Born Laszlo Lowenstein, 26 June, 1904. Died 23 March, 1964. In between, there was a whole lotta living.
Born in Hungary, he began acting at age seventeen. He first found success onstage, working with
Bertolt Brecht. His breakout role came in 1931 when
Fritz Lang cast him as the child killer in
M. Against all odds Lorre made the character quite sympathetic (if not admirable), marking the first of many sad monsters he would play throughout his career. Faked his way through an interview with
Alfred Hitchcock by watching him closely, and laughing hysterically whenever he thought that Hitch had told the punchline of a joke, as Peter didn't speak English yet. He was then cast in
The Man Who Knew Too Much, and learned his part phonetically.
He was married three times. His first wife, and lifelong best friend, was Celia Lovsky, a classically trained actress who is probably best remembered as T'Pau in "Amok Time" on
Star Trek.
He was close friends and occasionally co-starred with
Vincent Price, who read the eulogy at his funeral. Counseled
Humphrey Bogart to marry
Lauren Bacall, despite their age difference, by telling him "five good years are better than none!"
The speech pattern of
Ren C. Hoek is a
Shout Out to Lorre (as is
Rocky Rococo), likewise Agent X Two Zero in Gerry Anderson's
Stingray, and
the Genie briefly impersonates him in
Aladdin. The
Woody Allen Gag Dub spy movie
What's Up, Tiger Lily? gives a Lorre voice to a villain, who at one point complains that "this Peter Lorre impression is
keeeeling my throat!"
Spike Jones's spoof version of the song "My Old Flame" features a vocal parody that Jones wanted to call "Peter Gory" until the record company vetoed the idea. The
Quest for Glory series of computer games has Ugarte, Lorre's character in
Casablanca, as a minor recurring character alongside Sydney Greenstreet's Signor Ferrari. Lorre's life and career are the subject of
Addicted to Bad Ideas, a musical by
The World Inferno Friendship Society. Lastly, Tom Smith has a song dedicated to him named "I Want to Be Peter Lorre".
In
Kim Newman's
Drachenfels, an eerie actor cast to play the eponymous villain is named... Laszlo Lowenstein.
Starred in (among other movies):
Peter Lorre displays examples of:
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