Peter Lorre

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.

Background

He was born Ladislav (László) Löwenstein into a Jewish family in Rózsahegy/Rosenberg, Austria-Hungary, now Ru?omberok, 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.

Related Topics:
Austria-Hungary - Ru?omberok - Slovakia - Vienna, Austria - Breslau, Germany - Zürich, Switzerland - Berlin - Bertolt Brecht - Fritz Lang - 1931 - M

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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.

Related Topics:
Nazis - Germany - 1933 - Paris - London - Alfred Hitchcock - The Man Who Knew Too Much - Hollywood - Mr. Moto - Charlie Chan - The Maltese Falcon - 1941 - Casablanca - 1943 - Naturalized citizen

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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.

Related Topics:
1951 - Film noir - 1964 - Stroke - Hollywood Forever Cemetery

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

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