Rosalind Hicks

Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Hicks (née Christie; 5 August 1919 – 28 October 2004) was the only child of author Agatha Christie, and from the time of Christie's death in 1976 worked to maintain and strengthen the reputation of her mother as a literary figure, and to protect the integrity of her works.

Life and work

Hicks was born in Torquay, England to Agatha and Archibald Christie. Although she grew up with her mother's fame, she was never comfortable with it, and attempted to live her life with as much privacy as possible. In her later years, she recalled being traumatised by her mother's well publicised disappearance in 1926, and the suggestion that she had met with foul play at the hand of her husband. When Mrs Christie returned with amnesia it only fuelled the interest of the media and subjected the family to closer scrutiny. Hicks revealed in the late 1980s that her mother had never been able to discuss the events of her disappearance with her, as she had no memory of them, and that this had caused Hicks considerable grief, and had made her eventual decision to authorise a biography on her mother's life very difficult.

Hicks remained on good terms with her father after her parents were divorced, but became close to her mother's second husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan, and as a young woman considered following a similar career. In 1941 she married Hubert Prichard, a soldier with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and was widowed in 1944 when he was killed in battle. For several years she raised her son Mathew alone, until she married Anthony Hicks in 1949. She moved to Devon in 1968 to be near to her ageing mother and stepfather. Christie had set up a limited company to hold the rights to her works, and had sold the majority. She kept a minority share which allowed her right of veto to any treatment or new publication of her work. Upon Agatha Christie's death in 1976, Hicks inherited this right of veto, and took the role of protector of the integrity of these works. She established a reputation as a forthright and occasionally fierce woman, who fought to ensure that the books and plays her mother had written would not be exploited, and that any projects that made use of them, would not alter or discredit them. She took an active interest in all projects, including such aspects as the casting of films made from Christie's novels, and she expressed her opinions whether positive or negative, with what came to be regarded as her characteristic bluntness.

In 1978 she was unsuccessful in her legal challenge to prevent the filming of "Agatha" (1979) in which Vanessa Redgrave played Christie in a fictionalised story of her disappearance. After several years of refusals Hicks finally agreed in the early 1980s to allow a biography to be written about Agatha Christie. This resulted in a publication in 1984 by author Janet Morgan which received generally positive reviews, but which was also criticised for failing to address the question of the mystery of Christie's disappearance. In 1995 Hicks took action against a company that was planning a film production of the novel "Towards Zero", in which the setting would be updated to the current year and topics such as incest would be introduced. Hicks' action led to the company changing the name of the production, as well as the names of all the major characters. The company was also denied the right to use the name "Agatha Christie" in any way, meaning that the name could not be included in the film's credits or in any promotion or publicity associated with the film. The film was released under the title "Innocent Lies" and was met with moderate success.

Hicks founded, and was the president of the Agatha Christie Society from 1993 until her death. David Suchet and Joan Hickson were Vice Presidents. Her stated aim was to ensure Christie's works did not suffer from excessive commercialisation or trivialisation.

She lived in Christie's 278 acre (1.1 km²) estate "Greenway", on the River Dart, from 1968 until her death, however in 2000 she transferred much of the land to the National Trust. During their time at "Greenway" the Hicks' established a garden which the National Trust opened to the public in 2002.

Death

At her death in 2004, Rosalind Hicks was survived by her husband, and her son Mathew Prichard. At the time of her death it was reported that her estate was valued at 600 million British pounds, and that Prichard, who also owned the rights to Christie's record breaking play "The Mousetrap" was principal heir. He now lives in Yorkshire and is married to playwright Katherine Thompson with two children.

Trivia

*Hicks stated that she was very pleased with the film adaptation of "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974) as was her mother. She described it as the most satisfactory of all Christie-based films. She also spoke highly of David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, and Joan Hickson as Miss Marple saying that these actors had been the most successful in creating the characters as Christie had intended them. Hicks was said to have recommended Suchet for the role of Poirot.

*An exchange between Hicks and Peter Ustinov on the set of "Evil Under the Sun" was reported. Hicks, who had already expressed her reservations about Ustinov in the Poirot role was reported to have said within earshot of him "That's not Poirot!", to which he was reported to have coldly replied "Well it is now, Madam!". Despite four films in which Ustinov played Poirot, Hicks never revised in public her initial opinion of his casting.

External links

* [http://uk.agathachristie.com/site/about_christie/ Introduction page by her son and Christie's only heir, Mathew Prichard]