Death on the Nile Cast Then and Now
The Detective and Businessman
Before Kenneth Branagh, Peter Ustinov played the role of the famed (and mustached) Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot. As an actor, director, comedian, broadcaster and UNICEF humanitarian, the Brit collected two Oscars (including one for Spartacus), three Emmys and a Grammy. He died in 2004 at 82 of heart failure. George Kennedy played Andrew Pennington, an attorney who was embezzling his client out of money. After a long career in drama (including Cool Hand Luke, for which he won an Oscar), the actor showed off his goofy side in three Naked Gun movies in the late 1980s and early ’90s. He died of heart disease in 2016 at age 91. There is no Pennington in the new Nile version, but there is the addition of Euphemia, Bouc’s mother and a painter, played by Annette Bening.
The Heiress/Murder Victim
Lois Chiles depicted the dark-haired Linnet Ridgeway Doyle, now played by Gal Gadot. A former model and Bond Girl (in 1979’s Moonraker), Chiles went on to appear in many other movies and TV shows, including Broadcast News and CSI. Now 74, her most recent film was Kettle of Fish (2006).
The Newlywed Husband
Simon MacCorkindale was handsome and dashing as hubby Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer’s role). MacCorkindale appeared in Falcon Crest and Dynasty in the 1980s and joined the cast of the BBC series Casualty in 2002. After a four-year battle with bowel cancer, he died in 2010 at age 58.
The Handmaiden
Jane Birkin portrayed the put-upon maid Louise Bourget, currently played by Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones). The 1960s British style icon has enjoyed a long career in international cinema and, as a singer-songwriter, has released 13 albums (many with Serge Gainsbourg). But Birkin, 75, is probably best known for being the namesake of the iconic Hermès handbag.
The Socialite
Cinema legend Bette Davis was the sticky-fingered Mrs. Van Schuyler and would appear in several more projects—including 1987’s The Whales of August with fellow screen legend Lillian Gish—before succumbing to cancer in France in 1989 at age 81. Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) now plays the role.
The Jilter Lover and Doting Daughter
A decade after being possessed in Rosemary’s Baby, Mia Farrow played Jacqueline de Bellefort, a lover out for revenge. (British-French actress Emma Mackey of Sex Education takes over.) Farrow, of course, starred in several Woody Allen films, including 1986’s Hannah and Her Sisters. Now 76, she’s put her acting career on the backburner to focus on humanitarian efforts. And all Olivia Hussey’s character Rosalie Otterbourne wanted to do was protect her novelist mother from financial ruin. At the time, Hussey was best known for playing the title role in the 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. The 70-year-old actress has since appeared in indie films and has voiced characters in three Star Wars video games. Black Panther’s Letitia Wright is the new Rosalie, now a niece instead of a daughter.
The Nurse
That’s Dame Maggie Smith to you, playing Miss Bowers, a tuxedo-wearing nurse. The Oscar winner has not slowed down at 87, most recently reprising her role as haughty Dowager Countess Violet Crawley in the upcoming second Downton Abbey film. In the new Nile, Bowers is married and played by British actress Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley).
The Nosy Novelist
Mrs. Salome Otterbourne was played by the incomparable Angela Lansbury in the original and now by Sophie Okonedo in version 2.0. Already a veteran stage and film star by the 1970s, the British Lansbury stayed in the whodunit realm thanks to the 1984–96 CBS hit Murder, She Wrote. At age 96, she still performs regularly and appeared on Broadway in 2019.
The Sleuth’s Sidekick
Oscar-winning British thespian David Niven, who portrayed Poirot’s trusty sidekick Colonel Race, enjoyed a six-decade career that spanned radio, film and stage. His most famous Hollywood moment? Quipping about a streaker’s “shortcomings” during the 1974 Academy Awards. In 1983, he died at age 73 of complications from ALS. In the new movie, Poirot’s sidekick is Bouc, played by Tom Bateman. (He played the same character in Murder on the Orient Express.)
The Doctor
Jack Warden tried a Swiss accent to play the shady Dr. Bessner; actor and comedian Russell Brand is the new M.D. Always a reliable actor, Warden’s impressively diverse résumé included The Verdict in 1982 and While You Were Sleeping in 1995. He died of heart and kidney failure in 2006 at age 85, six years after his final role (The Replacements). Next, Celebrate 100 Years of Agatha Christie With Author Reflections, Inspired Novels and More
