Hungarians in Hollywood: Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre is an actor immediately recognizable to anybody with even the most cursory interest in film history. You know him as the slippery underworld figure in Casablanca who provokes one of the film’s most famous lines by Humphrey Bogart: “I stick my neck out for nobody.” He is equally known for his portrayal as a killer of children in the German in Fritz Lang’s M. In Hollywood, he was again paired up with Humphrey Bogart in the enduring film noir classic The Maltese Falcon. Known for his diabolically reptilian looks and suspicious accent, he was sought after throughout his long career as a character actor ideal for the role of the colorful villain, particularly in war movies. One of his final roles also brought one of his greatest distinctions: Lorre was the first villain in a James Bond film, playing opposite Peter Nelson in Casino Royale.

But, Lorre is on this blog for a reason: and that is because he was born László Löwenstein on 26 June 1904 in Rózsahegy, then part of the Hungo-Austrian Empire, now part of Slovenia. He got his start in German-speaking parts of Europe: Vienna and Berlin, working with both Fritz Lang and Bertolt Brecht. Like many Hungarian Jews who eventually made it big in Hollywood, he fled Europe due to the outbreak of World War II. His first credit is actually as a Japanese in the series Mr. Moto. Typecast as a creepy villain, Lorre was never fully able to break into leading-man roles. Towards the end of his life his career took a downturn and he sustained himself on television parts and guest appearances. Suffering life-long health problems, he became addictid to morphine, which was believed to have brought about his early death in 1964. Actor Vincent Price – whose career took a similar path – read the eulogy at his funeral. All in all, Peter Lorre has over a hundred acting credits, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Not bad for a kid from Rózsahegy.

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