Saturday 5 April 2014

Hercule Poirot: On stage and screen

Robert Powell is the latest actor to take on the role of Agatha Christie's genius creation Hercule Poirot. Here's a look at the actors who came before him. 




Albert Finney 

The actor only played Poirot once in the 1976 film Murder on the Orient Express. The film was a huge success and many remember Finney as a great Poirot. Finney had to have a lot of pale makeup on to make Poirot appear more sinister. Because the film was a success, he was asked back to film Death on the Nile, but he turned the offer down because he couldn't are the thought of acting with lots of pale makeup in the Egyptian heat.








Peter Ustinov 

Peter Ustinov played Hercule Poirot in six films Death on the Nile, Evil Under the Sun, Appointment with Death, Murder in Three Acts, Thirteen at Dinner and Dead Man's Folly. The films were highly successful, but Ustinov didn't play Poirot very close to the books. He turned Poirot into a comical character, cuddly and foolish, which Agatha Christie's daughter didn't like.













ITV
David Suchet 

David Suchet is by far the greatest Hercule Poirot. It was always his ambition to film all of the Poirot stories, and as of 2013 he did. He appeared in 70 films over 25 years. He captured the character perfectly, all of his mannerisms were present in his portrayal, and Suchet played the role seriously. David Suchet first played Poirot in 1989, and twenty-five years later, in 2013, he played Poirot for the last time in Curtain. Over the decades, every single story Agatha Christie ever wrote about Poirot, David Suchet played him in an adaption of the novel or short story.










Bill Kenwright Productions
Robert Powell 

The latest actor to play Hercule Poirot, Powell is currently playing him on stage in Black Coffee, the only play Agatha Christie wrote with Poirot as the detective. Powell, an experienced actor, is touring the UK with the play, which is produced by the Official Agatha Christie Theatre Company. He will no doubt bring something new to the role.














My review of Black Coffee is coming soon! 















No comments:

Post a Comment