Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (
June 26,
1904 –
March 23,
1964), born
Ladislav (László) Löwenstein, was a stage and screen
actor of
Austrian descent especially known for playing roles with sinister overtones in Hollywood crime films and mysteries.
Lorre was born into a Jewish family in Rózsahegy/Rosenberg,
Austria-Hungary, now
Ružomberok,
Slovakia. He began acting on stage in
Vienna,
Breslau, and
Zürich. In the late 1920s he moved to
Berlin where he worked with German playwright
Bertolt Brecht. The German-speaking actor 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. When he arrived in Great Britain, his first meeting was with Hitchcock and by smiling and laughing as Hitchcock talked, the director was unaware that Lorre had a limited command of the English language. During the filming of
The Man Who Knew Too Much, Lorre learned much of his part phonetically.
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 and spy created by
John P. Marquand. He did not much enjoy these films but they were lucrative both for the studio and for Lorre himself.
Lorre enjoyed considerable popularity as a featured player in Warner Bros. suspense and adventure films. Lorre played the role of Joel Cairo in
The Maltese Falcon (
1941) and played the role of "Ugarte" in the film classic
Casablanca (
1942). It was Lorre's character who introduced the "letters of transit" (there was no such thing in reality) which became, in some ways, the dramatic center of the film. But Hollywood never fully tapped Lorre's creative powers.
In 1941, Peter Lorre 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 co-wrote, 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. In 1954, he had the distinction of becoming the first actor to play a
James Bond villain when he portrayed Le Chiffre in a television adaptation of
Casino Royale, opposite
Barry Nelson as an American
James Bond. In the early 1960s he worked with
Roger Corman on several low-budgeted, tongue-in-cheek, and very popular films.
It was his appearance in the TV version of
Casino Royale, as well as his quip at the funeral of
Bela Lugosi (see below) that caused
Ronnie Corbett to quip in the spoof-film version of
Casino Royale that
SPECTRE included among its agents not only Le chiffre, but 'Peter Lorre and Bela Lugosi'.
Overweight and at times addicted to morphine, Lorre's later years were not always happy ones. When he died in
1964 of a
stroke he was only 59. Lorre's body was cremated and his ashes interred at the
Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.
Lorre has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6619 Hollywood Boulevard.
Lorre enjoyed pulling pranks and, with
Humphrey Bogart, once rolled an enormous safe out of Chasen's restaurant and left it standing in the middle of Beverly Boulevard.
According to
Vincent Price, when he and Peter Lorre went to view
Bela Lugosi's body during Bela's funeral, Lorre, upon seeing Lugosi dressed in his famous
Dracula cape, quipped, "Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?"
He was married three times: Celia Lovsky (1934 - 13 March 1945) (divorced); Kaaren Verne (25 May 1945 - 1950) (divorced) and Annemarie Brenning (21 July 1953 - 23 March 1964) (his death). Annemarie bore his only child, a daughter, Catharine, in 1953.
His daughter, Catharine Lorre, was once almost abducted by The
Hillside Stranglers. She was stopped by the Stranglers, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, imitating policemen. When they found out she was Lorre's daughter, they let her go. She didn't realize that they were killers until after they were caught.
Lorre is the subject of songs by several bands, notably
The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy [
1] and
The World/Inferno Friendship Society, and is mentioned in the song "It's a Pose," on
Nellie McKay's debut album
Get Away from Me.
Lorre was a character in the novel
Thank You For Smoking. He appears as Nick Naylor's kidnapper.
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,
Morocco Mole from
Secret Squirrel, Mr. Gruesome from
The Flintstones,
Staring Herring from
Beany and Cecil,
Marlon Fraggle from
Fraggle Rock,
Doctor N. Gin from the
Crash Bandicoot series,
Boo Berry from Boo Berry
cereal,
Beavis from "
Beavis and Butt-head" and the hanging lamp from
The Brave Little Toaster even the character of
Cosmos in
Generation One Transformers animated series, was based on Lorre's mannerisms. The script for
Godspell includes a line which is suggested as being done in the style of Peter Lorre. Even today, films show his distinct characteristics in characters, such as the
maggot in
Corpse Bride.
The PatsyMuscle Beach PartyThe Comedy of TerrorsThe Raven (1963)
Five Weeks in a BalloonVoyage to the Bottom of the SeaThe Big CircusThe Buster Keaton StoryThe Sad SackHell Ship MutinyThe Story of MankindSilk StockingsCongo CrossingMeet Me in Las VegasAround the World in Eighty Days (1956)
20,000 Leagues Under the SeaCasino Royale 1954 television episode of
Climax!Beat the Devil (1953)
Der Verlorene (also directed)
Double ConfessionQuicksand (1950)
Rope of SandCasbahMy Favorite BrunetteThe Beast with Five FingersThe VerdictThe Chase (1946)
Black AngelThree StrangersHotel BerlinConfidential AgentPassage to MarseilleThe ConspiratorsArsenic and Old LaceThe Mask of DimitriosThe Cross of LorraineBackground to DangerThe Constant NymphCasablancaThe Boogie Man Will Get YouInvisible AgentAll Through the NightThe Face Behind the MaskThe Maltese FalconThey Met in BombayMr. District AttorneyIsland of Doomed MenDer Ewige Jude (archive footage)
You'll Find OutStranger on the Third FloorI Was an AdventuressStrange CargoMr. Moto Takes a VacationDanger IslandMr. Moto's Last WarningMr. Moto Takes a ChanceMysterious Mr. MotoI'll Give a MillionMr. Moto's GambleLancer SpyNancy Steele Is Missing!Thank You, Mr. MotoThink Fast, Mr. MotoCrack-Up (1936)
Secret AgentCrime and PunishmentMad LoveThe Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Du haut en basLes Requins du pétroleUnsichtbare GegnerWas Frauen träumenSchuss im MorgengrauenStupéfiantsDer Weisse DämonF.P.1 antwortet nichtFünf von der JazzbandMann ist MannDie Koffer des Herrn O.F.Bomben auf Monte CarloM (1931)
Die Verschwundene Frau*
*
Peter Lorre Photo Gallery*
Watch Peter Lorre in Fritz Lang's M*
"The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre" by Stephen D. Youngkin*
The Lorre Library of Sound*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Peter Lorre*
Peter Lorre Looney Tunes gallery
