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David Suchet OBE (born May 2, 1946) is an English actor best known for his television portrayal of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot in the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot. His brother is news reader John Suchet.
Born in London to Jack and Joan Suchet, he took an interest in acting and joined the National Youth Theatre at 18. 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, and retains a great affection for the place saying it "fulfils my vision of a perfect theatre".
In 1973, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. The 1970s also saw his first appearance on screen in the 1980 film A Tale of Two Cities. In 1985 he played Blott in the television series Blott on the Landscape. He was awarded the Royal Television Society's award for best male actor for A Song for Europe in 1985.
Suchet's performance as Agatha Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot in the televsision series Poirot earned him a 1991 British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) nomination. 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. Suchet later won another Variety Club Award for his portrayal of Antonio Salieri in 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.
He has also appeared in a number of films, including Executive Decision (1996), "Foolproof", A Perfect Murder (1998), Wing Commander (1999), and Live from Baghdad (2001).
He is the brother of John Suchet, a former ITV News presenter. He married Sheila Ferris in 1976, and their son, Robert, graduated from the University of Birmingham in July 2002. They also have a daughter together, Katherine.
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. At the July 2006 Annual General Meeting of the River Thames Alliance, he agreed to continue being chairman for another year.
Suchet also does numbers of small appearances and voiceovers for religious dramatic works in accord with his own Christian faith (see *). He also provided the voice of Aslan in Focus on the Family's radio version of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
At Christmas 2006 he will play the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing in a new adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Count Dracula, due to be screened on BBC One. He is also expected to be seen in the action film titled Flood, also due out 2006.
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