2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous fictional character, the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. He debuted in Agatha Christie's first speculative novel, The Strange Case of Stiles Manor, in 1920, and appeared in 34 novels and 55 short stories until his death in The Curtain in 1975.
Over the past 100 years, as Christie's novels have been continuously adapted, more than 20 actors around the world have portrayed this magical crime solver on the screen and screen, including Peter Ustinov, who is the most familiar and favorite of Chinese audiences.
Ustinov's "Death Date"
To this day, Ustinov holds a record for playing Poirot in the films Massacre on the Nile (1978), Sins in the Sun (1982) and Death Pact (1988), one of the most on-screen actors, and three times in the TV films Human Nature Record (1985), Lost in the Old House (1986) and Tragedy in Three Acts (1986).
Ustinov's makeup shot for Massacre on the Nile
Anyone who has seen the original knows that Ustinov is far from Poirot in appearance. When Christie's daughter Rosalyn Hicks first saw Ustinov, she cried out, "No, he's not Poirot!" Poirot is not like this! And Ustinov's answer was, "Now it is!" ”
Ustinov created a screen image of Poirot exactly according to his own style: sometimes grumpy, sometimes cheerful, sometimes nosy, sometimes arrogant and frivolous, and a big fat man of 1 meter 77 (Polo in the original book is only 1 meter 62).
Although Ustinov's version of Poirot has many fans around the world, the ScreenRant website, which is famous for producing various lists in the entertainment industry, only ranks him second among the nine best actors of Poirot, the first of which is Albert Finney, who starred in "Murder on the Orient Express".
Albert Finney before and after makeup
Finney was only 36 years old when he starred in "Murder on the Orient Express", he had worked as a stand-in for Lawrence Oliver, and was also the original actor candidate for Lawrence in "Lawrence of Arabia", which can be seen as a recognized beautiful man. To play Poirot, he gained weight, stuffed fillings in his mouth, and got used to walking hunched over his back, as he was also 1.75 meters tall. Although Christie himself did not approve of his appearance, he became the only actor to receive an Oscar nomination for playing Poirot, and he was recognized by his peers because he gave too much for the role.
In third place is David Suchte, who played Poirot in The Great Detective Poirot, a series of 13 seasons and 70 episodes that covered all of Poirot's detective stories, spanning 24 years from 1989 to 2013.
The Record of Human Nature
Sucht played Poirot's right-hand man, Inspector General Japp, in Ustinov's Human Record, when Ustinov said to him, "To tell the truth, you should play Poirot." Later, it was Christie's family who named him to star in "Poirot the Great Detective."
Suchte is considered not only the actor who most resembles Poirot, but also a loyal defender of Poirot. During the first season, he almost opted out because the director told him to give up some of Poirot's odd moves, such as putting a handkerchief on a park bench before he could sit down.
Sutchett played Poirot for 24 years, and the highest rating he received was, "He's not playing Poirot, he's become Poirot." ”
Fourth-place Kenneth Branagh is not only the latest Poirot actor, but also the only one who self-directed and self-starred in Poirot's films. The 2017 edition of Murder on the Orient Express was a mixed profile, and Branagh's version of Poirot was also spat upon for his exaggerated French pronunciation and beard.
In fact, Branagh himself is a big fan of Christie, and his transformation of the original and Poirot's image is not to subvert it, but to give it a new life force and make it reborn in a new generation of audiences. Next year, he will make a comeback with the latest edition of Massacre on the Nile, further cementing his reinvented image of Poirot.
Ranked fifth, John Markovich played Poirot in the 2018 BBC's three-episode TV series Murders ABC. Markovich conquered the audience with his strong self-confidence, making no secret of his height of a full 30 centimeters taller than Poirot, and convincing the audience with his trademark eccentric and neurotic performance style that he was Poirot.
Austin Trevor (center)
Sixth-ranked Austin Trevor was the first actor to play Poirot on screen, and in 1931 he first played Poirot in "The Not-So-Be, based on The Mystery of Roger." Trevor, an Irishman who learned fluent French at university in Switzerland, went on to play the role twice in Black Coffee and The Death of Sir Edgewell.
Seventh-ranked Ian Home plays a special Poirot. The 1986 TV film Book Murder is about Agatha Christie, who intends to publish a manuscript from 35 years ago, and because she is tired of Poirot, who is everywhere, decides to let him die in the book. As a result, that night, Poirot appeared in front of his creator, and he had to fight to defend his existence, and the film was jokingly called "Poirot vs Agatha" by the audience.
Tony Randall (left) "Letter Murder"
1965's "Alphabet Murders" was also adapted from "Murder on ABC", but was made into a comedic style film, and Tony Randall came in eighth place for successfully portraying a comedic version of Poirot.
The ninth is Alfred Molina, who played Poirot in the 2001 TV and movie version of Murder on the Orient Express, whose biggest feature is that it moves the story that takes place in the 1930s to the 21st century, and Molina is the only villain actor to play Poirot.
In fact, turnip greens have their own love, everyone has a best Poirot in their hearts, if this list is to tell us how many actors have played Poirot on the screen and screen, then it can be stretched very long...
Gobert (left) and Polman
There are two actors in Germany who have played Poirot, one is Henry Gobert in 1955's "Hercule Poirot Cracks the Murder of the Orient Express", and the other is Horst Polman in "Black Coffee" in 1973.
James Coco (standing on the left) "Strange Feast"
1976's "Strange Feast" brought together five of the world's most famous detectives, and Poirot was played by James Coco.
Both the former Soviet Union and the Russians were keen to adapt Christie's novels, and the 2002 TV series Poirot's Failure was adapted from The Roger Mystery, with Konstantin Raigin playing Poirot.
Nomura Wassai was the first Japanese to play Poirot, but poirot, who played him in Murder on the Orient Express, The Mystery of Kuroido (based on The Mystery of Roger) and Death Date, has a Japanese name, Takezuzu Katsuro.