agatha Christie's estate and subsequent ownership of works.Most of her books and short stories have been filmed, some many times over, and many have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics. In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's highest honor, the Grand Master Award, and in the same year, Witness for the Prosecution was given an Edgar Award by the MWA, for Best Play. Her stage play, The Mousetrap, holds the record for the longest initial run in the world, opening at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on 25 November 1952, and as of 2015 is still running after more than 25,000 performances.

As an example of her broad appeal, she is the all-time best-selling author in France, with over 40 million copies sold in French (as of 2003) versus 22 million for Emile Zola, the nearest contender.

UNESCO states that she is currently the most translated author in the world with only the collective corporate works of Walt Disney Productions superseding her. An estimated four billion copies of her novels have been sold. Only the Bible sold more with about 6 billion copies. Her works, particularly featuring detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple, have given her the title the 'Queen of Crime' and made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre.Ĭhristie has been called - by the Guinness Book of World Records, among others - the best-selling writer of books of all time, and the best-selling writer of any kind together with William Shakespeare. She also wrote romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays.

Dame Agatha Christie Mallowan, Order of the British Empire, DBEĭame Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, Order of the British Empire, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer.

Autobiography of agatha christie