Austin Trevor (7 October 1897 - 22 January 1978) was a Belfast born actor who had a long career in British films and television.He played the parson in John Galsworthy's 1927 Broadway production Escape. He was the first actor to play Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot on screen in three British films during the early 1930s: Alibi (1931), Black Coffee (1931) and Lord Edgware Dies (1934). He subsequently turned up in a character part in a later Poirot adaptation The Alphabet Murders in 1965. He stated that he only got the Poirot role because he could speak with a French accent.During the 1960s he worked largely in television, appearing in series such as The First Churchills in which he played Lord Halifax. He appeared in an episode of the legal drama The Main Chance.He died in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
Heavy-browed, small-mouthed Northern Irish character actor. Educated in Switzerland, he saw action with the British Army in World War I. Acted on stage in America and, subsequently, with the Cologne-based Rhine Army Dramatic Company. Linguistically inclined, he excelled at foreign accents.
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The first actor to play Hercule Poirot in films. His portrayal of the courtier Le Beau in the 1936 "As You Like It", with its whiskers and thick French accent, is vaguely reminiscent of Agatha Christie's detective.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Crooked Lady
1932
Captain James Kent
Black Coffee
1931
Hercule Poirot
Night in Montmartre
1931
Paul deLisle
Alibi
1931
Hercule Poirot
The Man from Chicago
1930
Inspector Drew
Escape!
1930
Parson
Mystery at the Villa Rose
1930
Hanaud
The W Plan
1930
Captain of Military Police
Whack-O!
1957-1972
TV Series
Brigadier Taplow / Sir John Dalton
The First Churchills
1969
TV Mini-Series
Lord Halifax
W. Somerset Maugham
1969
TV Series
Gambler
The Main Chance
1969
TV Series
Judge
World in Ferment
1969
TV Series
BBC Play of the Month
1967
TV Series
Dr. Coutras
The Forsyte Saga
1967
TV Mini-Series
Botterill
Foreign Affairs
1966
TV Series
Sir Hugh Marriot
Sergeant Cork
1966
TV Series
Joseph Fitzroy
The Alphabet Murders
1965
Judson
Here's Harry
1965
TV Series
Poison Island
1965
TV Series
Dr. Beauregard
ITV Play of the Week
1957-1965
TV Series
Marquis of Steventon / Mr. Galloway / Almady
No Hiding Place
1960-1965
TV Series
Silves / Sir Dudley Coniston
Count of Monte Cristo
1964
TV Series
Cavalcanti
BBC Sunday-Night Play
1962
TV Mini-Series
Lord St. Erth
The Escape of R.D.7
1961
TV Series
Sir Charles Delman
Never Back Losers
1961
Col. Warburton
The Court Martial of Major Keller
1961
Power
The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre
1961
TV Series
Col. Warburton
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
1961
Sir John Kelly
Frontier Drums
1961
TV Series
Lord Mulgrave
Yorky
1960-1961
TV Series
Mr. Playford / Mr. Cottram
Boyd Q.C.
1961
TV Series
Brigadier Boyd
She Died Young
1961
TV Movie
Signor Giardini
Konga
1961
Dean Foster
The Charlie Drake Show
1960
TV Series
Mr. Micawber
ITV Television Playhouse
1960
TV Series
Mr. Alfred
Somerset Maugham Hour
1960
TV Series
Hon. Charles Pelling
Interpol Calling
1960
TV Series
Dr. Martin
The Invisible Man
1959
TV Series
Antwone Hugo
Hancock's Half Hour
1959
TV Series
Judge
The Third Man
1959
TV Series
Beaucald
Charlesworth
1959
TV Series
Lakington / M. Laporte
Horrors of the Black Museum
1959
Commissioner Wayne
Dixon of Dock Green
1958-1959
TV Series
Superintendent / Wilson
Man in a Cocked Hat
1959
Secretary General (uncredited)
Private Investigator
1958
TV Series
Sir Julian Waite
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
1955-1958
TV Series
M. Lacadé, Mayor of Lourdes / M. Pouchelet / Sigbert von Mohrungen / ...