Born in Cologne Suthaus was a stonemason's apprentice when his singing talent was first discovered.
His teacher, Julius Lenz, originally mistook him for a baritone, but in 1928 Suthaus debuted as a tenor in Aachen in the role of Walther von Stolzing in Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Beginning in 1943, he regularly appeared at the Bayreuth Festival where he sang Loge in Das Rheingold, Siegmund in Die Walküre and Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which was recorded (1943), Hermann Abendroth conducting.
He had to quit his career suddenly after a car accident, and died in Berlin at 64 years of age.
To some, Ludwig Suthaus's voice did not have the vocal energy of Lauritz Melchior, but sounded melancholic; however, it was not without deep-felt lyrical expressiveness when it was required.