Updated 04-May-2020.
Mondo shtuff from around the internet, all about PETER LORRE!
made only at TCM!
My botty best at summarizing from Wikipedia: Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein; 26 June 1904 – 23 March 1964) was a Hungarian-American character actor of Jewish descent . Lorre began his stage career in Vienna he later became a featured player in many Hollywood crime and mystery films . in his initial american films, he continued to play murderers . he was then cast playing Mr. Moto, the Japanese detective, in a Lorre was the first actor to play a James Bond villain in a television version of casino royale . some of his last roles were in horror films directed by Roger corman . his mother died when he was only four he served on the eastern front during the winter of 1914–1915, before being put in charge of a prison camp due to heart trouble . he later moved to the german city of Breslau, and later to in the late 1920s, the actor moved to Berlin, where he worked with Bertolt Brecht . in 1932, Lorre appeared alongside Hans Albers in the science fiction film F.P.1 antwort the nazis came to power in 1933, Lorre took refuge first in Paris and then London . after his first two american films, he returned to the uk to feature in Hitchcock’s Secret Agent . he “lorre triumphs superbly in a characterization that is sheer horror”, the reporter says . “there is perhaps no one who can be so repulsive and so utterly wicked,” the report says “this is scarcely dostoievsky’s [sic] drama of a tortured brain drifting into madness with a terrible secret” Lorre played John P. Marquand’s character, “the role is childish,” he said, and eventually tended to angrily dismiss the films entirely . Lorre twisted his shoulder during a stunt in Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939) he Lorre appeared as the anonymous lead in the B-picture Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) reputedly the first film noir . he signed for two pictures at RKO in may 1940 . the second RKO film was You’ll Find Out (also 1940), a musical comedy mystery . director John Huston effectively ended a period of decline for the actor . he saved him from more B-pictures by Lorre was contracted to Warner on a picture-by-picture basis until 1943 . the year after Maltese Falcon, he portrayed the character Ugarte in Casablanca (1942) he made nine film critic describes what he calls Lorre’s “double-take job” film critic: “the actor’s face changes rapidly from laughter, love to a face more sincerely menacing, fearful or deadpan” “lorre said his continuing friendship with Bertolt Brecht led studio head Jack L. Warner to ‘graylist’ him . in 1949 he filed for bankruptcy. in the autumn of 1950, he traveled “continental strangers” is the only film by an emigrant from Germany which uses a return to the country . Lorre returned to the united states, where he resumed appearances as a character actor Lorre appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents broadcast in 1957 and 1960 . he had a supporting role in the film Voyage to the bottom of the sea (1961) in Lorre’s last years catharine Lorre died of complications from diabetes, on may 7, 1985, aged 32 . Lorre became trapped between the constant pain and addiction to morphine to ease the problem . during the period of the Mr. Moto films Lorre suffered personal and career disappointments in his later life . he died in los angeles on 23 march 1964 from a stroke . his body was cremated and his ashes were interred at the Hollywood Forever weingand tried 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, ISBN 1-887664-30-0. Thomas, Sarah (2015). Peter Lorre: Face Maker: Constructing Stardom and Performance in Hollywood and Europe. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-0-85745-441-6 The University Press of Kentucky. “Peter Lorre”. The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age (softcover) pp. 157–160. ISBN 978-1-7200-3837-5.