Obituaries: DAME MURIEL SPARK ; Author of the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' and Other Acerbic 20th- Century Parables

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Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life." In creating the character of Jean Brodie alone, Muriel Spark assured herself a permanent literary reputation.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was first published in the issue of The New Yorker for 14 October 1961. Two weeks later, it appeared in book form in London. It was dramatised by Jay Presson Allen for the West End stage in 1966, opened two years later on Broadway and won an Oscar for Maggie Smith in the title role of Ronald Neame's 1969 film' nine years later Geraldine McEwan - the author's favourite actress in the role - starred in a series for Scottish Television. Jean Brodie, fierce, quotable, …