David Suchet | |
|---|---|
 Suchet in 2006 | |
| Born | David Courtney Suchet (1946-05-02)2 May 1946 (age 79) |
| Alma mater | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | Jack Suchet |
| Relatives |
|
Sir David Courtney Suchet (/ˈsuːʃeɪ/SOO-shay; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor. He is known for his work on stage and in television. He portrayedEdward Teller in the television serialOppenheimer (1980) and received theRTS andBPG awards for his performance as Augustus Melmotte in the British serialThe Way We Live Now (2001). International acclaim and recognition followed his performance asAgatha Christie's detectiveHercule Poirot[2] inAgatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), for which he received a 1991British Academy Television Award for Best Actor nomination.[3][4]
A prolific stage actor, Suchet has been nominated for nineOlivier Awards and aTony Award.
David Suchet was born on 2 May 1946 in thePaddington area ofLondon,[5][1] the son ofJack Suchetand his wife Joan Patricia (née Jarché; 1916–1992), an actress. Jack emigrated from South Africa to England in 1932, trained to be a physician atSt Mary's Hospital Medical School,London, in 1933, and became an obstetrician and gynaecologist.[5][6][7]
Suchet's father was ofLithuanian-Jewish descent, the son of Izidor Suchedowitz,[8] originally fromKretinga in thePale of Settlement of theRussian Empire. At some point, the family name was recorded as "Schohet", aYiddish word, fromHebrewshochet, defining the profession of kosher butcher. Suchet's father changed his surname to Suchet while living in South Africa. David's mother was born in England and wasAnglican. She was ofRussian-Jewish descent on her father's side, and English Anglican on her mother's side.[6] He was raised without religion, but became a practising Anglican in 1986, and was confirmed in 2006.[6][9][10][11][12]
Suchet and his brothers,John and Peter, attended Grenham House boarding school inBirchington-on-Sea, Kent. Then, after attending another independent school,Wellington School inSomerset, he took an interest in acting and joined theNational Youth Theatre at the age of 16. He trained and graduated from theLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art,[13] where he later became a vice president, retiring in 2018.[14]
Suchet began his acting career at the Gateway Theatre, Chester in 1969. He then appeared in many reps, including Worthing, Birmingham, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Liverpool Playhouse, and theWatermill Theatre. In 1973, he joined theRoyal Shakespeare Company. In 1981–82, he playedBolingbroke inRichard II oppositeAlan Howard. In 1993 he played "John" in the dramaOleanna at the Royal Court Theatre. It was directed byHarold Pinter, and co-starredLia Williams as "Carol".
He made his West End debut opposite Saskia Reeves in the Kempinski playSeparation, at the Comedy Theatre in 1987. In 1996–97 he played opposite DameDiana Rigg in the West End production ofWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He was featured as Salieri from 1998 to 2000 in the Broadway productionAmadeus. In 2007, at theChichester Festival Theatre, he played Cardinal Benelli inThe Last Confession, about the death ofPope John Paul I.[15] In 2014, he reprised the role of Benelli in the Australian tour of the play.[16][17]
He has been starring asLady Bracknell inThe Importance of Being Earnest byOscar Wilde at the Vaudeville Theatre in London since June 2015 and on tour.[18] In January 2022, Suchet had a three-week residency at theHarold Pinter Theatre performingPoirot and More, A Retrospective.[19]
In 1985, Suchet played Blott inBlott on the Landscape.
In 1988, Suchet playedLeopold Bloom in theChannel 4 documentaryThe Modern World: Ten Great Writers, in which some of James Joyce'sUlysses was dramatised.[20] In 1988 Suchet appeared in the penultimate episode of the television seriesTales of the Unexpected. He appeared as Yves Drouard, a schemingadulterer, in the episodeA Time to Die.[21]
In 1989, he took the title role of Hercule Poirot for the long-running television seriesAgatha Christie's Poirot. In his book,Poirot and Me, Suchet mentions that prior Poirot actorPeter Ustinov one day approached him and told him that Suchet could play Poirot and would be good at it. Suchet then spoke to Brian Eastman from ITV, who sent him some of the novels to read. "And as I did so, it slowly dawned on me that I'd never actually seen the character I was reading about on the screen...He was quite, quite different: more elusive, more pedantic and, most of all, more human than the person I'd seen on the screen."[22]
Still unsure, Suchet rang his brother John, who advised him against it, calling Poirot "a bit of a joke, a buffoon. It's not you at all." Suchet took his brother's advice as a challenge and accepted the role. In preparation, he wrote a five-page character study of Poirot detailing 93 different aspects of his life. Suchet said he took the list on set with him and "gave a copy to every director I worked with on a Poirot film."[22]Suchet went on to play the role in adaptations of every novel and short story featuring the character written by Agatha Christie.[23] In preparation for the role, he says that he read every novel and short story and compiled an extensive file on Poirot.[3][4]
In 2001, he had the lead role in theDavid Yates-directedBBC television serialThe Way We Live Now. In April 2002, he played the real-life barristerGeorge Carman in theBBC dramaGet Carman: The Trials of George Carman QC.[24]
In 2003, Suchet starred as the ambitiousCardinal Wolsey in the two-part ITV dramaHenry VIII oppositeRay Winstone asHenry VIII andHelena Bonham Carter asAnne Boleyn. In May 2006, he played the role of the fallenpress baronRobert Maxwell inMaxwell, aBBC2 dramatisation of the final 18 months of Maxwell's life. In 2006, he voiced Poirot in theadventure gameAgatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express.[4]
At Christmas 2006, he played thevampire hunterAbraham Van Helsing in a BBC adaptation ofBram Stoker's novelDracula. He appeared in thedisaster filmFlood, released in August 2007, as theDeputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, at a time when London is devastated by flooding. Suchet appeared on daytime-TV chat showLoose Women on 6 February 2008 to talk about his filmThe Bank Job, in which he played Lew Vogel, alongsideJason Statham andSaffron Burrows. In 2008, he took part in thegenealogy documentary seriesWho Do You Think You Are?.[25]
He starred in the 2009CBC made-for-TV filmDiverted. He starred as the main antagonist, Reacher Gilt, in the 2010 Sky TV adaptation ofGoing Postal, based on Pratchett's book of the same name. He appeared in the filmAct of God as Benjamin Cisco. In 1987, Suchet played abigfoot hunter inHarry and the Hendersons. He had roles in twoMichael Douglas films,A Perfect Murder andThe In-Laws. In 1997, he starred in the independent filmSunday.
Between 2014 and 2015, Suchet appeared in and narrated twoBBC Television documentaries, undertaking an epic journey spanning the Mediterranean, inspired by the life and travels of the apostlesSt. Peter andSt. Paul.
In 2016, Suchet took on the role of the narrator in the BBC live production ofPeter Pan Goes Wrong, where he serves as the sole "professional" among the cast. At one point during the broadcast, when one of the actors is electrocuted, he is asked to distract the audience. His solution is to take Captain Hook's moustache and start acting like Poirot, even delivering his lines in a Belgian accent. This prompts the director (who is also playing Captain Hook) to retrieve the moustache and dismiss Suchet.[26]
In 2017, Suchet starred as Dr Fagan in the BBC One adaptation ofEvelyn Waugh'sDecline and Fall, and guest starred in the role of a character called "The Landlord", for an episode of thetenth series ofDoctor Who entitledKnock Knock.
After starting work at Stratford-on-Avon in 1973, Suchet had anarrowboat namedPrima Donna fitted out to his specification as a residence there.[27] He later became vice-president of theLichfield andHatherton Canals Trust, whose most challenging achievement has been securing funding, via an appeal and from influencing government decisions, concerning the building of the newM6 Toll motorway, where it cuts the lines of theLichfield Canal and theHatherton Canal, both of which the Trust wishes to see reopened.[28]
He was voted in as chairman of theRiver Thames Alliance in November 2005.[29] At the July 2006 Annual General Meeting of the River Thames Alliance, he agreed to continue being chairman for another year. He is a patron of the River Thames Boat Project.[28]
In 2002, he was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In October 2008, Suchet was awarded an honorary degree for his contributions to the Arts, from theUniversity of Chichester. This was presented by the Vice-Chancellor at theChichester Festival Theatre.
On 7 January 2009, he was awardedFreedom of the City of London, at theGuildhall in London. In July 2010, David Suchet was awarded an honorary degree from theUniversity of Kent atCanterbury Cathedral in Canterbury.[30] He was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2011 New Year Honours for "services to drama".[31][32][33] On 18 March 2014, Suchet was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at theRTS Programme Awards 2013 for his outstanding performance inAgatha Christie's Poirot.[34] Suchet is Honorary President of The Leica Society.[35]
Suchet wasknighted in the2020 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.[36][37]
In 1972, Suchet first met his wife, Sheila Ferris, at theBelgrade Theatre,Coventry, where they were both working; he says that he fell in love with her as soon as he saw her, and that it took a while to persuade her to go out for a meal with him.[53] They were married on 30 June 1976; the couple have a son, Robert (b. 1981), formerly acaptain in theRoyal Marines,[2] and a daughter, Katherine (b. 1983), a physiotherapist.
Suchet is the brother ofJohn Suchet, a former national news presenter forFive News, and formerITN newscaster, and presenter of the evening concert on Classic FM (2020).[54] He is the uncle of broadcaster Richard Suchet, who is the son of Suchet's younger brother, Peter. Suchet's nephew is the RT broadcaster Rory Suchet.
Suchet's maternal grandfather,James Jarché, was a famousFleet Street photographer notable for the first pictures ofEdward VIII andWallis Simpson and also for his pictures ofLouis Blériot (1909) and theSiege of Sidney Street. Suchet first became interested in photography when his grandfather gave him aLeica M3 camera as a present.[53] The Jarché family was originally named Jarchy, and were Russian Jews.[6][25]
Suchet's great-great-great-grandfather, George Jezzard, was a master mariner. He was captain of the brigHannah, which sank nine miles off the coast ofSuffolk during a violent storm on 28 May 1860, in which more than 100 vessels sank and at least 40 people died. Jezzard and six others of his crew were saved by local rescuers just before their ship sank.[6]
Raised without religion, in 1986 Suchet underwent a religious conversion after having readRomans 8 in his hotel room. Soon afterwards, he was baptised into theChurch of England.[55][56] Suchet stated in an interview withStrand Magazine: "I'm a Christian by faith. I like to think it sees me through a great deal of my life. I very much believe in the principles of Christianity and the principles of most religions, actually—that one has to abandon oneself to a higher good."[57]
In 2012, Suchet made a documentary for the BBC on his personal hero,Saint Paul, to discover what he was like as a man by charting his evangelistic journey around the Mediterranean.[58] In 2014, he filmed a documentary about the apostleSaint Peter.[55]
In November 2012, theBritish Bible Society appointed David Suchet and DrPaula Gooder as new vice-presidents. They joined the existing vice-presidents:John Sentamu (Archbishop of York),Vincent Nichols (Archbishop of Westminster),Barry Morgan (Archbishop of Wales),David F. Ford (Regius Professor of Divinity atCambridge),Joel Edwards (International Director ofMicah Challenge) andLord Alton of Liverpool.[59] Following the time when he bade farewell to his role as Hercule Poirot, Suchet fulfilled a 27-year ambition to make an audio recording ofThe Bible'sNew International Version, which was released in April 2014.[55]
In August 2014, Suchet was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter toThe Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in the September 2014referendum on that issue.[60]
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | The Taming of the Shrew: An Introduction | Unknown | |
| Henry IV, Part 2: An Introduction | |||
| 1980 | Schiele in Prison | Gustav Klimt | |
| 1982 | The Missionary | Corbett | |
| 1983 | Trenchcoat | Inspector Stagnos | |
| 1984 | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | Buller | |
| The Little Drummer Girl | Mesterbein | ||
| 1985 | The Falcon and the Snowman | Alex | |
| A Song for Europe | Dyre | ||
| 1986 | Iron Eagle | Minister of Defense Colonel Akir Nakesh | |
| 1987 | Harry and the Hendersons | Jacques LaFleur | |
| 1988 | A World Apart | Muller | |
| To Kill a Priest | Bishop | ||
| 1989 | When the Whales Came | Will | |
| 1993 | The Lucona Affair [de] | Rudi Waltz | |
| 1996 | Executive Decision | Nagi Hassan / Altar | |
| 1997 | Sunday | Oliver / Matthew Delacorta | |
| 1998 | A Perfect Murder | Detective Mohamed Karaman | |
| 1999 | Wing Commander | Captain Jason Sansky | |
| 2000 | Sabotage! | Napoleon | |
| 2002 | Pinocchio | Geppetto / Judge | English version, Voice |
| 2003 | The In-Laws | Jean-Pierre Thibodoux | |
| Foolproof | Leo Gillette | ||
| 2004 | Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets | The Narrator | TV movie, Voice |
| 2006 | Flushed Away | Rita's Dad | Voice |
| Arthur and the Invisibles | The Narrator | English version, Voice | |
| 2007 | Flood | Deputy Prime Minister Campbell | |
| Maxwell | Robert Maxwell | ||
| 2008 | The Bank Job | Lew Vogel | |
| 2009 | Act of God | Dr. Benjamin Cisco | |
| 2011 | All My Sons | Joe Keller | |
| 2014 | Effie Gray | Mr. Ruskin | |
| Long Day's Journey into Night | James Tyrone | ||
| 2015 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Lady Bracknell | |
| 2016 | Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story | Himself | |
| 2017 | American Assassin | CIA Director Stansfield | |
| 2018 | Dinner with Edward | Edward |
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Public Eye | Martin Kulman | And When You've Paid the Bill You're None the Wiser'x |
| 1973 | The Protectors | Leo | Episode: "Fighting Fund" |
| 1978 | The Professionals | Krivas | Episode: "Where The Jungle Ends" |
| 1980 | A Tale of Two Cities | John Barsad | TV movie |
| Oppenheimer | Edward Teller | 6 episodes | |
| 1981 | Play for Today | Reger | Episode: "The Cause" |
| 1982 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Clopin Trouillefou | TV movie |
| 1983 | The Last Day | Howard | |
| Red Monarch | Beria | ||
| Being Normal | Bill | ||
| Reilly, Ace of Spies | Inspector Tsientsin | Episode: "Prelude to War" | |
| 1984 | Master of the Game | André d'Usseau | 3 episodes |
| Freud | Dr. Sigmund Freud | 6 episodes | |
| Oxbridge Blues | Colin | 2 episodes | |
| 1985 | Gulag | Matvei | TV movie |
| Blott on the Landscape | Blott | 6 episodes | |
| A Crime of Honour | Steve Dyer | TV movie | |
| Thirteen at Dinner | Inspector Japp | ||
| Mussolini: The Untold Story | Dino Grandi | 2 episodes | |
| 1986 | Murrow | William L. Shirer | TV movie |
| King and Castle | Devas | Episode: "Partners" | |
| 1987 | The Last Innocent Man | Jonathan Gault | TV movie |
| Cause Célèbre | T.J. O'Connor K.C. | ||
| 1988 | Tales of the Unexpected | Yves Drouard | Episode: "A Time to Die" |
| Once in a Life Time | Herman Glogauer | TV movie | |
| 1989–2013 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Hercule Poirot | 13 series; 70 episodes |
| 1990 | The Play on One | Joe | Episode: "Separation" |
| Theatre Night | William Shakespeare | Episode: "Scenes of Money and Death" | |
| 1992 | Science Fiction | Roger Altounyan | Episode: "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Link" |
| The Secret Agent | Alfred Verloc | 3 episodes | |
| 1995 | Moses | Aaron | TV movie |
| 1996 | Cruel Train | Ruben Roberts | |
| Screen Two | Vlachos | Episode: "Deadly Voyage" | |
| 1997 | Solomon | Joab | TV movie |
| The Phoenix and the Carpet | The Phoenix | 6 episodes | |
| 1998 | Seesaw | Morris Price | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | RKO 281 | Louis B. Mayer | TV movie |
| 2001 | Murder in Mind | Edward Palmer | Episode: "Teacher" |
| Victoria & Albert | Baron Christian Friedrich von Stockmar, M.D. | TV movie | |
| The Way We Live Now | Augustus Melmotte | 4 episodes | |
| 2001–2002 | NCS: Manhunt | DI John Borne | Pilot & Series; 8 episodes |
| 2002 | Get Carman: The Trials of George Carman QC | George Carman QC | TV movie |
| Live From Baghdad | Naji Al-Hadithi | ||
| 2003 | Henry VIII | Cardinal Thomas Wolsey | |
| 2004 | A Bear Named Winnie | General Hallholland | |
| 2006 | Dracula | Abraham Van Helsing | |
| 2007 | Maxwell | Robert Maxwell | |
| Flood | Deputy Prime Minister Campbell | 2 episodes | |
| 2009 | Diverted | Samuel Stern | TV movie |
| 2010 | Going Postal | Reacher Gilt | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Hidden | Sir Nigel Fountain | 3 episodes |
| Great Expectations | Jaggers | ||
| 2012 | The Hollow Crown | Duke of York | Episode:Richard II |
| 2014 | In the Steps of St. Paul | Narrator | 2 Episode BBC TV Documentary |
| 2015 | In the Steps of St. Peter | ||
| 2016 | Peter Pan Goes Wrong | TV movie | |
| 2017 | Decline and Fall | Dr. Fagan | 3 episodes |
| Doctor Who | The Landlord | Episode: "Knock Knock"[61] | |
| Capitaine Marleau | Herbert White | Episode: "Sang & Lumière" | |
| 2018 | Urban Myths | Salvador Dalí | Episode: "The Dalí & The Cooper" |
| Press | George Emmerson | 3 episodes | |
| 2019 | His Dark Materials | Kaisa (voice) | 5 episodes[62] |
| 2025 | The Au Pair | George |
