English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfayden and Polma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) nomination. He is known for his role as Agatha Christie’s great detective Hercule Poirot in the long-running British TV dramatic series Poirot.
Suchet began his acting career at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, Berkshire, In 1973, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.
After making his first TV appearance in 1970, he appeared in the 1980 made-for-TV film version of A Tale of Two Cities. In 1980, he also played Edward Teller, later developer of the US H-bomb, in the joint BBC-US TV serial about the US Manhattan Project called Oppenheimer. In 1983, he played the insidious half-Chinese policeman with orders to kill British spy Sidney Reilly. In 1985, he played Blott in the television series Blott on the Landscape, and corporate whistle-blower Stanley Adams in A Song for Europe. Suchet appeared as Inspector Japp in the 1985 film adaptation of Lord Edgware Dies, screen-name Thirteen at Dinner, with Peter Ustinov portraying Poirot.
In 1989, he took the title role himself for the long-running television series Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Rather less well known, but quite an extraordinary performance nonetheless, is Suchet’s portrayal of Sigmund Freud (young and old) in the 6-hour mini-series Freud, co-produced by the BBC in 1984.
In 2001, he starred as the lead role in the David Yates-directed BBC television serial The Way We Live Now and, in 2003, he played the ambitious 16th century Englishman Cardinal Wolsey in the 2-part ITV drama Henry VIII opposite Ray Winstone as Henry VIII and Helena Bonjam Carter as Anne Boleyn.
In May 2006, he played the role of the fallen press-baronRobert Maxwell in Maxwell, a BBC2 dramatisation of the final 18 months of Maxwell’s life.
In December 2006, he appeared on the ITV programme Extinct, presented by Sir Trevor McDonald and Zoe Ball, which saw Suchet and seven other well-known celebrities visit critically endangeered 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. Suchet and his animal, the Giant Panda did not win; however, they finished in the top three.
At Christmas 2006, he played the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing in a BBC adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. He appears in the disaster film, Flood, released in August 2007, as the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at a time when London is devastated by flooding.
2010 saw the release of the 12th series of Poirot TV films. Suchet has stated that he wishes to film all of Christie’s Poirot novels. As of June 2011, Suchet has stated that he hopes to film the remaining novels in 2012.
Suchet’s many awards include a 2008 International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his role as Robert Maxwell in the BBC drama Maxwell, two BAFTA Awards nominations, and a Variety Award for best actor for portrayaing John in David Mamet’s Oleanna at the Royal Court Theatre. In 2002, Suchet was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 2010, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to drama.
READ DAVID SUCHET’S STATEMENT OF SUPPORT
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