Biography
Background
He was born 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 (1942). 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 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. In the early 1960s he worked with Roger Corman on several low-budgeted, tongue-in-cheek, and very popular films. He died in 1964 of a stroke at the age of 59, his body was cremated and the ashes were interned at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.
Lorre has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6619 Hollywood 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?"
Lorre is the subject of songs by several bands, notably The World/Inferno Friendship Society.
Filmography
Lorre in M (1931)
The Patsy
Muscle Beach Party
The Comedy of Terrors
The Raven (1963)
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
The Big Circus
The Buster Keaton Story
The Sad Sack
Hell Ship Mutiny
The Story of Mankind
Silk Stockings
Congo Crossing
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Casino Royale 1954 television episode of Climax!
Beat the Devil (1953)
Der Verlorene (also directed)
Double Confession
Quicksand (1950)
Rope of Sand
Casbah
My Favorite Brunette
The Beast with Five Fingers
The Verdict
The Chase (1946)
Black Angel
Three Strangers
Hotel Berlin
Confidential Agent
Passage to Marseille
The Conspirators
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Mask of Dimitrios
The Cross of Lorraine
Background to Danger
The Constant Nymph
Casablanca
The Boogie Man Will Get You
Invisible Agent
All Through the Night
The Face Behind the Mask
The Maltese Falcon
They Met in Bombay
Mr. District Attorney
Island of Doomed Men
Der Ewige Jude (archive footage)
You'll Find Out
Stranger on the Third Floor
I Was an Adventuress
Strange Cargo
Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation
Danger Island
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance
Mysterious Mr. Moto
I'll Give a Million
Mr. Moto's Gamble
Lancer Spy
Nancy Steele Is Missing!
Thank You, Mr. Moto
Think Fast, Mr. Moto
Crack-Up
Secret Agent
Crime and Punishment
Mad Love
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Du haut en bas
Les Requins du pétrole
Unsichtbare Gegner
Was Frauen träumen
Schuss im Morgengrauen
Stupéfiants
Der Weisse Dämon
F.P.1 antwortet nicht
Fünf von der Jazzband
Mann ist Mann
Die Koffer des Herrn O.F.
Bomben auf Monte Carlo
M (1931)
Die Verschwundene Frau
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, Beavis from Beavis and Butthead, Morocco Mole from Secret Squirrel, Marlon Fraggle from Fraggle Rock, and N.Gin from the Crash Bandicoot series. 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. Lorre's unique delivery and character have ensured a life for him long after he has passed on.
See also
Sydney Greenstreet
