Hercule Poirot
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
First appearance	The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Last appearance	Curtain
Created by	Agatha Christie
Portrayed by	David Suchet Peter Ustinov Albert Finney See below
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Retired Detective, now private detective. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. Curtain Poirot's Last Case is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English David Suchet (pronunced "soo-shay" /ˈsuːʃeɪ/ OBE (born 2 May 1946 is an English Actor, known for his work on British Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (ˈjuːstɪnɒf or /ˈuːstɪnɒf/ 16 April 1921 – 28 March 2004) born Peter Alexander Baron von Ustinow Albert Finney Jr (born 9 May 1936 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated and Emmy Award -winning English Actor.
Nationality	Belgian

Hercule Poirot (pronounced [ɛʀkyl pwaʀo] in French) is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters: he appeared in 33 novels and 54 short stories. Jane Marple, usually known as Miss Marple, is a Fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie

Poirot has been portrayed on screen, for films and TV, by various actors including Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov, Ian Holm, Tony Randall, Alfred Molina and, most famously, David Suchet. Albert Finney Jr (born 9 May 1936 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated and Emmy Award -winning English Actor. Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (ˈjuːstɪnɒf or /ˈuːstɪnɒf/ 16 April 1921 – 28 March 2004) born Peter Alexander Baron von Ustinow Sir Ian Holm CBE (born 12 September, 1931) is an English award-winning Actor known for his stage work and for many film roles Tony Randall ( February 26, 1920 &ndash May 17, 2004) was an American comic and Actor. Alfred Molina (born 24 May 1953 is a Tony Award -nominated British / American Actor. David Suchet (pronunced "soo-shay" /ˈsuːʃeɪ/ OBE (born 2 May 1946 is an English Actor, known for his work on British

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Influences 1.2 Popularity 1.3 Appearance and personal attributes 1.4 Methods 2 Recurring characters 2.1 Arthur Hastings 2.2 Ariadne Oliver 2.3 Miss Lemon 2.4 Chief Inspector Japp 2.5 Georges 3 Hercule Poirot's life 3.1 Family and childhood 3.2 Poirot’s police years 3.3 Career as a private detective 3.4 Retirement 3.5 Post World War 3.6 Death 4 Major novels 5 Portrayals 5.1 Film 5.1.1 Austin Trevor 5.1.2 Albert Finney 5.1.3 Peter Ustinov 5.1.4 Other 5.2 Television 5.2.1 David Suchet 5.2.2 Other 5.3 Animated 5.4 Radio 5.5 Parodies and references 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Overview

Influences

His character was based on two other fictional detectives of the time: Marie Belloc Lowndes' Hercule Popeau and Frank Howel Evans' Monsieur Poiret, a retired French police officer living in London. Marie Adelaide Lowndes née Belloc (1868 - 1947 Mrs Belloc Lowndes, was an English Novelist, born in Marylebone London the only daughter of French ^[1] A more obvious influence on the early Poirot stories is that of Arthur Conan Doyle. Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930 was an Anglo-Scottish Author most noted for his stories about the In An Autobiography Christie admits that "I was still writing in the Sherlock Holmes tradition – eccentric detective, stooge assistant, with a Lestrade-type Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Japp. Sherlock Holmes is a famous fictional detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in Publication in 1887 Inspector Lestrade (pronounced l' Estrade "less-TRAHD" is a Fictional character "^[2] For his part Doyle acknowledged basing Sherlock Holmes on the model of Edgar Allan Poe's fictional French detective C. Auguste Dupin, who in his use of "ratiocination" prefigures Poirot's reliance on his "little grey cells". Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, C Auguste Dupin is a fictional Detective created by Edgar Allan Poe. ^[3]

Poirot also bears a striking resemblance to A. E. W. Mason's fictional detective – Inspector Hanaud of the French Sûreté-who, first appearing in the 1910 novel At the Villa Rose, predates the writing of the first Poirot novel by six years. Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (7 May 1865 Dulwich, London - 22 November 1948 London) was a British Author and Politician In chapter 4 of the second Inspector Hanaud novel, The House of the Arrow (1924), Hanaud declares sanctimoniously to the heroine, "You are wise, Mademoiselle… For, after all, I am Hanaud. There is only one. "

Christie's Poirot was Belgian. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Unlike the models mentioned above, Christie's Poirot character was clearly the result of her early development of the detective in her first book written in 1916 (though only published in 1920). Not only was his Belgian nationality interesting because of Belgium's occupation by Germany (which provided a valid explanation of why such a skilled detective would be out of work and available to solve mysteries at an English country house),, but also at the time of Christie's writing, it was considered patriotic to express sympathy with the Belgians – since the invasion of their country had constituted Britain's casus belli for entering World War 1. Casus belli is a Latin language expression meaning the justification for acts of war World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Popularity

His first published appearance was in The Mysterious Affair at Styles (published 1920) and his last was in Curtain (published 1975, the year before Christie died). The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. Curtain Poirot's Last Case is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in On publication of this novel, Poirot was the only fictional character to be given an obituary in the New York Times; August 6, 1975 "Hercule Poirot is Dead; Famed Belgian Detective". Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[4]

By 1930, Agatha Christie found Poirot 'insufferable' and by 1960, she felt that he was a 'detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep'. Yet the public loved him, and Christie refused to kill him off, claiming that it was her duty to produce what the public liked, and what the public liked was Poirot. ^[5]

Appearance and personal attributes

Here is how Captain Arthur Hastings first describes Poirot:

"He was hardly more than five feet four inches but carried himself with great dignity. Captain Arthur Hastings, OBE, is a Fictional character, the partner and best friend of Agatha Christie 's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. Even if everything on his face was covered, the tips of moustache and the pink-tipped nose would be visible.

The neatness of his attire was almost incredible; I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound. Yet this quaint dandified little man who, I was sorry to see, now limped badly, had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police. "^[6]

This is how Agatha Christie describes Poirot in The Murder on the Orient Express in the very initial pages:

"By the step leading up into the sleeping-car stood a young French lieutenant, resplendent in uniform conversing, with a small man (Hercule Poirot) muffled up to the ears of whom nothing was visible but a pink-tipped nose and the two points of an upward-curled moustache. "

In the later books, the limp is not mentioned. Poirot has dark hair, which he dyes later in life^[7] and green eyes that are repeatedly described as shining "like a cat's" when he is struck by a clever idea. ^[8] Frequent mention is made of his patent-leather shoes, damage to which is frequently a subject of (for the reader, comical) misery on his part. ^[9] Poirot's appearance, regarded as fastidious during his early career, is hopelessly out of fashion later in his career. ^[10]

"The plane dropped slightly. "Mon estomac," thought Hercule Poirot, and closed his eyes determinedly. "^[11]

Among Poirot's most significant personal attributes is the sensitivity of this stomach. He suffers from sea sickness,^[12] and in Death in the Clouds believes that his air sickness prevents him from being more alert at the time of the murder. Later in his life, we are told:

"Always a man who had taken his stomach seriously, he was reaping his reward in old age. Eating was not only a physical pleasure, it was also an intellectual research. "^[13]

Poirot is extremely punctual and carries a turnip pocket watch almost to the end of his career. ^[14]

Methods

In The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Poirot operates as a fairly conventional, clue-based detective, depending on logic, which is represented in his vocabulary by two common phrases: his use of "the little grey cells" and "order and method". Irritating to Hastings (and, sometimes, to the reader) is the fact that Poirot will sometimes conceal from him important details of his plans, as in The Big Four where Hastings is kept in the dark throughout the climax. The Big Four is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on January 27 1927 This aspect of Poirot is less evident in the later novels, partly because there is rarely a narrator so there is no one for Poirot to mislead. A narrator (or the extremely rarely used female equivalent narratress) is within any story (literary work movie play verbal account etc

As early as Murder on the Links, where he still largely depends on clues, Poirot mocks a rival detective who focuses on the traditional trail of clues that had been established in detective fiction by the example of Sherlock Holmes: footprints, fingerprints and cigar ash. From this point on he establishes himself as a psychological detective who proceeds not by a painstaking examination of the crime scene, but by enquiring either into the nature of the victim or the murderer. Central to his behaviour in the later novels is the underlying assumption that particular crimes are only committed by particular types of person.

Poirot's methods focus on getting people to talk. Early in the novels, he frequently casts himself in the role of "Papa Poirot", a benign confessor, especially to young women. Later he lies freely in order gain the confidences of other characters, either inventing his own reason for being interested in the case^[15] or a family excuse^[16] for pursuing a line of questioning.

"To this day Harold is not quite sure what made him suddenly pour out the whole story to a little man to whom he had only spoken a few minutes before. "^[17]

Poirot is also willing to appear more foreign or vain than he really is in an effort to make people underestimate him. He admits as much:

"It is true that I can speak the exact, the idiomatic English. But, my friend, to speak the broken English is an enormous asset. It leads people to despise you. They say – a foreigner – he can't even speak English properly. […] Also I boast! An Englishman he says often, "A fellow who thinks as much of himself as that cannot be worth much. […] And so, you see, I put people off their guard. "^[18]

In the later novels Christie often uses the word mountebank when Poirot is being assessed by other characters, showing that he has successfully passed himself off as a charlatan or fraud. A charlatan (also called swindler) is a person practicing Quackery or some similar Confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form

All these techniques help Poirot attain his principal target: "For in the long run, either through a lie, or through truth, people were bound to give themselves away …"^[19]

Recurring characters

Arthur Hastings

Main article: Captain Arthur Hastings

Hastings first meets Poirot during his years as a private detective in Europe and almost immediately after they both arrive in England, becomes his life-long partner and appears in many of the novels and stories. Captain Arthur Hastings, OBE, is a Fictional character, the partner and best friend of Agatha Christie 's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Poirot regarded Hastings as a poor private detective, not particularly intelligent, yet helpful in his way of being fooled by the criminal and for his tendency to unknowingly "stumble" onto the truth. ^[20] He is married and has a daughter.

It must also be said that Hastings was a man who was capable of great bravery and courage when the road got rough, facing death unflinchingly when confronted by The Big Four and possessing unwavering loyalty towards Poirot. The Big Four is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on January 27 1927 When forced to choose between Poirot and his wife in that novel, he chose Poirot.

The two were an airtight team until Hastings met and married Dulcie Duveen, a beautiful music hall performer half his age, which was not objectionable in the late Victorian, Edwardian world. They later emigrated to Argentina leaving Poirot behind as a "very unhappy old man. " Poirot and Hastings are at last reunited in Curtain: Poirot's Last Case. They are also reunited in The ABC Murders when Hastings arrives in England for business.

Ariadne Oliver

Main article: Ariadne Oliver

The frequently recurring detective novelist Ariadne Oliver is Agatha Christie's humorous self-caricature. Ariadne Oliver is a Fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. Like Agatha Christie, she isn't overly fond of the detective she is most famous for creating – in Ariadne's case a Finn Sven Hjerson. Sven Hjerson is a fictional fictional Detective in several books by Agatha Christie. We never learn about anything her husband, but we do know that she hates alcohol and public appearances, and has a great fondness for apples until she is put off them by the events of Hallowe'en Party. Hallowe'en Party is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November She also has a habit of constantly changing her hairstyle and in every appearance by her much is made of the clothes and hats she wears. She has a maid called Maria who prevents the public adoration from becoming too much of a burden on her employer, but does nothing to prevent her aggravating employer from becoming too much of a burden on others.

She has authored over fifty-six novels and she has a great dislike of people taking and modifying her story characters. She is also the only one in Poirot's universe to have noted that "It’s not natural for five or six people to be on the spot when B is murdered and all have a motive for killing B. " She first met Poirot in the story Cards on the Table and has been bothering him ever since.

Miss Lemon

Poirot's secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon, has few human weaknesses. The only two mistakes she is ever recorded making are a typing error during the events of Hickory Dickory Dock and the mis-mailing of an electric bill. Poirot described her as being "Unbelievably ugly and incredibly efficient. Anything that she mentioned as worth consideration usually was worth consideration. " She is an expert on nearly everything and plans to create the perfect filing system. She also once worked for the government agent-turned-philanthropist, Parker Pyne. Parker Pyne is a detective who appears in two Agatha Christie books Parker Pyne Investigates and The Regatta Mystery. Whether this was during one of Poirot’s numerous retirements or before she entered his employment is unknown.

Chief Inspector Japp

Main article: Chief Inspector Japp

Japp is an Inspector from Scotland Yard and appears in many of the stories, trying to solve the cases Poirot is working on. Detective Chief Inspector James Japp is a Fictional character of Scotland Yard appearing in many of Agatha Christie 's novels and stories about Hercule New Scotland Yard or Scotland Yard, informally known as The Yard and NSY, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible Japp is an outgoing, loud and sometimes inconsiderate man by nature and his relationship with the bourgeois Belgian is one of the stranger aspects of Poirot’s world. He first met Poirot in Belgium, 1904, during the Abercrombie Forgery and later that year joined forces again to hunt down a criminal known as Baron Altara. They also meet in England where Poirot often helps Japp solve a case and lets him take the credit in return for special favours. These favours usually entail being supplied with cases that would interest him. ^[21]

Georges

Georges (we are never told his last name) is a classic English valet and first entered Poirot’s employ in 1923 and didn’t leave his side until the 1970s, shortly before Poirot’s death. A competent, matter-of-fact man with an extensive knowledge of the English aristocracy and absolutely no imagination, Georges provides a steady contrast to Hastings.

Hercule Poirot's life

Family and childhood

"I suppose you know pretty well everything there is to know about Poirot's family by this time". ^[22]

It is difficult to draw any concrete conclusions about Poirot's family, due to the fact that Poirot often supplies false or misleading information about himself or his background in order to assist him in obtaining information relevant to a particular case.

In chapter 21 of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, for example, we learn that he has been talking about a mentally disabled nephew: this proves to be a ruse so that he can find out about homes for the mentally unfit … but that does not mean that Poirot does not have such a nephew.

In Dumb Witness, he regales us with stories of his elderly invalid mother as a pretence to investigate the local nurses. In The Big Four Hastings believes that he meets Achille Poirot who (in an apparent parody of Mycroft Holmes) is evidently his smarter brother. A parody (ˈpɛɹədiː US, [ˈpaɹədiː] UK) in contemporary usage is a work created to mock comment on or poke fun at an original work its subject Mycroft Holmes is a Fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. On this occasion, Achille is almost certainly Poirot himself in disguise (Poirot speaks in Chapter 18 of having sent Achille "back to the land of myths"), but this does not conclusively demonstrate that Poirot does not have a brother, or even a brother called Achille.

Any evidence regarding Poirot for which Poirot himself is the source is therefore most unreliable. Achille Poirot is also mentioned by Dr. Burton in the prelude to The Labours of Hercules.

Poirot was apparently born in Spa, Belgium and, based on the conjecture that he was thirty at the time of his retirement from the Belgian police force at the time of the outbreak of the First World War, it is suggested that he was born in the mid 1880s. Spa is a Municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège.

This is all extremely vague, as Poirot is thought to be an old man in his dotage even in the early Poirot novels, and in An Autobiography Christie admitted that she already imagined him to be an old man in 1920. (At the time, of course, she had no idea she would be going on writing Poirot books for many decades to come. ) Much of the suggested dating for Poirot's age is therefore post-rationalisation on the part of those attempting to make sense of his extraordinarily long career.

Poirot is a Roman Catholic by birth,^[23] and retains a strong sense of Catholic morality later in life. ^[24] Not much is known of Poirot’s childhood other than he once claimed in Three Act Tragedy to have been from a large family with little wealth. In Taken at the Flood, he further claimed to have been raised and educated by nuns, raising the possibility that he (and any siblings) were orphaned.

Poirot’s police years

"Gustave […] was not a policeman. I have dealt with policemen all my life and I know. He could pass as a detective to an outsider but not to a man who was a policeman himself. " — Hercule Poirot in "The Erymanthian Boar" (1940).

As an adult, Poirot joined the Belgian police force. Very little mention is made in Christie's work about this part of his life, but in "The Nemean Lion" (1939) Poirot himself refers to a Belgian case of his in which "a wealthy soap manufacturer […] poisoned his wife in order to be free to marry his secretary". We do not know whether this case resulted in a successful prosecution or not; moreover, Poirot is not above lying in order to produce a particular effect in the person to whom he is speaking, so this evidence is not reliable.

Inspector Japp gives some insight into Poirot's career with the Belgian police when introducing him to a colleague:

"You've heard me speak of Mr Poirot? It was in 1904 he and I worked together – the Abercrombie forgery case – you remember he was run down in Brussels. Ah, those were the days Moosier. Then, do you remember "Baron" Altara? There was a pretty rogue for you! He eluded the clutches of half the police in Europe. But we nailed him in Antwerp – thanks to Mr. Poirot here. "^[25]

Perhaps this is enough evidence to suggest that Poirot's police career was a successful one.

In the short story The Chocolate Box (1923) Poirot provides Captain Arthur Hastings with an account of what he considers to be his only failure. Captain Arthur Hastings, OBE, is a Fictional character, the partner and best friend of Agatha Christie 's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Poirot admits that he has failed to solve a crime "innumerable" times:

"I have been called in too late. Very often another, working towards the same goal, has arrived there first. Twice I have been struck down with illness just as I was on the point of success. "

Nevertheless, he regards the case in "The Chocolate Box", which took place in 1893,^[26] as his only actual failure of detection. Again, Poirot is not reliable as a narrator of his personal history and there is no evidence that Christie sketched it out in any depth.

It was also in this period that Poirot shot a man who was firing from a roof onto the public below. ^[27]

Poirot has retired from the Belgian police force by the time that he meets Hastings in 1916 on the case retold in The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

It should be noted that Poirot is a French-speaking Belgian, i. e. a Walloon; but there can hardly be found any occasion where he refers to himself as such, or is so referred to by others. Walloons (Wallons Walons are a Romance people living in Belgium principally in Wallonia. At the time of writing, at least of the earlier books where the character was defined, non-Belgians such as Agatha Christie were far less aware than nowadays of the deep linguistic divide in Belgian society.

Career as a private detective

"I had called in at my friend Poirot's rooms to find him sadly overworked. So much had he become the rage that every rich woman who had mislaid a bracelet or lost a pet kitten rushed to secure the services of the great Hercule Poirot. "^[28]

During World War I, Poirot left Belgium for Britain as a refugee. According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race It was here, on 16 July 1916, that he again met his lifelong friend, Captain Arthur Hastings, and solved the first of his cases to be published: The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Events 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1054 - Three Roman legates fractured relations between the Western and Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year ^[29] After that case Poirot apparently came to the attention of the British secret service, and undertook cases for the British government, including foiling the attempted abduction of the Prime Minister. ^[30]

After the war Poirot became a free agent and began undertaking civilian cases. He moved into what became both his home and work address, 56B Whitehaven Mansions, Sandhurst Square, London W1. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. ^[31] It was chosen by Poirot for its symmetry. His first case was "The Affair at the Victory Ball", which saw Poirot enter the high society and begin his career as a private detective. A private investigator or private detective (often shortened to PI or private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake

Between the world wars, Poirot traveled all over Europe and the Middle East investigating crimes and murders. Most of his cases happened during this period and he was at the height of his powers at this point in his life. The Murder On the Links saw the Belgian pit his grey cells against a French murderer. In the Middle East he solved the cases of Death on the Nile, and Murder in Mesopotamia with ease and even survived An Appointment with Death. As he passed through Eastern Europe on his return trip, he solved The Murder on the Orient Express. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. However he did not travel to the Americas or Australia, probably due to his sea sickness.

"It is this villainous sea that troubles me! The mal de mer – it is horrible suffering!"^[32]

It was during this time he met the Countess Vera Rossakoff, a glamorous jewel thief. The history of the Countess is, like Poirot's, steeped in mystery. She claims to have been a member of the Russian aristocracy before the Russian Revolution and suffered greatly as a result, but how much of that story is true is an open question. Even Poirot acknowledges that Rossakoff has told several wildly varying accounts of her early life. Poirot later became smitten with the woman and allowed her to escape justice.

"It is the misfortune of small, precise men always to hanker after large and flamboyant women. Poirot had never been able to rid himself of the fatal fascination that the Countess held for him. "^[33]

Although letting the Countess escape may be morally questionable, that impulse to take the law into his own hands was far from unique. In "The Nemean Lion", he sided with the criminal, Miss Amy Carnaby, and saved her from having to face justice by blackmailing his client Sir Joseph Hoggins, who himself was plotting murder and was unwise enough to let Poirot discover this. Poirot even sent Miss Carnaby two hundred pounds as a final payoff before her dog kidnapping campaign came to an end. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd he allowed the murderer to escape justice through suicide and then ensured the truth was never known to spare the feelings of the murderer's relatives. In "The Augean Stables" he helped the government to cover up vast corruption, even though it might be considered more honest to let the truth come out.

After his cases in the Middle East, Poirot returned to Britain. Apart from some of the so-called "Labours of Hercules" (see next section) he very rarely traveled abroad during his later career.

Retirement

"That’s the way of it. Just a case or two, just one case more – the Prima Donna’s farewell performance won’t be in it with yours, Poirot. "^[34]

There is a great deal of confusion about Poirot's retirement. Most of the cases covered by Poirot's private detective agency take place before his retirement to grow marrows, at which time he solves The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Squashes generally refer to four species of the genus Cucurbita native to the Mexico and Central America, also called marrows depending The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons in June It has been said that twelve cases related in The Labours of Hercules (1947) must refer to a different retirement, but the fact that Poirot specifically says that he intends to grow marrows indicates that these stories also take place before Roger Ackroyd, and presumably Poirot closed his agency once he had completed them. There is specific mention in "The Capture of Cerberus" to the fact that there has been a gap of twenty years between Poirot's previous meeting with Countess Rossakoff and this one. If the Labours precede the events in Roger Ackroyd, then the Roger Ackroyd case must have taken place around twenty years later than it was published, and so must any of the cases that refer to it. One alternative would be that having failed to grow marrows once, Poirot is determined to have another go, but this is specifically denied by Poirot himself. ^[35] Another alternative would be to suggest that the Preface to the Labours takes place at one date but that the labours are completed over a matter of twenty years. None of the explanations is especially attractive.

In terms of a rudimentary chronology, Poirot speaks of retiring to grow marrows in Chapter 18 of The Big Four (1927), which places that novel out of published order before Roger Ackroyd. He declines to solve a case for the Home Secretary because he is retired in Chapter One of Peril at End House (1932). He is certainly retired at the time of Three Act Tragedy (1935) but he does not enjoy his retirement and comes repeatedly out of it thereafter when his curiosity is engaged. Nevertheless, he continues to employ his secretary, Miss Lemon, at the time of the cases retold in Hickory Dickory Dock and Dead Man's Folly, which take place in the mid-1950s. It is therefore better to assume that Christie provided no authoritative chronology for Poirot's retirement, but assumed that he could either be an active detective, a consulting detective or a retired detective as the needs of the immediate case required.

One thing that is consistent about Poirot's retirement is that his fame declines during it, so that in the later novels he is often disappointed when characters (especially younger characters) do not recognise either him or his name:

"I should, perhaps, Madame, tell you a little more about myself. I am Hercule Poirot. "

The revelation left Mrs Summerhayes unmoved.

"What a lovely name," she said kindly. "Greek, isn't it?"^[36]

Post World War

"He, I knew, was not likely to be far from his headquarters. The time when cases had drawn him from one end of England to the other was past. "^[37]

Poirot is less active during the cases that take place at the end of his career. Beginning with Three Act Tragedy (1934), Christie had perfected during the inter-war years a sub-genre of Poirot novel in which the detective himself spent much of the first third of the novel on the periphery of events. In novels such as Taken at the Flood, After the Funeral and Hickory Dickory Dock he is even less in evidence, frequently passing the duties of main interviewing detective to a subsidiary character. In Cat Among the Pigeons Poirot's entrance is so late as to be almost an afterthought. Whether this was a reflection of his age or of the fact that Christie was by now heartily sick of him it is difficult to assess. There is certainly a case for saying that Crooked House (1949) and Ordeal by Innocence (1957), which are not Poirot novels at all but so easily could have been, represent a logical endpoint of the general diminution of Poirot himself within the Poirot sequence. There's also a Short story by Science fiction author Robert A Ordeal by Innocence is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 3

Towards the end of his career it becomes clear that Poirot's retirement is no longer a convenient fiction. He assumes a genuinely inactive lifestyle during which he concerns himself with studying famous unsolved cases of the past and reading detective novels. He even writes a book about mystery fiction in which he deals sternly with Edgar Allan Poe and Wilkie Collins. Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, William Wilkie Collins ( 8 January 1824 &ndash 23 September 1889) was an English Novelist, Playwright, and ^[38] In the absence of a more appropriate puzzle, he solves such inconsequential domestic problems as the presence of three pieces of orange peel in his umbrella stand. ^[39]

Poirot (and, it is reasonable to suppose, his creator)^[40] becomes increasingly bemused by the vulgarism of the up and coming generation's young people. In Hickory Dickory Dock, he investigates the strange goings on in a student hostel, while in the Third Girl he is forced into contact with the smart set of Chelsea youths. In the growing drug and pop culture of the sixties, he proves himself once again, but has become heavily reliant on other investigators (especially the private investigator, Mr. Goby) who provide him with the clues that he can no longer gather for himself.

"You're too old. Nobody told me you were so old. I really don't want to be rude but – there it is. You're too old. I'm really very sorry. "^[41]

Death

Poirot dies from complications of a heart condition at the end of Curtain: Poirot's Last Case. At this point in his life he is suffering from arthritis and uses a wheelchair. Arthritis (from Greek arthro-, joint + -itis, inflammation plural arthritides is a group of conditions involving damage to the Joints of the body

In the book Curtain: Poirot's Last Case Hastings finds a manuscript written by Poirot in which Poirot confesses to murder. Curtain Poirot's Last Case is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in He also states that since he has become something that he had always abhorred he stops taking his heart medication, which subsequently causes his death. His implicit last wish is that Hastings should marry Elizabeth Cole: a final instance of the inveterate matchmaking that characterised his entire career.

Major novels

The Poirot books take readers through the whole of his life in England, from the first book (The Mysterious Affair at Styles), where he is a refugee staying at Styles, to the last Poirot book (Curtain), where he visits Styles once again before his death. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. Curtain Poirot's Last Case is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in In between, Poirot solves cases outside England as well, including his most famous case, Murder on the Orient Express (1934). Murder on the Orient Express is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on

Hercule Poirot became famous with the publication, in 1926, of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, whose surprising solution proved controversial. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons in June The novel is still among the most famous of all detective novels: Edmund Wilson alludes to it in the title of his well-known attack on detective fiction, "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" Aside from Roger Ackroyd, the most critically-acclaimed Poirot novels appeared from 1932 to 1942, including such acknowledged classics as Murder on the Orient Express, The ABC Murders (1935), Cards on the Table (1936), and Death on the Nile (1937). Edmund Wilson ( May 8, 1895 &ndash June 12 1972) was an American Writer and Murder on the Orient Express is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on The ABC Murders is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on January 6 Cards on the Table is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November Death on the Nile is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November The last of these, a tale of multiple homicide upon a Nile steamer, was judged by the celebrated detective novelist John Dickson Carr to be among the ten greatest mystery novels of all time. John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories

The 1942 novel Five Little Pigs (aka Murder in Retrospect), in which Poirot investigates a murder committed sixteen years before by analyzing various accounts of the tragedy, is a Rashomon-like performance that critic and mystery novelist Robert Barnard called the best of the Christie novels. Five Little Pigs is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd Mead and Company in May 1942 is a 1950 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with Cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Robert Barnard (born November 23, 1936) is a Mystery Writer, Critic and Lecturer.

For a list of novels and short stories featuring Hercule Poirot, please see Hercule Poirot in Literature. This page details the books featuring the Fictional character Hercule Poirot.

Portrayals

Film

Austin Trevor

Austin Trevor debuted the role of Poirot on film in the 1931 movie Alibi. The film was based on the stage play Alibi which had been adapted by Michael Morton from the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Alibi is a 1928 play by Michael Morton based on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, a novel by British crime writer Michael Morton (1864&ndashJanuary 11 1931 was an English dramatist in the early Twentieth Century A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons in June

Trevor reprised the role of Poirot twice, in Black Coffee and Lord Edgware Dies. Lord Edgware Dies is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September Trevor said once that he was probably cast as Poirot simply because he could do a French accent. ^[42]

Albert Finney

Albert Finney played Poirot in 1974 in the cinematic version of Murder on the Orient Express. Albert Finney Jr (born 9 May 1936 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated and Emmy Award -winning English Actor. Murder on the Orient Express is a 1974 feature film directed by Sidney Lumet and based on the 1934 novel of the same name by His portrayal was considered by many to be the definitive Poirot until David Suchet took up the role. David Suchet (pronunced "soo-shay" /ˈsuːʃeɪ/ OBE (born 2 May 1946 is an English Actor, known for his work on British It was a very faithful adaptation of the novel and was, at the time, the most successful British film ever made. Murder on the Orient Express is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on It received the stamp of approval from Agatha Christie herself. Finney is, so far, the only actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for playing Poirot, though he did not win. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film.

Peter Ustinov

Peter Ustinov played Poirot a total of six times, starting with Death on the Nile (1978). Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (ˈjuːstɪnɒf or /ˈuːstɪnɒf/ 16 April 1921 – 28 March 2004) born Peter Alexander Baron von Ustinow Death on the Nile is a 1978 film based on the Agatha Christie Mystery novel of the same title, directed by John Guillermin He reprised the role in Evil Under the Sun (1982) and Appointment With Death (1988). Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British Mystery film, based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie

Christie was less sanguine about Ustinov's portrayal, given that Poirot, written as short, slim, and with coal-black hair, bore little resemblance to the tall, heavy, grey-haired Ustinov. When Christie's daughter, Rosalind Hicks, observed to Ustinov that Poirot did not look like him, Ustinov quipped "He does now!"^[43]

He appeared again as Poirot in three made-for-television movies: Thirteen at Dinner (1985), Dead Man's Folly (1986), and Murder in Three Acts (1986). Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Hicks (née Christie; 5 August 1919 &ndash 28 October 2004) was the only child of Author Lord Edgware Dies is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September Dead Man's Folly is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd Mead and Company in October The first of these was based on Lord Edgware Dies and was made by Warner Brothers. Lord Edgware Dies is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and It also starred Faye Dunaway and David Suchet as Inspector Japp, just before he himself played the famous detective. Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) known as Faye Dunaway, is an American actress. (Ironically, it is reputed that David Suchet highlights his performance as Japp to be "possibly the worst performance of [his] career. ")^[44]

Other

• Tony Randall, The Alphabet Murders (1965) (Film, also known as The ABC Murders). Tony Randall ( February 26, 1920 &ndash May 17, 2004) was an American comic and Actor. The Alphabet Murders is a 1965 British detective film based on the novel The A This was more a satire on Poirot than a straightforward adaptation, and was greatly changed from the original. It turned the sharp and observant detective into a blundering buffoon who solves the case almost by accident.
• Dudley Jones, The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977), a spoof of Sherlock Holmes by John Cleese. The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know it is a 1977 comedy starring John Cleese. Sherlock Holmes is a famous fictional detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in Publication in 1887 John Marwood Cleese (ˈkliːz born 27 October, 1939) is a British Actor, Comedian, Writer, Film producer

Television

David Suchet

David Suchet has starred in many Hercule Poirot films and four new ones - Mrs McGinty's Dead, Cat Among the Pigeons, Third Girl, Appointment with Death - coming to UK television in 2008. David Suchet (pronunced "soo-shay" /ˈsuːʃeɪ/ OBE (born 2 May 1946 is an English Actor, known for his work on British David Suchet (pronunced "soo-shay" /ˈsuːʃeɪ/ OBE (born 2 May 1946 is an English Actor, known for his work on British For more information about the ongoing UK television series starring David Suchet, see Agatha Christie's Poirot. David Suchet (pronunced "soo-shay" /ˈsuːʃeɪ/ OBE (born 2 May 1946 is an English Actor, known for his work on British Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television Drama that has aired on ITV1 since 1989

Other

• Ian Holm, Murder by the Book, 1986 (TV)
• Alfred Molina, Murder on the Orient Express, 2001 (TV)

Animated

In 2004, NHK (a Japanese TV network) produced a 39 episode anime series titled Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, as well as a manga series under the same title released in 2005. Sir Ian Holm CBE (born 12 September, 1931) is an English award-winning Actor known for his stage work and for many film roles Alfred Molina (born 24 May 1953 is a Tony Award -nominated British / American Actor. Murder on the Orient Express is a 2001 made-for-television movie based on the 1934 Novel of the same name by Agatha Christie or Japan Broadcasting Corporation, is Japan 's Public broadcaster. (anime in Japanese, is an Anime adaptation of Agatha Christie stories that uses her characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly

The series, adapting several of the best-known Poirot and Marple stories, ran from July 4, 2004 through May 15, 2005, and is now being shown as re-runs on NHK and other networks in Japan. Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. or Japan Broadcasting Corporation, is Japan 's Public broadcaster. Poirot was voiced by Satomi Kōtarō and Miss Marple was voiced by Yachigusa Kaoru. is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture. From 1947 to 1957 she was a member of the Takarazuka Revue.

Radio

There have been a number of radio adaptations of the Poirot stories, most recently on BBC Radio 4 (and regularly repeated on BBC 7) starring John Moffatt. John Moffatt (b 24 September 1922, Badby, Daventry, England) is an English actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Hercule A 1945 radio series of at least 11 original half-hour episodes starred character actor Harold Huber^[45], perhaps better known for his appearances as a police officer in various Charlie Chan films. Harold Huber ( December 5, 1909 – September 29, 1959) was an American Actor who appeared on Film, Radio Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American Detective created by Earl Derr Biggers, who acknowledged that he was inspired by the career of ^[46]

Parodies and references

In Neil Simon's Murder By Death, James Coco plays a character named "Milo Perrier" who is a parody of Poirot. Murder by Death is a comedy movie written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore. The film also features parodies of Charlie Chan, Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, and Miss Marple. Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American Detective created by Earl Derr Biggers, who acknowledged that he was inspired by the career of Sam Spade is a Fictional character who is the Protagonist of Dashiell Hammett 's novel The Maltese Falcon Nick and Nora Charles, or Mr and Mrs Nicholas Charles (which was changed from his father's original Greek name "Charalambides" are the characters created by Jane Marple, usually known as Miss Marple, is a Fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie

Poirot was also parodied in The Goodies episode"'Daylight Robbery on the Orient Express. This article discusses The Goodies comedy television series For information about the formation of The Goodies group and for information Daylight Robbery on the Orient Express is an episode of the British Comedy television series The Goodies. "

The British television show Count Duckula features a parody of Hercule Poirot (in passing) known as Mr. Count Duckula is a British Animated television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall, and a spin-off from DangerMouse Hercules Parrot, arm in arm with a character called Miss Marbles.

Although not strictly a reference to Poirot, the new series Christé and Doyle will feature a lead role similar to that of Hercule Poirot. With the name of the character being similar to that of Poirot's creator Agatha Christie and his being half Belgian, Christé also shares many of Poirot's methods and characteristics, the series is expected to begin filming in the late summer in Sandhurst. Sandhurst is a small town and Civil parish in England of around 7500 homes and 22000 inhabitants primarily domiciliary in nature with a few light industries

An episode of Animaniacs featured Yakko Warner as "Hercule Yakko". Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros Yakko Wakko and Dot Warner, also known as "The Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister", are three Cartoon characters featured on the Animated series The episode involved the theft of a diamond on a train, involving much of the series' cast as suspects.

In the movie Spiceworld, Hercule Poirot (Hugh Laurie) is about to blame a weapons-packing Emma Bunton, but after she flashes him an innocent smile, Poirot instead accuses an innocent man of the crime. Spice World is a debut feature film of the four-time BRIT Award -winning English pop Girl group The Spice Girls directed James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born June 11, 1959) is an English Actor, Comedian, Writer and Musician Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English pop Singer, Songwriter, and occasional actress.

In Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, Poirot appears as a young boy on the train transporting Holmes and Watson. Sherlock Holmes The Awakened is an Adventure game developed by Frogwares and published in 2006 on DVD for Windows. Holmes helps the boy in opening a puzzle-box, with Watson giving the boy advice about using his "little grey cells", giving the impression that Poirot first heard the line here. Poirot would go on to use the "little grey cells" line countless times throughout Agatha Christie's fiction.

In an episode of Muppets Tonight, Jason Alexander played Hercule Poirot, believed by the Muppets to be Hercules Poirot, with superhuman powers. Muppets Tonight is a Live-action / Puppet Television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring Jason Alexander (born September 23 1959 as Jay Scott Greenspan) is an American television cinema and Musical theatre comedic actor best known for his role Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena.

The Belgian brewery Brasserie Ellezelloise makes a highly rated stout called Hercule[1] with a moustachioed charicature of Hercule Poirot on the label.

Dave Stone has created two parodies of Poirot named Dupont. Dave Stone is a British writer He has written many spin off novels based on the BBC Science fiction Television series Doctor Who The first, Andre Dupont, appears in the Detective-Judge Armitage story Dowager Duchess of Ghent^[47]. Detective-Judge Armitage is a fictional Judge in the Judge Dredd setting The second, Emile Dupont, appears in the Bernice Summerfield novel Ship of Fools. Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a Fictional character originally created by author Paul Cornell

The "decipherer of enigmas" in José Carlos Somoza's novel The Athenian Murders is named Herakles Pontor. José Carlos Somoza is a Spanish Author born on November 13, 1959 in Havana, Cuba. The Athenian Murders is a novel written by Spanish Author José Carlos Somoza.

In the English version of Geronimo Stilton series, the main protagonist has a friend named "Hercule Poirat". Geronimo Stilton is a best-selling children's book series published by Edizioni Piemme of Milan Italy, since 2000

In the anime and manga series Detective Conan, Mouri Kogoro's detective agency is located above the Poirot cafè. Case Closed, known as in Japan and most other countries is a detective Manga and Anime series written and illustrated by Richard Moore, known as Kogoro Mori (毛利 小五郎 Mōri Kogorō) in the original Japanese anime and manga is one of the main character of the Anime A profile summary of Hercule appears at the end of volume 3 of the manga.

In the Israeli sitcom 'The Pajamas', one of the characters of Kobi is a grotesque policeman named 'Marcel Fuero', as a reference to Poirot ('Poirot' and 'Fuero' are written the same way in Hebrew, פוארו).

See also

• Plot devices in Agatha Christie's novels

References

External links

• Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles, available at Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works

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