Hercule Poirot hasn’t been brought to the screen as many times as Sherlock Holmes has, but he’s certainly had his fair share of portrayals, throughout the years. He’s been everywhere, from radio to the big screen to the small screen to the stage.
The rules: as usual, with these things, I can only rank performances that I can actually watch. So, no radio (VERY sorry not to include a Poirot adaptation with Orson Welles in multiple parts), no theater, no video games. But that’s okay. That leaves us with 20 performances to assess. It wasn’t an easy job. I relied on most of my little gray cells to pull it off.
Now, normally, when making these lists, I have to put together the candidates myself, which means I rely on a lot of research to amass an effective number. But not this time. I’m grateful that the Agatha Christie estate has, on their website, a timeline of all major and minor Poirot performances. Evidently, the 1970s were silly with Poirot. I’d love to know why.
Normally, on lists like these, I have to ignore the pasticcios, those sendups that refer to the character with other names. “Herlock Sholmes” or Count Chocula, that kind of thing. But since we’re working with fewer Poirots overall, it seems perfectly acceptable to permit them to round out the group.
Now. There are a few Poirots I absolutely did not get to watch, because their recordings were either difficult to find or, in a few cases, impossible to get. I’ve listed them here.
Heini Göbel, Murder on the Orient Express (1955)
Martin Gabel, The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim (1962)
Anatoliy Ravikovich, Peril at End House (1990)
Tom Petrone, Doing Agatha (2008)
As with all rankings on our website, this list is extremely subjective and exists purely for fun. And I had a lot fun; I highly enjoyed sifting through these contenders. How many times on this list will I use the word “adorable?” Read on and see.
20. John Mangan, Extraordinary Women (2011)
Honestly, this one barely counts. John Mangan plays Poirot in scenes in a documentary about Agatha Christie’s contribution, part of the Extraordinary Women series. It’s reenactment-style. I’m putting it last, for this reason.
19. Ed Begley, Burke’s Law, “Who Killed Supersleuth?” (1964)
Ed Begley (that’s senior) plays the Poirot-esque Bascule Doirot in this episode of the PI show Burke’s Law. I love Ed as an actor (Sweet Bird of Youth! Twelve Angry Men!), but I’m hard-pressed to find him a suitable Poirot stand-in. This isn’t his fault as much as a script that gives him little to do. Then again, he barely seems to be trying for the accent.
18. Andrew Sachs, Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
Comedian Andrew Sachs pops into Revenge of then Pink Panther to play a mental patient who thinks he’s Poirot. Clouseau meets him when he too is brought to the asylum. Between Sachs and Peter Sellers, it’s a battle of the fake French accents.
17. Hugh Laurie, Spice World (1997)
People don’t talk enough about how Hugh Laurie made a cameo in Spice World, in which he plays a Hercule Poirot-style detective who can’t tell that Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) is clearly the murderer, in an interlude designed to suggest that she can get away with anything.
16. Kôtarô Satomi, Agatha Christie’s Great Detective Poirot and Marple (2004)
Kôtarô Satomi voices Poirot in this charming Japanese anime series from 2004. The voicework is quite good, but I think we can all agree it’s the thick animated mustache that wins the day.
15. Dudley Jones, The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977)
In this hour-long comic mystery send-up starring John Cleese as a descendant of Sherlock Holmes who has to foil the evil plot of a descendant of Moriarty, with help from a descendant of Dr. Watson, there’s an international investigation delegation where Dudley Jones shows up as a very short, very capillaceously-shellacked Hercule Poirot. I wish I could say that this is the funniest or most random cameo, but that title belongs to Luie Caballero parodying Detective Columbo.
14. Anthony O’Donnell, Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (2004)
Olivia Williams played Agatha Christie in this 2004 BBC biographical TV movie. Anthony O’Donnell plays an English investigator Agatha kind of imagines is Poirot. He’s an overserious little guy, too much of a cop to be a real Poirot stand-in.
13. Mansai Nomura, Murder on the Orient Express (2015)
This enthusiastic Japanese miniseries is charming, but features a very, very intense performance from Mansai Nomura as Poirot, one that tips the show from an otherwise fairly dramatic story into caricature and comedy. Perhaps it’s all too self-aware to fully gel?
12. Jason Alexander, “Murder on the Disoriented Express” (1996)
I’ll bet you didn’t know that in the MIDDLE of his Seinfeld fame, Jason Alexander played Poirot in episode of Muppets Tonight. What’s the performance like? That’s entirely beside the point. You’re welcome.
11. Joan Borràs, “Les cartes d’Hèrcules Poirot” (1979)
This is the first Spanish-language Poirot adaptation. I love Joan Borràs’s extremely deep-voiced Poirot, a jolly baritone.
10. Tony Randall, The Alphabet Murders (1965)
There is possibly no one in the world more adorable than Tony Randall, and his affable, winsome Poirot (in this long-forgotten black-and-white TV movie) is one of my personal favorites on this list. Not because it’s incredible, but because it’s so charming.
9. James Coco, Murder by Death (1976)
I love James Coco, but that’s not important. Of all the Poirot spoofs, parodies, and pastiches on this list, his portrayal of Poirot-esque detective Milo Perrier in Murder By Death is the very best one.
8. Ian Holm, Murder by the Book
In this sly TV movie about how Agatha Christie (Dame Peggy Ashcroft) gets to hang out with her creation Poirot, Ian Holm plays the detective. Ian Holm was a surprisingly good accent-man, though not in Big Night, I’m sorry tp say. But his Poirot is perfectly suitable.
7. John Malkovich, The ABC Murders (2018)
If you’re surprised to see John Malkovich’s name on this list, you’re not alone. It’s surprising to see him play Poirot, that’s for sure. And it’s a very different Poirot than we’ve seen before. Settling down to watch, this miniseries, I tried hard to ignore my own predispositions, including my assumption that he would naturally provide Poirot with a vicious edge, but he plays him as rather subdued and sad… with a mysterious, Englishy accent, no less. Okay then!
6. Horst Bollmann, Black Coffee (1973)
This atmospheric West German TV adaptation of Black Coffee does not have subtitles (in the version I found on YouTube), so for a while I wasn’t sure who Poirot was. I figured it out, though. >taps head< Horst Bollmann’s Poirot is a tidy, clever fellow with a twinkle in his eye. I wish I knew what he were saying, because I was really appreciating his physicality as the character.
5. Kenneth Branagh, Murder on the Orient Express, etc. (2017)
Say what you will about Branagh’s Poirot films, but I do think his take on the character is extremely interesting. He’s smart but a little pompous, in a sensitive way that I think is more about Branagh reflecting on himself and his own career than about Poirot the guy. He’s by far the best in A Haunting in Venice, the reboot-y third installment in his Poirot series.
4. Alfred Molina, Murder on the Orient Express (2001)
This actually-pretty-good TV adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, set at the time of its release, stars a youngish Alfred Molina as a serious, unruffled, even grave Poirot. It’s a version of the character I haven’t really seen elsewhere; Molina brings an air of gravitas to a character often undercut with drabs of superciliousness. Perhaps it’s not the most traditional Poirot, but it is one of the more effective ones. Plus he does a kickin’ accent. I could watch him all day.
3. Albert Finney, Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Albert Finney was originally thought to be too young to play Poirot, but won the part anyway. And I think we can all agree it was a success!
2. Peter Ustinov, Death on the Nile, etc. (1978)
The great Peter Ustinov took over the role of Poirot from Albert Finney after Murder on the Orient Express, and man, what a sensation he was. Peter Ustinov is an actor of endless charisma and charm, and he hams up the role perfectly in this film and its four sequels. We as a people do not deserve Peter Ustinov.
1. David Suchet, Poirot (1989-2013)
You all knew it would come to this. David Suchet’s droll, clever Poirot is highly accurate, if you’re into that sort of thing, but he also possesses a real je ne sais quoi that sends his performance over the line. His performance doesn’t feel so much as a take on the character as the essence of him.
