Born Lazlo Lowenstein in Rozsahegy, Hungary on June 26, 1904, this unlikely movie star was educated in Viennese elementary and secondary schools. As a young man in Vienna, he was a student of the famous psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. He ran away from home when he was 17 and joined a theater group. In 1922 he became a bank clerk. He adopted the stage name of Lorrie in 1925, but remained unknown for several years.
His big break came in 1931 when Fritz Lang cast him as a psychopathic child killer in the film, “M.” Very few actors become well known from a powerful first performance and Lorre is mesmerizing and pathetic in this role which catapulted him to stardom. He made a few more films in Germany but left as the Nazis gained power, supposedly warned to flee by the monster, Joseph Goebbels, himself. He fled first to Paris, then London and finally in 1935, to Hollywood.
In tinsel town he was featured in the Mr. Moto movies during the late 1930s. Upon his first meeting with Alfred Hitchcock, by smiling and laughing as he spoke, Hitchcock did not realize that he did not speak English very well. When he was cast in 1934 in “The Man Who Knew to Much,” he learned much of his part phonetically. His pairing with Sidney Greenstreet, Mr. Sinister of the day, also brought him many fine parts, particularly in “the Maltese Falcon” (1941) and in Casablanca (1942). He was a strange looking little man with a moon face and bulging eyes. He also had a very odd voice that sounded almost surreal, even though he once said of it, “all one needs to have to imitate me is two hard boiled eggs and a bedroom voice.”
His distinctive voice lent itself well to the medium of radio which was in its heyday and it gave him a successful career. He was often featured as a guest star on all of the major programs, including the famous thrillers, “Inner Sanctum” and “Suspense.” He also had three radio series of his own: “Mystery In The Air”, “Nightmare” and “Mystery Playhouse.”
He was married three times and remained friends with all of his ex wives until his death. He is even interred next to his last wife, despite the fact that they were separated at the time of his death. He had one daughter, Catherine who was born in 1950. It was Lorre who convinced Humphrey Bogart to marry Lauren Bacall, despite the age difference. He told him, ‘five good years are better than none.”
He died on March 23, 1964, leaving a film legacy that spanned more than thirty years.
What are some of YOUR favorite Peter Lorre films? Please share.