HERCULE POIROT OBIT RUNS IN NEW YORK TIMES

On this day in 1975, The New York Times ran a tongue-in-cheek obituary for the fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot on the front page. Poirot, a charismatic, mustachioed investigator, appeared in more than 80 mysteries written by Agatha Christie, starting with his debut in The Mysterious Affair at Styles released in 1920. The novel that would end his fictional life – Curtain – wouldn’t be released until September, 1975, in the U.K. and later that year in the U.S.

The Times ran their obit ahead of the book’s release: “His death was confirmed by Dodd, Mead, Dame Agatha’s publishers, who will put out ‘Curtain,’ the novel that chronicles his last days, on Oct. 15,” the obituary read.

Poirot has been immortalized in a number of adaptations of Christie’s works for radio, television and film. Most recently, he was revived for the silver screen by director Kenneth Branagh in 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express and its 2022 sequel, Death on the Nile.

Poirot isn’t the only fictional character to receive an obituary. In 2013, the Albuquerque Journal ran a short obit for Walter White – the antihero of the TV series Breaking Bad – after his untimely onscreen demise.