David Suchet

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David Suchet

David Suchet in 2003
Born David Suchet
2 May 1946 (1946-05-02) (age 62)
London, England
Occupation Television actor, Voice-over artist
Years active 1970-present
Spouse(s) Sheila Ferris (1976-present)

David Suchet, OBE (born 2 May 1946) is an 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 Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza.

He is also best known for his role as the main character, Hercule Poirot in the British TV drama Poirot, alongside Hugh Fraser and Pauline Moran.[1][2][3]

American audiences may know him best from his 1996 role as hijacker Nagi Hassan in the film Executive Decision.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Suchet was born in London, the son of Joan (née Jarche), an actress, and Jack Suchet, a doctor.[4] Suchet's father was Jewish and his mother was an Anglican; Suchet was raised in the Anglican religion.[5][6] His paternal grandfather lived in Latvia. His surname was shortened from Suchedowitz to Suchet.[7] He also has some French blood on his mother's side.[citation needed]

After attending the Wellington School in Somerset, he took an interest in acting and joined the National Youth Theatre at eighteen. 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, Bagnor, Berkshire, and retains a great affection for the place, saying that it "fulfils my vision of a perfect theatre".

[edit] Career

In 1973, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1980, he made his first appearance on screen in the 1980 film version of A Tale of Two Cities. In 1985, he played Blott in the television series Blott on the Landscape. He was also awarded the Royal Television Society's award for best male actor for A Song for Europe in 1985. Suchet appeared as Inspector Japp in the 1985 film adaptation of Lord Edgware Dies, screen-name Thirteen at Dinner, with Peter Ustinov portraying Poirot.

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. In preparation for the role he says that he has read every novel and short story and compiled an extensive file on Poirot.[1][2][3] 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, London. Suchet later won another Variety Club Award (as well as a 2000 Tony nomination for best performance by a leading actor in a play) for his portrayal of Antonio Salieri in a revival of 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.[8] At the July 2006 Annual General Meeting of the River Thames Alliance, he agreed to continue being chairman for another year. Suchet also does a number of small appearances and voiceovers for religious dramatic works in accord with his own Christian faith.[9] He also provided the voice of Aslan in Focus on the Family's radio version of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.

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 Maxwell's life.[2][3] During the same year, he voiced Poirot in the adventure game Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express.

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 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. Suchet and his animal, the Giant 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 27 April to 19 May 2007, Suchet performed at The Chichester Festival Theatre in the play The Last Confession.[10] 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. Suchet appeared on daytime TV chat show Loose Women on 6 February 2008 to talk about his film The Bank Job, in which he played Lew Vogel, alongside Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows.

In 2008, Suchet will be starring in the 11th season of the British TV drama Poirot as the title character, and will also appear in the British film thriller Act of God as Benjamin Cisco, alongside Max Brown and Jenny Agutter. Recently, Suchet performed as the voice of the villainous Dr. Julius No in BBC Radio 4's radio adaptation of Fleming's 5th novel Dr. No.

[edit] Personal life

Suchet is the brother of John Suchet, a national news presenter for ITN. He has one son, Rob, and a daughter, Katharine. Suchet plays the clarinet, taught by Maurice Cowlin.

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 camera as a present.

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

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Interview: Dillin, John. "The Actor Behind Popular `Poirot'" - The Christian Science Monitor. - March 25, 1992.
  2. ^ a b c Interview: Dudley, Jane. "Award-winning actor David Suchet plays Robert Maxwell in a gripping account of the dramatic final stage of the media tycoon's life" - BBC.
  3. ^ a b c Interview: Dudley, Jane. "Inside the mind of a media monster". Yorkshire Post. 27 April 2007.
  4. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/2/David-Suchet.html
  5. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2001/03/13/basuch13.xml&page=2
  6. ^ "Suchet's Acts of Faith" - This Is London
  7. ^ "Obitury of Jack Suchet, Father of David Suchet" - The British Medical Journal
  8. ^ River Thames Alliance
  9. ^ Suchet @ Strandmag.com
  10. ^ The Chichester Festival Theatre

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Suchet, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English actor
DATE OF BIRTH 2 May 1946 (age 62)
PLACE OF BIRTH London, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH