Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre (born was Ladislav (László) Löwenstein, June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian-American actor.

Biography[change | change source]

Lorre's family was Jewish. Lorre was born in Rózsahegy (Rosenberg) in a country called Austria-Hungary. Now the place where he was born is in the country Slovakia. He began acting in theaters in Vienna, Breslau, and Zürich. In the 1920s, he moved to Berlin to work as an actor. In 1931, the movie director Fritz Lang chose Lorre to act in a movie called "M". Lorre played the role of a serial killer who murders children. This was Lorre's first big role that brought him lots of attention.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Lorre had to leave Germany. Lorre went to England to be safe from the Nazis. Lorre got work as an actor in a movie by Alfred Hitchcock called The Man Who Knew Too Much. When Lorre was hired for this role, he only knew a little English. At first, it was hard for him to act in English movies.

In the 1940s, Lorre moved to Hollywood, California (USA), where he acted in many movies. He usually played foreign characters. Some of Lorre's most famous movie roles are Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon (1941), Ugarte in Casablanca (1942), and Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

Lorre got married three times: Celia Lovsky (1934–13 March 1945, divorced), Kaaren Verne (25 May 1945–1950, divorced), and Annemarie Brenning (21 July 1953–23 March 1964, his death). He had his only child with Brenning, a daughter named Catharine (1953–1985).

He died of a stroke in Los Angeles on March 23, 1964.