{"id":129441,"date":"2023-09-03T22:54:58","date_gmt":"2023-09-03T22:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=129441"},"modified":"2023-09-03T22:54:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T22:54:58","slug":"sir-david-suchet-to-the-world-im-hercule-poirot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/celebrities\/sir-david-suchet-to-the-world-im-hercule-poirot\/","title":{"rendered":"Sir David Suchet: To the world I\u2019m Hercule Poirot"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Why did the world fall so deeply in love with Sir David Suchet as Hercule Poirot? After all, the famous Belgian detective with whom he has become synonymous is a fastidious, pernickety and, whisper it, sometimes rather irritating little man. \u201cYes, and Agatha Christie, I\u2019ve been told, grew sick and tired of him,\u201d the actor tells the Daily Express.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was pompous and he could be arrogant. But he had impeccable manners, always polite to everyone he encountered. When I first played him, I thought I might have made him a bit boring.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the letters I get from fans all over the world tell me they love being in his company. I think he makes people feel safe. There\u2019s not one story in which evil wins. It\u2019s comforting family entertainment in what is sometimes an uncertain world.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are sitting today in Suchet\u2019s pied-a-terre, an immaculate 30s mansion flat in south-west London, a hop and a skip from the banks of the Thames, and he is in reflective mood \u2013 as well he might be.<\/p>\n

We are talking, in part, about the reaction to his hit one-man show, Poirot and More \u2013 A Retrospective. After playing to packed houses across the UK and as far afield as Australia last year, he\u2019s due to pick up the reins once more in 2024.<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/strong> Sunderland Brit pop singer Faye Fantarrow dies from rare illness aged 21<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole journey has been quite an emotional one,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn performance, I\u2019m constantly reminded that my 53-year career has involved the most incredible roles. To share all this with so many different audiences has also made me aware that there are so many who have not had my good fortune. This makes every performance poignant as well as, I hope, entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the show encompasses his entire award-winning career, audiences are inevitably drawn to his portrayal over 25 years of the little Belgian detective.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the 77-year-old says he never tired of playing (or talking about) his most famous character. \u201cNot for one day\u2019s filming,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that man inside out. I knew what he\u2019d do from the minute he woke up each day to the minute he went to bed: what he\u2019d eat for lunch, where he\u2019d buy his clothes, what newspapers he\u2019d read.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if Poirot existed, would the pair be close friends?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure,\u201d Suchet muses. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019d necessarily get on with him. We have a lot of similarities. I\u2019m a naturally very tidy person: the books on my shelves are arranged in height order, for instance. That said, there are a great deal of differences as well. I like symmetry but I think it fair to say that Poirot would be diagnosed with OCD.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suchet laughs: \u201cBut I do love him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, fans have seen the last of him as the Belgian detective, apart from the repeats that regularly delight television audiences around the world. \u201cI was asked if I\u2019d consider playing him in stories not written by Agatha Christie, but I chose not to,\u201d he reveals, having donned the famous moustache, bow tie and cane for the final time in 2013 after a quarter of a century.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe title of the programme was Agatha Christie\u2019s Poirot and I portrayed the great detective in over 70 of those stories \u2013 every one that she wrote which involved him.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a matter of public record Suchet\u2019s Poirot was a particular favourite of the late Queen. \u201cAnd especially of the late Queen Mother,\u201d he adds. \u201cShe absolutely loved it. In fact, we sent her and the rest of the Royal Family one particular film.\u201d And thereby hangs a tale. \u201cThe Queen would sometimes host small, intimate lunches at Buckingham Palace and I was lucky enough to be invited to one.\u201d<\/p>\n

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong>
Rylan Clark issues health update as mum rushed to hospital after horror fall[LATEST] <\/strong>
Britney Spears ‘has no interest in starting OnlyFans’ despite fan speculation[INSIGHT] <\/strong>
Costner’s ex Christine wears Prada worth thousands to demand $175,057 a month[DISCOVER] <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

All went swimmingly at lunch until the fruit course arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was talking to the Duke of Edinburgh at the moment the fruit bowl reached me,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to break eye contact with him so I reached over my shoulder and found I\u2019d picked a mango. Now, the only thing I knew about a mango was that it\u2019s best eaten in a bath when you can make as much mess as you like.<\/p>\n

“But I was at Buckingham Palace. So, I made a snap decision. I turned to Prince Philip and said: \u2018Excuse me, sir, I think I might embarrass myself if I try to eat this mango.\u2019 He picked up the cue immediately. \u2018Don\u2019t worry about that,\u2019 he said. \u2018Give it to me and I\u2019ll show you how.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo in front of everybody, he demonstrated how to cut and peel a mango. He was incredibly dextrous throughout the process, at the end of which he looked at me and said: \u2018Voila!\u2019 Just like Poirot. Everyone laughed.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the lunch, Suchet rang his producer and told him they must insert a similar episode into one of the Poirot films, which is exactly what happened. \u201cThe Theft Of The Royal Ruby was shot in 1991 and involved Poirot visiting a grand country house,\u201d
he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe spies a mango in the fruit bowl and, when the owner says he has no idea how to eat one, Hercule duly demonstrates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the character eventually says, \u2018Good Lord, Poirot, where on earth did you learn how to do that?\u2019, I replied, \u2018A certain Duke taught me.\u2019 The film complete, we sent a copy to the Palace. Forever after, whenever I was at a function attended by Prince Philip, he\u2019d say: \u2018Ah, Mango Man!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Born in London in 1946, Suchet caught the acting bug as a student at Wellington School in Somerset where he played Macbeth aged 17.<\/p>\n

During his last years at school, he joined the National Youth Theatre and his ambition to become an actor really took hold.<\/p>\n

The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art followed from 1966 before he cut his teeth in repertory theatres beginning in Chester. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have had a better grounding,\u201d he explains. \u201cOne week, you\u2019re playing a young man; the next, you\u2019re the madman, Renfield, in Dracula.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the very best thing to come out of rep, he says, was at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in 1972, where Sheila Ferris, the company\u2019s leading lady, caught the young actor\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wasn\u2019t an easy catch; all the men seemed interested in her,\u201d he remembers. \u201cIt was a long time before she took any notice of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Suchet hung in there and they eventually married in 1976.<\/p>\n

In 1981, their son, Robert, was born. Daughter Katherine followed two years later. Each now is married, each with a son and daughter. Sadly, Robert\u2019s son, now aged nine, was quickly diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis, an extremely rare condition affecting about one in 6,000 babies born in the UK each year and causing non-cancerous (benign) tumours in many areas of the<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s non-verbal and he can\u2019t chew food. But he\u2019s a dear, darling boy. I love him so much,\u201d says his grandfather.<\/p>\n

Suchet has always had a strong faith and is a voracious reader of literature about the world\u2019s religions. The arbitrariness of what has happened to his grandson must have tested his considerable faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s not easy and one should never pretend it is. It\u2019s a challenge to believe that the God of love can also allow such suffering. But it doesn\u2019t stop my faith. In a sense, because it tests it, it makes it stronger.\u201d In 1973, Suchet joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and stayed there, more or less permanently, for 13 years.<\/p>\n

Ask him to nominate two pivotal roles during that time and he plumps for Shylock in The Merchant Of Venice and Iago with fellow theatrical grandee-to-be Ben Kingsley as Othello.<\/p>\n

His big TV breakthrough came in 1985 with Blott On The Landscape, adapted from the Tom Sharpe novel, a role that eventually led to Poirot.<\/p>\n

His first contract was for just six months. \u201cWho knew what lay ahead?\u201d he says of those early days. \u201cI took it year by year until I\u2019d filmed all the stories that Agatha Christie wrote featuring Hercule. It was perfect. Half the year would be taken up with filming the next Poirot mini-series, the other half appearing on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He singles out the European premiere of David Mamet\u2019s Oleanna in 1993 with Lia Williams; Arthur Miller\u2019s All My Sons with Zoe Wanamaker in 2011; and his unforgettable turn as Lady Bracknell in a 2015 production of Wilde\u2019s The Importance of Being Earnest.<\/p>\n

But when producer Kim Poster first suggested the latter role to Suchet, he laughed out loud. \u201cI turned it down on the spot. Then, a little later, Sheila said I ought to have a rethink. \u2018Don\u2019t play her as a pantomime dame,\u2019 she said. \u2018Employ all your skills as a character actor.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I approached Lady Bracknell in just the same way as I approached Iago. It took two and a half hours to get dressed and made up for each performance. It was a ridiculous amount of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today his rich and varied body of work has inevitably seen him attain national treasure status and, inevitably, brought a slew of honours: an OBE in 2008 invested by the Queen; the CBE in 2011 courtesy of the then Prince Charles; and, in 2020, a knighthood from Prince William, though Suchet had contracted Covid and didn\u2019t finally receive his award until January 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been knighted in plays on the stage a number of times but nothing compares to the real thing,\u201d he smiles.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cAren\u2019t I lucky? The things I\u2019ve been able to do on the back of the success of that little man. But while I know Poirot will dominate my obituary when the time comes, I like to think there\u2019ll be a paragraph or two about my other work.\u201d<\/p>\n

After many years of living overlooking the docks in London\u2019s East End, the actor and Sheila have now repaired to a rented barn in Wiltshire as their main residence, with their children living within half an hour in one direction or another.<\/p>\n

Although Suchet has been a professional actor for well over half a century, he says he doesn\u2019t feel he\u2019s quite finished yet.<\/p>\n

Whatever you do, don\u2019t mention the R-word. \u201cI would never talk of retirement,\u201d he insists. \u201cI\u2019d prefer to say that the telephone stops ringing.\u201d<\/p>\n