Peter Lorre
| Peter Lorre | ||
 Portrait of Lorre by Karsh of Ottawa, 1946 | ||
| Background information | ||
| Born as: | László Löwenstein | |
| Born | Jun 26, 1904 Rózsahegy,Austria-Hungary (now Ružomberok,Slovakia) | |
| Died | Mar 23, 1964 - age 60 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| Spouse(s): | Celia Lovsky (1934 - 1945) div Kaaren Verne (1945 - 1950) div Anne Marie Brenning (1953 - ) | |
| Children: | 1 | |
| Occupation: | Actor | |
| Years active | 1929–1964 | |
Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein, ✦June 26, 1904 – †March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian-born (in what is today Slovakia) actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before moving to Germany, where he worked first on the stage, then in film in Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lorre caused an international sensation in the Weimar Republic-era film M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang, in which he portrayed a serial killer who preys on little girls.
Of Jewish descent, Lorre left Germany after Adolf Hitler came to power. His second English-language film, following the multiple-language version of M (1931), was Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), made in the United Kingdom. Eventually settling in Hollywood, he later became a featured player in many Hollywood crime and mystery films. In his initial American films, Mad Love and Crime and Punishment (both 1935), he continued to play murderers, but he was then cast playing Mr. Moto, the Japanese detective, in a B-picture series.
From 1941 to 1946, he mainly worked for Warner Bros. His first film at Warner was The Maltese Falcon (1941), the first of many films in which he appeared alongside actors Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet. This was followed by Casablanca (1942), the second of the nine films in which Lorre and Greenstreet appeared together. Lorre's other films include Frank Capra's Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner, his later career was erratic. Lorre was the first actor to play a James Bond villain as Le Chiffre in a TV version of Casino Royale (1954). Some of his last roles were in horror films directed by Roger Corman.
Early life
Lorre was born László Löwenstein (Hungarian: Löwenstein László) on June 26, 1904, the first child of Alajos Löwenstein and his wife Elvira Freischberger, in the Hungarian town of Rózsahegy in Liptó County (German: Rosenberg; Slovak: Ružomberok, now in Slovakia). His parents, who were Jewish, had only recently moved there following his father's appointment as a chief bookkeeper at a local textile mill. Alajos also served as a lieutenant in the Austrian Army Reserve, which meant that he was often away on military maneuvers.
László's mother died when he was four years old, leaving Alajos with three very young sons, the youngest several months old. He soon married his wife's best friend Melanie Klein, with whom he had two more children. However, Lorre and his stepmother never got along, which colored his childhood memories. At the outbreak of the Second Balkan War in 1913, anticipating that this would lead to a larger conflict and that he would be called up, Alajos moved the family to Vienna. He served on the Eastern Front during the winter of 1914–15, before being put in charge of a prison camp due to heart trouble.
Failing health and death
Lorre had suffered for years from chronic gallbladder troubles, for which doctors had prescribed morphine. Lorre became trapped between the constant pain and addiction to morphine to ease the problem. It was during the period of the Mr. Moto films that Lorre struggled with and overcame his addiction. Having quickly gained 100 lb (45 kg) and not fully recovering from his addiction to morphine, Lorre suffered personal and career disappointments in his later life.
He died in Los Angeles on March 23, 1964, from a stroke. His body was cremated and his ashes were interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. Vincent Price read the eulogy at his funeral.
Legacy and honors
Lorre was inducted into the Grand Order of Water Rats, the world's oldest theatrical fraternity, in 1942. Lorre was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6619 Hollywood Boulevard in February 1960.
Actor Eugene Weingand, who was unrelated to Lorre, attempted in 1963 to trade on his slight resemblance to the actor by changing his name to "Peter Lorie", but his petition was rejected by the courts. After Lorre's death, however, he referred to himself as Lorre's son.
Filk songwriter Tom Smith (1988) wrote a tribute to Lorre's acting called "I Want To Be Peter Lorre", which was nominated for the "Best Tribute" Pegasus Award in 1992 and 2004, and won the award for "Best Classic Filk Song" in 2006.
Punk Cabaret band The World/Inferno Friendship Society's 2007 album "Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century" is a concept album written as a tribute to Lorre, focusing on the transition from Weimar Germany to the Third Reich, and Lorre's later career and death. The World/Inferno Friendship Society's lead singer Jack Terricloth describes Lorre as "a strangely charismatic, extremely creepy person, which I think most punk rockers can identify with ... It's the lure of the other. He's the underdog, the outsider."
External links
- Peter Lorre filmography at Wikipedia
- Peter Lorre at the Internet Movie Database
- Peter Lorre at All Movie Guide
- Peter Lorre at the Turner Classic Movie Database
- The Peter Lorre Companion
- Photographs of Peter Lorre
- Wikipedia article: Peter Lorre
 |
Note: Peter Lorre was a volunteer at the Hollywood Canteen |
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root