1. John Aleck Suchet is an English author, television news journalist and presenter of classical music on Classic FM.
38 Facts About John Suchet
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John Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is the actor Sir David John Suchet.
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John Suchet was born in London, the son of Joan Patricia, an actress, and Jack John Suchet, who emigrated from South Africa to England in 1932, and trained to be a doctor at St Mary's Hospital, London in 1933.
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John Suchet's father was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, working with Alexander Fleming on the role of penicillin in treating venereal disease.
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John Suchet's maternal grandfather, James Jarche, was a famous Fleet Street photographer, notable for the first pictures of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson and for his pictures of Louis Bleriot and the Siege of Sidney Street.
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John Suchet's father was of Lithuanian Jewish descent, and his mother was English-born and Anglican.
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John Suchet was brought up with his two brothers, David and Peter, in London.
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John Suchet attended Uppingham School in Rutland, and played the trombone and piano.
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John Suchet's younger brother, David, is an actor, who portrayed Hercule Poirot in the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot.
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John Suchet was passionate about languages and the news while at St Andrews and combined both to make journalism as his career path.
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John Suchet decided to try to get into television and had a brief spell at BBC Television News as a sub-editor for the Nine O'Clock News in 1971 and 1972 after the corporation had no vacancies for a foreign correspondent.
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John Suchet became a reporter in 1976, and over the next decade he covered major national and international news stories, including the Iranian revolution, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Philippines Revolution.
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John Suchet was barred from Iran in September 1979 because he was informed by officials that he would not be allowed to enter the nation without acquiring a special Press visa.
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John Suchet read the news for ITN from 1981 to 1983 and again from 1986 to 2004.
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In February 1987, John Suchet began presenting the half-hour nightly English-language ITN Super Channel News bulletin on the Super Channel satellite television service, having been loaned to the channel by ITN.
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John Suchet read the lunchtime bulletin ITN News at 12:30 in 1987 until he was relieved by Julia Somerville, and joined the bulletin full-time on 2 May 1989 after leaving Super Channel.
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John Suchet presented every ITN bulletin, including News at Ten.
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In March 1992, John Suchet became the main presenter of the Early Evening News bulletin, replacing Fiona Armstrong and Carol Barnes until 1999.
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John Suchet presented or contributed to numerous special event programmes on ITN such as their all night coverage of the start of the Gulf War, and the Budget of the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1994.
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John Suchet provided commentary on ITN's coverage of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in September 1997, the wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999, the Queen Mother's 100th Birthday pageant in 2000 and the funeral of the Queen Mother two years later.
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John Suchet later presented Five News, initially for a six-month period from January 2006, until his retirement from news reading in 2007.
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John Suchet has been a guest presenter for ITV's This Morning, as well as being a guest panellist on Five's The Wright Stuff.
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John Suchet hosted the revival of the quiz show Going for Gold on Channel 5 from 2008 to 2009.
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In July 2010, John Suchet joined Classic FM as the regular host of the Sunday lunchtime music show.
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John Suchet had first appeared on the station in 2004 as guest presenter of the Composer's Notes series in which he examined the finances and wealth of famous composers.
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John Suchet received two international awards for this show, from the Association for International Broadcasting and the New York Festivals.
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John Suchet is an authority on the life and music of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, and has become one of the UK's leading experts on Beethoven and his work.
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John Suchet has published seven books on Beethoven, beginning with the three-volume biographical novel The Last Master.
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John Suchet is the father of RT presenter Rory Suchet, one of three sons from his first marriage to his wife Mora that lasted from 1968 until it ended in divorce at London Divorce Court on 4 April 1984.
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John Suchet explained that Bonnie would have no idea that he was on the news programmes.
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John Suchet published his memoirs My Bonnie: How Dementia Stole the Love of My Life in 2010.
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John Suchet is the author of 2019 book The Longest Farewell, an account of her former husband James's dementia, and meeting Suchet via Bonnie at the care home.
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John Suchet has received several honours for his work as a television reporter and newscaster.
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John Suchet received the Royal Television Society's 1986 Journalist of the Year award for his coverage of the Philippines Revolution, the citation commending his ability "to bring clarity to confused situations".
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John Suchet was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Dundee in 2000, and he was appointed an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2001 for his work on Beethoven.
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John Suchet was made an Honorary Master of Arts from the University of Worcester in 2010.
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John Suchet was awarded the Radio Personality of the Year Award by the Association for International Broadcasting Awards in November 2013 and a Gold Award in the Best Radio Personality category at the 2014 New York Festivals International Radio Programme Awards.
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John Suchet was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to journalism and charity.