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Sir David Courtney Suchet ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor. He is known for his work on stage and in television. He portrayed in the television serial Oppenheimer (1980) and received the RTS and BPG awards for his performance as Augustus Melmotte in the British serial The Way We Live Now (2001). International acclaim and recognition followed his performance as 's detective in Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013), for which he received a 1991 British Academy Television Award for Best Actor nomination. "The Actor Behind Popular 'Poirot", The Christian Science Monitor, 25 March 1992. "Inside the mind of a media monster". . 27 April 2007.

A prolific stage actor, Suchet has been nominated for nine and a .


Early life and family
David Suchet was born on 2 May 1946 in the area of , the son of and his wife Joan Patricia ( née Jarché; 1916–1992), an actress. Jack emigrated from South Africa to England in 1932, trained to be a physician at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, , in 1933, and became an obstetrician and gynaecologist.

Suchet's father was of descent, the son of Izidor Suchedowitz, originally from in the Pale of Settlement of the . At some point, the family name was recorded as "Schohet", a word, from , 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 was Anglican. She was of Russian-Jewish descent on her father's side, and English Anglican on her mother's side. He was raised without religion, but became a practising Anglican in 1986, and was confirmed in 2006. "Suchet's Acts of Faith", This Is London

Suchet and his brothers, and Peter, attended Grenham House boarding school in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent. Then, after attending another independent school, Wellington School in , he took an interest in acting and joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of 16. He trained and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he later became a vice president, retiring in 2018.


Career

Theatre
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 the Watermill Theatre. In 1973, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1981–82, he played Bolingbroke in Richard II opposite Alan Howard. In 1993 he played "John" in the drama Oleanna at the Royal Court Theatre. It was directed by , and co-starred as "Carol".

He made his West End debut opposite Saskia Reeves in the Kempinski play Separation, at the Comedy Theatre in 1987. In 1996–97 he played opposite Dame in the West End production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He was featured as Salieri from 1998 to 2000 in the Broadway production Amadeus. In 2007, at the Chichester Festival Theatre, he played Cardinal Benelli in The Last Confession, about the death of Pope John Paul I. In 2014, he reprised the role of Benelli in the Australian tour of the play.

He has been starring as in The Importance of Being Earnest by at the Vaudeville Theatre in London since June 2015 and on tour. In January 2022, Suchet had a three-week residency at the Harold Pinter Theatre performing Poirot and More, A Retrospective.


Television and film
In 1985, Suchet played Blott in Blott on the Landscape.

In 1988, Suchet played in the Channel 4 documentary The Modern World: Ten Great Writers, in which some of James Joyce's Ulysses was dramatised.

(2025). 9781847065193, Continuum. .
In 1988 Suchet appeared in the penultimate episode of the television series Tales of the Unexpected. He appeared as Yves Drouard, a scheming , in the episode A Time to Die.

In 1989, he took the title role of Hercule Poirot for the long-running television series Agatha Christie's Poirot. In his book, Poirot and Me, Suchet mentions that prior Poirot actor 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."

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."

(2025). 9780755364206, Headline.
Suchet went on to play the role in adaptations of every novel and short story featuring the character written by Agatha Christie. In preparation for the role, he says that he read every novel and short story and compiled an extensive file on Poirot.

In 2001, he had the lead role in the -directed television serial The Way We Live Now. In April 2002, he played the real-life barrister in the drama Get Carman: The Trials of George Carman QC.

In 2003, Suchet starred as the ambitious in the two-part ITV drama Henry VIII opposite as Henry VIII and Helena Bonham Carter as . In May 2006, he played the role of the fallen in Maxwell, a dramatisation of the final 18 months of Maxwell's life. In 2006, he voiced Poirot in the .

At Christmas 2006, he played the hunter Abraham Van Helsing in a BBC adaptation of 's novel . He appeared in the Flood, released in August 2007, as the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, at a time when London is devastated by flooding. Suchet appeared on daytime-TV chat show on 6 February 2008 to talk about his film The Bank Job, in which he played Lew Vogel, alongside and . In 2008, he took part in the documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?. Who Do You Think You Are? . Broadcast on 17 September 2008

He starred in the 2009 made-for-TV film . He starred as the main antagonist, Reacher Gilt, in the 2010 Sky TV adaptation of Going Postal, based on Pratchett's book of the same name. He appeared in the film Act of God as Benjamin Cisco. In 1987, Suchet played a hunter in Harry and the Hendersons. He had roles in two films, A Perfect Murder and The In-Laws. In 1997, he starred in the independent film Sunday.

Between 2014 and 2015, Suchet appeared in and narrated two documentaries, undertaking an epic journey spanning the Mediterranean, inspired by the life and travels of the apostles and St. Paul.

In 2016, Suchet took on the role of the narrator in the BBC live production of Peter 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.

In 2017, Suchet starred as Dr Fagan in the BBC One adaptation of 's Decline and Fall, and guest starred in the role of a character called "The Landlord", for an episode of the tenth series of entitled Knock Knock.


Canal Trust and River Thames Alliance
After starting work at Stratford-on-Avon in 1973, Suchet had a named Prima Donna fitted out to his specification as a residence there. The RSC Newspaper 1 (1974). He later became vice-president of the and Canals Trust, whose most challenging achievement has been securing funding, via an appeal and from influencing government decisions, concerning the building of the new M6 Toll motorway, where it cuts the lines of the and the , both of which the Trust wishes to see reopened.

He was voted in as chairman of the 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. He is a patron of the River Thames Boat Project.


Awards, honours and appointments
In 2002, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In October 2008, Suchet was awarded an honorary degree for his contributions to the Arts, from the University of Chichester. This was presented by the Vice-Chancellor at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

On 7 January 2009, he was awarded Freedom of the City of London, at the in London. In July 2010, David Suchet was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for "services to drama". Poirot star awarded in UK honours, ABC News (Australia), 31 December 2010. On 18 March 2014, Suchet was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the RTS Programme Awards 2013 for his outstanding performance in Agatha Christies Poirot. Suchet is Honorary President of The Leica Society.

Suchet was in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.

+ !Year !Awards !Category !Nominated work !Result !Ref.
1979Laurence Olivier AwardsBest Actor in a Supporting RoleOnce in a Lifetime
1981Actor of the Year in a RevivalThe Merchant of Venice
1986Royal Television Society Programme AwardsBest ActorBlott on the Landscape / A Song for Europe / Freud
1988Laurence Olivier AwardsActor of the Year in a New PlaySeparation
1989British Academy Film AwardsBest Actor in a Supporting RoleA World Apart
1991British Academy Television AwardsBest ActorAgatha Christie's Poirot
1994Laurence Olivier AwardsBest ActorOleanna
Variety Club AwardsBest Actor
1997Laurence Olivier AwardsBest ActorWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1999Amadeus
Variety Club AwardBest Actor
2000Best Actor in a Play
2002British Academy Television AwardsBest ActorThe Way We Live Now
Royal Television Society Programme AwardsBest Actor
2008International Emmy AwardsBest ActorMaxwell
2011Laurence Olivier AwardsBest ActorAll My Sons
2014Royal Television Society Programme AwardsLifetime Achievement Award
2016Laurence Olivier AwardsBest Actor in a Supporting RoleThe Importance of Being Earnest
2019Best ActorThe Price


Personal life

Family and genealogy
In 1972, Suchet first met his wife, Sheila Ferris, at the , , 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. They were married on 30 June 1976; the couple have a son, Robert (b. 1981), formerly a captain in the , and a daughter, Katherine (b. 1983), a physiotherapist.

Suchet is the brother of , a former national news presenter for , and former newscaster, and presenter of the evening concert on Classic FM (2020). British Library Archival Sound Recordings. Retrieved on 13 February 2009 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 famous photographer notable for the first pictures of and and also for his pictures of Louis Blériot (1909) and the Siege of Sidney Street. Suchet first became interested in photography when his grandfather gave him a Leica M3 camera as a present. The Jarché family was originally named Jarchy, and were Russian Jews.

Suchet's great-great-great-grandfather, George Jezzard, was a master mariner. He was captain of the brig Hannah, which sank nine miles off the coast of 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.


Religious beliefs
Raised without religion, in 1986 Suchet underwent a religious conversion after having read Romans 8 in his hotel room. Soon afterwards, he was baptised into the Church of England. Suchet stated in an interview with Strand 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." Suchet religious conversion , Strandmag.com

In 2012, Suchet made a documentary for the BBC on his personal hero, , to discover what he was like as a man by charting his evangelistic journey around the Mediterranean. In 2014, he filmed a documentary about the apostle .

In November 2012, the British Bible Society appointed David Suchet and Dr as new vice-presidents. They joined the existing vice-presidents: (Archbishop of York), (Archbishop of Westminster), Barry Morgan (Archbishop of Wales), David F. Ford (Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge), Joel Edwards (International Director of ) and Lord Alton of Liverpool. Following the time when he bade farewell to his role as Hercule Poirot, Suchet fulfilled a 27-year ambition to make an audio recording of 's New International Version, which was released in April 2014.


Political views
In August 2014, Suchet was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in the September 2014 referendum on that issue.


Filmography

Film
English version, Voice
TV movie, Voice
Voice
English version, Voice


Television
And When You've Paid the Bill You're None the Wiser'x
Episode: "Fighting Fund"
Episode: "Where The Jungle Ends"
TV movie
6 episodes
Episode: "The Cause"
TV movie
Howard
Beria
Bill
Episode: "Prelude to War"
3 episodes
6 episodes
2 episodes
TV movie
6 episodes
TV movie
2 episodes
TV movie
Episode: "Partners"
TV movie
T.J. O'Connor K.C.
Episode: "A Time to Die"
TV movie
13 series; 70 episodes
Episode: "Separation"
Episode: "Scenes of Money and Death"
Episode: "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Link"
3 episodes
TV movie
Ruben Roberts
Episode: "Deadly Voyage"
TV movie
6 episodes
3 episodes
TV movie
Episode: "Teacher"
TV movie
4 episodes
Pilot & Series; 8 episodes
TV movie
Naji Al-Hadithi
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
General Hallholland
Abraham Van Helsing
2 episodes
TV movie
2 episodes
3 episodes
Jaggers
Episode: Richard II
2014In the Steps of St. PaulNarrator2 Episode BBC TV Documentary
2015In the Steps of St. PeterNarrator
TV movie
3 episodes
Episode: "Knock Knock" David Suchet to guest star in Doctor Who, Series 10 at radiotimes.com
Episode: "Sang & Lumière"
Episode: "The Dalí & The Cooper"
3 episodes
2019His Dark MaterialsKaisa (voice)5 episodes
2025The Au PairGeorge


Stage
+ !Year !Title !Role(s) !Notes
1973Romeo and JulietTybalt
Richard IIMessenger
As You Like ItOrlando
The Taming of the ShrewPlayer
Toad of Toad HallMole
1974King JohnHubert
Pisanio
Fool
Nikolai Zamislov
ComradesWillmer
1975Love's Labour's LostFerdinand
1976Sherlock HolmesProfessor Moriarty
1978Caliban
The Taming of the ShrewGrumio
Love's Labour's LostSir Nathaniel
Antony and CleopatraPompey
The Winter's TaleRobert Cecil
1979He That Plays the KingGloucester, Henry V, Macbeth, Osric
Once in a LifetimeHerman Glogauer
Measure for MeasureAngelo
1980Richard IIHenry Bolingbroke
Richard IIIEdward IV
1981The Merchant of VeniceShylock
Troilus and CressidaAchilles
The Swan Down GlovesMazda
1982Every Good Boy Deserves FavourIvanov
1985Iago
1987SeparationJoe Green
(1989). 9780573690907, Samuel French, Inc.. .
1993OleannaJohn
1994What A Performance
1996Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?George
1999Amadeus
2005Once in a LifetimeHerman Glogauer
2007The Last ConfessionCardinal 
2009ComplicitRoger Cowan
2010All My SonsJoe Keller
2012Long Day's Journey into NightJames Tyrone
2014The Last ConfessionCardinal 
2015The Importance of Being EarnestLady Bracknell
2018The PriceGregory Solomon
2019The CollectionHarry
The PriceGregory Solomon
2022MimmaAlfredo Frassati
2023Captain Hook


Video games
  • (2006)


Interviews and TV documentaries

Poirot and Agatha Christie
  • David Suchet interviewed by Clive Anderson BBC, Wogan 1990s
  • The Agatha Christie code ITV 2005
  • David Suchet on playing Hercule Poirot – Dead Man’s Folly Q&A – BFI
  • David Suchet Final Poirot scene hardest of my career BBC 2013
  • Au revoir Hercule Poirot – BBC News
  • Poirot's David Suchet ITV
  • The David Suchet Interview by Studio 10 (Australia) The ultra-smooth talking David Suchet aka Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot drops by Studio 10.
  • Premier.tv : David Suchet talks about Poirot
  • Holly and Phil chat with David Suchet BBC – 13 November 2013
  • The Mystery of Agatha Christie ITV Perspectives, 2013.
  • Agatha Christie BBC documentary
  • Being Poirot BBC documentary (2014)
  • Today Tonight – David Suchet Channel Seven, Perth (Australia) 2014
  • David Suchet on Poirot's Death Loose Women ITV 2015
  • Travels With Agatha Christie & Sir David Suchet, More4 2025


BBC documentaries
  • David Suchet on the Orient Express (TV documentary) (2010)
  • David Suchet: In the Footsteps of (BBC documentary) (2012) David Suchet: In the Footsteps of St. Paul - Episode 1 and Episode 2
  • David Suchet: In the Footsteps of (BBC Documentary) (2015) David Suchet in the Footsteps of St Peter Episode 1 and Episode2 2015


Other interviews
  • The One Show: David Suchet – Interview (30 April 2015) BBC
  • Long Day's Journey into Night David Suchet on acting, Digital Theatre Plus 2013
  • Roles, Characters, Empathy: David Suchet (On) Acting 2012
  • Suchet receives CBE BCC 2011
  • David Suchet, Actor – A Birthday Tribute 2011
  • International Emmy Winner – David Suchet BBC 2009
  • David Suchet – Who Do You Think You Are BBC 2009 David Suchet – Who Do You Think You Are part1/6 2/6 3/6 4/6 5/6 6/6
  • Cannes Interview with David Suchet May 1997


Further reading
  • Suchet, David and Wansell, Geoffrey. Poirot and Me. Headline Book Publishing, 7 November 2013 (UK), 1 October 2014 (US).


External links

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