It would be hard to miss that famous waddle and moustache on the pudgy little man who speaks French with a Belgian accent and never misses a trick. Hercule Poirot, n’est c’e pas, or are the little brain cells, “en vacanze” as he so likes to say? London-born actor, David Suchet, who portrays Agatha Christie’s beloved, meticulous and very suave sleuth, Hercule Poirot, was born in London, England on May 2, 1946. His parents were of mixed origins; his father a French Jew and his mother an English Anglican. He himself converted to Catholicism. Upon graduation from high school back in the 1960s, his interest in the theater led to his membership with the National Youth Theater of Great Britain back. Here, at The Watermill Theater, he began his acting career. To this day, he retains a great affection for the site, claiming it “fulfills my vision of a perfect theater.”
David Suchet studied for three years at the London Academy of music and Dramatic Arts and became a company member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1973. The perfect villain, he played many a one; including Iago In “Othello”, “Tybalt” in Romeo and Juliet and Caliban in “The Tempest.” He came into his own on British television throughout the 1970s. He married Sheila Ferris in 1976, and the couple has two children, Robert and Katherine. His first television movie was “The Tale of Two Cities” (1980) and his first detective role was in the Disney mystery-comedy, “Trenchcoat” in 1983. He played many diverse parts before the one that would make him world famous came into his life.
Before tackling the role of Agatha Christie’s beloved creation, he read all of her novels in which Poirot was featured. He found among them all more than ninety character traits, all of which he incorporated into his ”Poirot persona.” There have been many formidable others, namely Peter Ustinov and Albert Finney, who brought the brilliant sleuth to life on the screen, but no one has done it more lovingly or convincingly than England’s own David Suchet.