Jessica_Fletcher

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jessica Fletcher Jessica Fletcher Jessica Beatrice Fletcher Murder, She Wrote character television series Murder, She Wrote by veteran British Oscar-nominated actress Angela Lansbury. She portrayed her for 12 years on the show, and from 1997-2003 in four TV movies, giving her a 19-year run. This program was one of the most successful of the 1980s and 1990s on the CBS television network. Jessica’s Birthday Figuring out J.B. Fletcher’s birthday is a mystery in itself. In the episode "Dead Heat" (Season 2, Episode 8, originally broadcast Sunday, November 24, 1985), Jessica is asked what her astrological sign is, to which she answers that she is a "Pisces, the last time I looked", which means that she had to be born sometime between February 19 and the vernal equinox around March 20. In the episode "To The Last Will I Grapple With Thee" (Season 8, Episode 17, originally broadcast Sunday, March 15, 1992), Jessica receives a birthday cake from her friend, Sean Cullane, earlier in the day, and celebrates her birthday with him that evening at Fenian’s Chase Irish Pub, where Jessica has the Tuesday Special for dinner. Tuesday, March 17, 1992 is St Patrick’s Day, and St. Patrick’s Day is in the astrological sign of Pisces. However, there is some difficulty with this conclusion as no one in the episode wishes anyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day, something hard to believe would not Jessica in a Murder She Wrote promo shot First appearance Last appearance Portrayed by Information Gender Date of birth Occupation "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes" 1984 "Murder She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle" (TV Movie) 2003 Angela Lansbury Female March 17 English teacher, Novelist (1985-) Congresswoman See below Frank Fletcher (deceased) Jessica Beatrice McGill Cabot Cove, USA Home and family life Mrs. Fletcher lived in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, which wags proclaim to have probably the highest murder rate of any small town in the civilized world (and as a not unnatural corollary in many parodies and satire she is arrested by law enforcement agencies as her very presence causes the commitment of murder), but her travels as an author very frequently took her to places around much of the English-speaking world, which gave her writers a little more ability to stretch the character and her situations than rural New England alone would have Family Spouse(s) Birthname Location IMDb profile Jessica Beatrice Fletcher is a fictional character portrayed on the American 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia provided. One of them took her to Hawaii, where she shared a case with private detective Thomas Magnum, star of Magnum PI. Mrs. Fletcher (maiden name McGill) was widowed from her beloved husband Frank, with no children but with an endless collection of nephews, nieces, cousins, in-laws and other relatives or friends who always needed her help. Especially prone to get into trouble was her giddy nephew Grady Fletcher, who was raised for a period of time by Jessica and Frank. Grady always seemed to meet the wrong girl, until he finally married Donna several seasons into the show. Jessica Fletcher Career and life as a bestselling author Mrs. Fletcher began her career writing on an old Underwood typewriter, but as her career progressed, she eventually purchased an Intel 80386 class computer running Windows 3.1 (suitably antiquated now, but the latest back then). Among her friends she can count both multi-millionaires who own Beech Starships to down-on-their-luck homeless people, moving effortlessly between the social strata. Jessica always strove to solve mysteries within five minutes of the end of each program, unless the producers felt they could prolong the suspense across two episodes. Perhaps her most notable experience was encountering a Mr. Potts who preferred to be called Mr. Bond - he did at least have an Aston Martin DB6, in which Jessica herself ended up racing to the rescue. Jessica’s relationship with law-enforcement officials varied from place to place. Both the sheriffs of Cabot Cove were used to, or resigned themselves to, having her meddle in their cases. However, most detectives and police officers didn’t want her anywhere near their crime scenes, until her accurate deductions convinced them to listen to what she had to say. Others were fans of her books and glad to let her snoop. With time, she made friends in many police departments across the USA, as well as a British police officer attached to Scotland Yard. Relatives Siblings • Marshall McGill (brother) • Neil Fletcher (brother-in-law) • Constance Fletcher (sister-in-law) Nieces • Victoria Brandon • Carol Donovan • Pamela McGill-Crane (via her brother) • Nita Cochran • Tracy McGill (via her brother) • Jill Morton • Audrey Fletcher-Bannister • Carol Bannister (great-niece) • Carrie Palmer Nephews • Grady Fletcher • Johnny Eaton Cousins • Abby Benton Freestone (Lynn Redgrave) • Emma McGill (Angela Lansbury) • Ann Owens Lawton • Helen Owens • George Owens • Calhoun "Cal" Fletcher (second cousin once removed through marriage) Other Relatives • Aunt Mildred (by marriage) • Great-Aunt Amanda (great-aunt through marriage) • Uncle Walter (uncle; deceased) • Great-Aunt Sarah (great-aunt; deceased) • Great-Uncle Henry (great-uncle; deceased) Jessica solving crimes Mrs. Fletcher was a retired teacher-turnedauthor of detective fiction under the name J. B. Fletcher, but was constantly finding that her work and personal lives overlapped. In every episode she was introduced into a situation where someone was killed shortly after her arrival. She was generally forced to solve every mystery herself in the style of one of the characters from her book, as the police proved to be incapable of doing so without her help. In fact, on at least one occasion a law officer was actually unmasked as the killer, when cult TV actor John Astin appeared as the villainous Sheriff Harry Pierce. Episodes usually follow a formula. The episode opens as Jessica Fletcher arrives, (either in her fictitious town of residence, Cabot Cove, Maine), or visiting elsewhere 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (typically in New York City or Boston) and meets several characters. These characters are usually Mrs. Fletcher’s friends, family, or business associates (in connection with her role as a successful author). Several of these characters are shown to have motive with respect to the potential demise of one their number (typically an unlikeable individual). Often at least one of them is heard to make a threat against this individual, and therefore will become the principal suspect. About half way through the episode, the likely victim is found dead. After a brief investigation, the authorities arrest the most obvious suspect, but Jessica believes that the arrested suspect (who is a likeable person, often a friend, or relative of Jessica) is innocent, and sets out to prove it. An unrelated conversation often will suggest to Jessica the solution to the mystery, at which point she will rush off to confirm her suspicion (without telling the viewers what she has in mind). The next scene will present Jessica at the place where the crime was committed. Jessica will there find one of the characters, usually alone. She enters into a conversation with this character and, in a few minutes accuses him or her of being the murderer, explaining how and why this person did it. The killer first denies guilt, but Jessica describes a few clues which she observed but which the episode viewers may or not have had an opportunity to see. Sometimes Mrs. Fletcher will make up evidence which wasn’t actually found, but the discovery of which will seem plausible to the killer. At this point, the murderer admits guilt and confesses. Normally the murderer will then pull out a weapon and prepare to kill Jessica too, at which point the police appear from hiding and arrest the true killer. The episode concludes with a final scene in which the innocent former suspects say goodbye to Jessica, and thank her for the happy ending. • A Faded Rose Beside Her • Murder on the Amazon • Lover’s Revenge • The Umbrella Murders • Murder at the Inn • Murder at the Digs • Murder in a Minor Key • The Stain on the Stairs • The Mystery of the Mutilated Minion • The Belgrade Murders • Sanitarium of Death • Calvin Canterbury’s Revenge • Murder at the Asylum • Murder Comes to Maine • Good-bye, Charlie • The Corpse That Wasn’t There • Ashes, Ashes, Fall Down Dead • The Messengers of Midnight • The Poison in My Heart Jessica Fletcher • The Corpse at Vespers • The Triple Crown Murders • The Crypt of Death • A Killing at Hastings Rock • The Uncaught • Murder in White • The Dead Must Sing • The Killer Called Collect • Stone Cold Dead • Endangered • The Launch Pad Murders • Runway to Murder • The Venomous Valentine • A Case of a Half of Murder • Yours Truly, Damian Sinclair • The Dead Man Sang • The Corpse Swam by Moonlight • The Zero Aspect Trivia • The series of novels by Donald Bain based upon Murder, She Wrote are credited to Jessica Fletcher. • She once served in the United States House of Representatives [1] • Jessica Fletcher is referenced in BBC Drama Torchwood, Episode "Sleeper", 23/ 01/2008 • It seems to be that where-ever Jessica goes, somebody dies. Also she never has any evidence to prove that the supect did, indeed, do the crime, she just says they did and they confess! Novels by J. B. Fletcher Novels J. B. Fletcher wrote that were mentioned during the series: • The Corpse Danced • All the at Midnight Murderers • Dirge for a Dead • Murder at the Dachshund Ridge Top References [1] Murder, She Wrote: Capitol Offense TV.com 3 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jessica Fletcher External links • Jessica Fletcher at the Internet Movie Database Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Fletcher" Categories: Murder, She Wrote characters, Fictional amateur detectives, Fictional characters from Maine, Fictional writers, Fictional United States Representatives This page was last modified on 19 May 2009, at 21:52 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) 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