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Who is David Suchet?
Famous British actor Sir David Courtney Suchet was born in Paddington, London, England, on 2 May 1946, making his zodiac sign Taurus. He has 116 acting credits, but is perhaps known best for starring as Hercule Poirot in many episodes of the crime mystery series “Poirot”, which also starred Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson, and follows the work of famous fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, created by Agatha Christy The series aired from 1989 through 2013 and won six of its 23 award nominations.
David’s still today active in the film industry, and is currently shooting for the upcoming film “Dinner with Edward”.
Education and early life
David was raised alongside his brothers John and Peter in Paddington, by their British father Jack Suchet who was a gynecologist and consultant obstetrician, and who passed away aged 93 on 9 September 2001, and mother Joan Patricia who was an actress and who passed away aged 76 in 1992. Jack came to England from South Africa in 1932, and Joan was born in England and was Anglican; David was raised without a religion but became Anglican later in life. His brother John’s today an author and news journalist.
David studied at Grenham House Boarding School prior to transferring to Wellington School at which he became passionate about acting, and thus joined the National Youth Theatre in 1962, aged 16. He matriculated in 1964 and then began attending London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 1968; David’s today a council member at the academy.
TV series roles
David’s first TV series role was playing Henry in the 1970 episode “Flo and Monty and Henry… and Henry” of the comedy “The Mating Machine”, and the year 1971 saw him play Martin Kulman in the episode “And When You’ve Paid the Bill, You’re None the Wiser” of the crime drama “Public Eye”; some of his roles in the remainder of the ‘70s were in the crime adventure “The Protectors”, the historical drama “Out of the Past” and the action crime comedy “The Professionals”.
In 1984, he starred as Dr. Sigmund Freud in all six episodes of the biographical historical mini-series “Freud”, which also starred Helen Bourne and David Swift, and follows the life of the father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud; the mini-series won two of its six award nominations. Some of the most popular series in which David appeared in the remainder of the ‘80s were the comedy “Blott on the Landscape”, the biographical historical drama “Mussolini: The Untold Story” and the family fantasy “Jackanory”.
What marked the ‘90s for him was perhaps voicing the lead character The Phoenix in all six episodes of the 1997 adventure family fantasy mini-series “The Phoenix and the Carpet”, which also starred Miriam Margoyles and Ivan Berry, and follows four children who’ve become the owners of a phoenix and a magic carpet.
David appeared in only a couple of TV series in the 2000s, including the crime mystery “Murder in Mind”, the romantic drama “The Way We Live Now” and the crime mystery “NCS Manhunt”.
His three most recent roles in TV series have been portraying Salvador Dali in the 2018 episode “The Dali and the Cooper” of the biographical adventure comedy “Urban Myths”, George Emmerson in three episodes of the 2018 drama mini-series “Press” and voicing Kaisa in seven episodes of the family adventure “His Dark Materials” from 2019 through 2022.
Roles in movies
David’s debut film role was in the 1970 short drama “Hamlet: An Introduction”, and some of his notable performances in the ‘70s were in the 1977 short drama “The Quality Connection”, the 1978 short drama “Wings of Ash: A Dramatization of the Life of Antonin Artaud”, and the 1980 historical romantic drama “A Tale of Two Cities”.
He played Corbett in the 1982 comedy “The Missionary”, which starred Maggie Smith and Michael Palin, and was directed by Richard Loncraine. Set in the early 20th century, the film follows devout Reverend Charles Fortesque who’s returned from missionary work in Africa to England, and has been appointed minister to the local prostitutes. Some of David’s following roles were in the 1983 comedy “Red Monarch”, the 1985 biographical crime drama “The Falcon and the Snowman”, and the 1988 historical thriller “To Kill a Priest”.
The year 1996 saw him star as Nagi Hassan in the hit action adventure thriller “Executive Decision”, which also starred Kurt Russell and Halle Berry, and was directed by Stuart Baird. It follows a group of terrorists who’ve taken control over an airliner, and the film won two of its four award nominations. Some of David’s following roles were in the 1997 romantic drama “Sunday”, the 1998 crime thriller “A Perfect Murder”, and the 1999 action adventure science fiction “Wing Commander”.
What marked the 2000s for David was perhaps playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in the popular 2003 biographical historical drama “Henry VIII”, which starred Ray Winstone and Joss Ackland, and was directed by Pete Travis. It follows the 38-year reign of King Henry VIII, and the movie won one of its two award nominations. Some of David’s other notable performances in the 2000s were in the 2004 war drama “A Bear Named Winnie”, the 2006 horror “Dracula”, and the 2009 thriller “Act of God”.
His three most recent film roles have been in the 2016 comedy “Peter Pan Goes Wrong”, the 2017 short animated comedy “Pagliacci: The Imaginary Story of a Sad Clown” (voice role, narrator), and the 2017 action thriller “American Assassin”.
DAVID SUCHET Birthday 72 today
Poirot 1989-2003 • Flood (TV) 2007
A Perfect Murder 1998 • The Bank Job 2008
American Assassin 2017 • The Missionary 1982
Executive Decision 1996 • To Kill a Priest 1988
Freud (TV) 1984 • Moses (TV) 1996
The Professionals (TV) 1978 pic.twitter.com/vMohOGcuCm— Peter Oxley (@oxley264) May 2, 2018
Other credits
David produced 21 episodes of the series “Poirot” from 2003 through 2013.
Some of his recent talk-show appearances have been in “This Morning”, “The One Show” and “Good Morning Britain”.
Awards and nominations
David’s won eight of his 15 award nominations, including his three BAFTA TV Awards for Best Actor in 1989, 1991 and 2002, for his performance in “A World Apart”, “Poirot” and “The Way We Live Now”, respectively.
Some of David’s other wins include a 1998 Istanbul Film Festival Special Prize of the Jury for “Sunday”, a 2002 Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor – Male for “The Way We Live Now”, and a 2008 International Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor, for “Maxwell”.
Love life and wife
David rarely shares the details of his love life with his fans, but it’s widely known that he’s been a married man for close to 50 years now.
He met his future wife, British non-celebrity Sheila Ferris in 1972 while they were both working at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, England, and David’s revealed that he fell in love with Sheila the moment he saw her; he’s also stated that it took him over a month to persuade her to have dinner with him. The two exchanged vows in a large but private ceremony on 30 June 1976, attended by many of their family members and closest friends.
Sheila gave birth to their son Robert in 1981, and he went on to become a Royal Marine Captain; their daughter Katherine was born in 1983, and she’s today a physiotherapist.
There are no other women whom David’s perhaps been with, that we know about; he’s married to Sheila Ferris as of August 2023, and they have two children together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
David’s maternal grandfather, James Jarche was a famous photographer who took the first pictures of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, and was also known for his pictures of the late French aviator and inventor Louis Charles Joseph Bleriot.
After having read Romans 8 in his hotel room in 1986, David chose to turn Anglican, and was baptized at the Church of England; he became a vice president of the British Bible Society on 22 November 2012.
David’s known for doing an extensive research about the characters whom he portrays, and for Hercule Poirot, he read each and every of Agatha Christie’s description about the detective, and adopted a soft Belgian accent.
In 2002, David was honored with Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and was in 2011 ‘promoted’ to Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
The University of Chichester has presented him with an honorary doctorate in theatre.
Over 2,600 people are following David on Instagram today, but he’s uploaded only two pictures onto the network.
One of his favorite actors is Ian McKellen, and some of his favorite movies include “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “The Good Liar”, and “X-Men”.
Appearance and net worth
David’s age is 77. He’s bald and has brown eyes, is 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighs around 155lbs (70kgs).
David’s net worth’s been estimated at over $15 million, as of August 2023.
