Actor, born in Rosenberg, Hungary. A student in Vienna, he acted in repertory theatre, gave one-man performances and readings, and gained international fame as the psychotic child murderer in the German silent-film classic M (1931). He left Germany in 1933, making his way to Hollywood, where he was succesfully cast in many sinister parts, including Mad Love (1935), Crime and Punishment (1935), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Casablanca (1942). He also played the part of the Japanese detective in the Mr Moto films.
Peter Lorre (June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964), born Ladislav (László) Löwenstein, was a stage and screen actor of Hungarian descent especially known for playing roles with sinister overtones in Hollywood crime films and mysteries.
Background
Lorre was born into a Jewish family in Rózsahegy/Rosenberg, Austria-Hungary, now Ružomberok, Slovakia.
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. During the filming of The Man Who Knew Too Much, Lorre learned much of his part phonetically.
In 1940 Lorre costarred with fellow horror actors Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff in the Kay Kyser movie "You'll Find Out".
Lorre enjoyed considerable popularity as a featured player in Warner Bros. Lorre played the role of Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and played the role of "Ugarte" in the film classic Casablanca (1942).
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.
Overweight and never fully recovered from his addiction to morphine, Lorre suffered many personal and career disappointments in his later years.
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.
His daughter, Catharine Lorre, was once almost abducted by The Hillside Stranglers.
Lorre is the subject of songs by several bands, notably The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy and The World/Inferno Friendship Society ("Fiend In Wien," "Peter Lorre, and the waltz "Heart Attack '64"), and is mentioned in the songs "It's a Pose" on Nellie McKay's debut album Get Away from Me and Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat".
The World/Inferno Friendship Society has also written a punk-rock song cycle in twelve parts, "Fiend in Wien: Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century."
Lorre was a character in the novel Thank You For Smoking.
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, Morocco Mole from Secret Squirrel, Rocky Rococo from various Firesign Theatre sketches, Surface Agent X20 from Stingray, Mr. Gruesome from The Flintstones, Staring Herring from Beany and Cecil, Marlon Fraggle from Fraggle Rock, Cruel from Count Duckula, Harry Slime from Avenger Penguins, Doctor N. Gin from the Crash Bandicoot series, Boo Berry from Boo Berry cereal, the hanging lamp from The Brave Little Toaster, Cosmos from Transformers, and Digitamamon from Digimon were based on Lorre's mannerisms. Even today, films show his distinct characteristics in characters, such as a routine Robin William's genie character did in Disney's Aladdin and the maggot in Corpse Bride.
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