David Suchet OBE (born May 2, 1946) is an English actor best known for his television portrayal of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot in the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Early life

Suchet was born in London to Jack and Joan Suchet. Suchet's father was Jewish, his mother was Anglican and Suchet was raised a Protestant, later converting to Roman Catholicism. His paternal grandfather was a Latvian whose surname was shortened from Suchedowitz to Suchet. He also has some French blood on his mother's side. He took an interest in acting and joined the National Youth Theatre at 18. He studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he now serves as a council member. He began his acting career at the Watermill Theatre, and retains a great affection for the place saying it "fulfils my vision of a perfect theatre".

Career

In 1973, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. The 1970s also saw his first appearance on screen in the 1980 film A Tale of Two Cities. In 1985 he played Blott in the television series Blott on the Landscape. He was awarded the Royal Television Society's award for best male actor for A Song for Europe in 1985.

Suchet's performance as Agatha Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot in the television series Poirot earned him a 1991 British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) nomination. He was given a Variety Club Award in 1994 for best actor for portraying John in David Mamet's play Oleanna at the Royal Court Theatre. Suchet later won another Variety Club Award for his portrayal of Antonio Salieri in Amadeus.

Suchet was nominated for another Royal Television Society award in 2002 for his performance as Augustus Melmotte in The Way We Live Now, which also earned him a BAFTA nomination. The same year he was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2003 he played ambitious 16th-century English primate, Cardinal Wolsey, in the 2-part ITV drama Henry VIII opposite Ray Winstone as Henry VIII and Helena Bonham Carter as Anne Boleyn.

Suchet is vice-president of the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Trust, whose most challenging achievement to date has been securing funding (both via an appeal, and from influencing government decisions) concerning the building of the new M6 Toll motorway where it cuts the lines of the Lichfield Canal and the Hatherton Canal, both of which the Trust wishes to see reopened. He has also been officially voted in as chairman of the River Thames Alliance in November 2005. At the July 2006 Annual General Meeting of the River Thames Alliance, he agreed to continue being chairman for another year. Suchet also does numbers of small appearances and voiceovers for religious dramatic works in accord with his own Christian faith (see ). He also provided the voice of Aslan in Focus on the Family's radio version of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.

In December 2006 he appeared on the ITV programme Extinct, presented by Sir Trevor McDonald and Zoe Ball , which saw David and 7 other well known celebrites visit critically endangered species of animals and try and plead their case for the viewers so that they would pick up the phone and vote for the animal. The animal with the most votes would receive a large sum of money which would be used to try and save them. David's animal was the Giant Panda. David and his Panda did not win, however, they finished in the top three. The winners were Pauline Collins and the Bengal Tiger.

At Christmas 2006 he played the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing in a BBC adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. From the 27 April 19 May 2007 David Suchet will be performing at The Chichester Festival TheatreIn the play The Last Confession

In May 2006, he played the role of the fallen press baron, Robert Maxwell, in Maxwell, a BBC2 dramatisation of the final 18 months of his life.

Personal life

He is the brother of John Suchet, a national News presenter.

He married Sheila Ferris in 1976, and their son, Robert, graduated from the University of Birmingham in July 2002. They also have a daughter together, Katherine.

Suchet plays the clarinet, taught by Maurice Cowlin.

Suchet resides in Pinner.

Trivia

• He affectionately calls his fat suit for Hercule Poirot his "armadillo padding".

• He appeared as Inspector Japp in the 1985 film adaptaion of Lord Edgware Dies, screen-name Thirteen at Dinner with Peter Ustinov portraying Poirot.

• One of his hobbies is photography. His maternal grandfather, James Jarché, was a famous Fleet Street photographer. Suchet first got into photography when his grandfather gave him a Kodak as a present.

Film and television roles

• Maxwell (2007) as Robert Maxwell

• Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989-2008) as Hercule Poirot

• Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (video game) (2006)

• Dracula (2006)

• Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets (2004)

• Henry VIII (2003)

• Foolproof (2003)

• The In-Laws (2003)

• Live From Baghdad (2002)

• The Way We Live Now (2001)

• Wing Commander (1999)

• RKO 281 (1999)

• A Perfect Murder (1998)

• The Phoenix and the Carpet (1997)

• Executive Decision (1996)

• When the Whales Came (1989)

• Harry and the Hendersons (1987)

• Iron Eagle (1986)

• Thirteen at Dinner (1985)

• The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)

• Blott on the Landscape (1985)

• The Little Drummer Girl (1984)

• Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)

• Master of the Game (1984)

• Trenchcoat (1983)

• The Missionary (1982)

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982)

• The Professionals: Where the jungle ends (1978)