- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEdith Marsh
- Ngaio Marsh was born on April 23, 1895 in Christchurch, New Zealand. She was a writer, known for The Philco Television Playhouse (1948), Crown Court (1972) and Detective (1964). She died on February 18, 1982 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
- In June 1980, several London newspapers ran obituaries of her after she had been taken to intensive care in Christchurch, NZ. She lived another two years.
- Her first name is pronounced "NIGH-oh".
- She was actually born on April 23, 1895, according to reliable reference sources; but her father gave her birth year as 1899, thus starting her life with a mystery; no wonder that she became one of the most popular mystery writers of the 20th century. Her mystery novels are intellectual and are influenced by S.S. Van Dine.
- [speaking in 1949] I always make a point of keeping the most pleasant-sounding name for the murderer. As he or she is bound to come to an unpleasant end, it seems the very least the author can do.
- What does 'Ngaio' mean? I don't know. Like many Maori words it has a number of meanings - clever, light on the water, a little bug - but I don't know which my parents had in mind.
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