Peter Lorre

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Peter Lorre (June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was an actor especially known for playing roles with sinister overtones in Hollywood crime films and mysteries.

Contents

Background

He was born Ladislav (László) Löwenstein into a Jewish family in Rózsahegy/Rosenberg, Austria-Hungary, now Ružomberok, Slovakia. He began acting on stage in Vienna, Austria; Breslau, Germany; and Zürich, Switzerland. In the late 1920s he moved to Berlin where he worked with German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Lorre became famous when Fritz Lang cast him as a child killer in his 1931 film M.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, the Jewish Lorre took refuge first in Paris and then London where he played a charming villain in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. Eventually, he went to Hollywood where he specialized in playing wicked or wily foreigners. He starred in a series of Mr. Moto movies, a parallel to the better known Charlie Chan series, in which he played a Japanese detective. He enjoyed great popularity as a featured player in Warner Bros. suspense and adventure films such as The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Casablanca (1943). In 1941, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

After World War II Lorre's acting career in Hollywood experienced a downturn, whereupon he concentrated on radio and stage work. In Germany he cowrote, directed and starred in Der Verlorene (The Lost One) (1951), a critically acclaimed art film in the film noir style. He then returned to the United States where he appeared as a character actor in television and feature films, often spoofing his former "creepy" image. He died in 1964 of a stroke at the age of 59, his body was cremated and the ashes were inurned at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.

Lorre has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6619 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

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Emulating Lorre

The practice of emulating Peter Lorre's unforgettable voice, look, and mannerisms is quite notable throughout television and cinema, dating from impersonations in various cartoons such as Looney Tunes and characters such as Ren from Ren and Stimpy or Morocco Mole from Secret Squirrel. Even today, films show his distinct characteristics in characters, such as the maggot in Corpse Bride. Lorre's unique delivery and character have ensured a life for him long after he has passed on.

See also

External links

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