History Creator / PeterLorre

Sadly, Lorre spent much of his life battling a morphine addiction, which he never kicked despite repeated attempts to quit. In the late '50s he gained a huge amount of weight and suffered a massive decline in health. Onscreen, Lorre was reduced to television appearances and self-lampooning roles in B movies, though his collaborations with Creator/RogerCorman and Creator/VincentPrice on ''Tales of Terror'' and ''Film/{{The Raven|1963}}'' became well-regarded. He died of a stroke in 1964.

He was close friends with his occasional costar Creator/VincentPrice, who read the eulogy at his funeral.[[note]]It was long claimed that the two attended the funeral of fellow horror icon Creator/BelaLugosi, where Lorre asked Price if they should "[[Film/{{Dracula}} drive a stake through [Lugosi]'s heart just to be safe,]]" but this turned out to be false.[[/note]] He also counseled Creator/HumphreyBogart to marry Creator/LaurenBacall despite their age difference, telling him "five good years are better than none!"

* ''Film/RopeOfSand'' (1949)

The speech pattern of Ren C. Hoek from ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' is a ShoutOut to Lorre, as is Creator/TheFiresignTheatre's Rocky Rococo, likewise Agent X Two Zero in Creator/GerryAnderson's ''Series/{{Stingray 1964}}'', [[Creator/RobinWilliams the Genie]] briefly impersonates him when he transforms into a [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies zombie]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' has referenced Lorre and his roles too many times to count. The Creator/WoodyAllen GagDub spy movie ''Film/WhatsUpTigerLily'' gives a Lorre voice to a villain, who at one point complains that "this Peter Lorre impression is ''keeeeling'' my throat!" Music/SpikeJones'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 ghostly mascot for [[Advertising/MonsterCereals Boo Berry]] cereal was based on Lorre. The ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series of computer games has Ugarte, Lorre's character in ''Casablanca'', as a minor recurring character alongside Creator/SydneyGreenstreet's Signor Ferrari. Lorre's life and career are the subject of ''Addicted to Bad Ideas'', a musical by Music/TheWorldInfernoFriendshipSociety. Music/AlStewart mentions him in the first verse of "Year of the Cat." Lastly, Music/TomSmith has a song dedicated to him called "I Want to Be Peter Lorre". A parody of him is also a recurring character in ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow''.

In Creator/KimNewman's ''Literature/{{Drachenfels}}'', an eerie actor cast to play the eponymous villain is named... Laszlo Lowenstein. Lorre himself appears as a character in Newman's ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "Literature/SevenStars: The Trouble With Barrymore".

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He's a very popular subject for cartoon parodies, from countless ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', to the hanging lamp in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'', to Maggot in ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'', to name a few. As of 2021, a caricature of him is a supporting character in ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow''.

* PopCultureOsmosis: An unfortunate side effect is that [[invoked]][[ParodyDisplacement more modern audiences recognize the caricature than the man himself.]] Creator/TimBurton even admitted that he didn't even know Lorre by name when he wrote the above-mentioned ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' character.

* PopCultureOsmosis: An unfortunate side effect is that [[ParodyDisplacement more modern audiences recognize the caricature than the man himself.]] Creator/TimBurton even admitted that he didn't even know Lorre by name when he wrote the above-mentioned ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' character.

Throughout his career, Lorre battled typecasting. Hollywood predictably wanted him to play villains and varying shades of TheWoobie, epitomized not only by Lorre's best-known films like ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' and ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' but also many lesser works. Lorre especially disliked his association with horror movies; he appreciated PsychologicalHorror such as by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe greatly, but those weren't the works being brought to the screen. Horror that relied on scary makeup and shock value was something he objected to. That said, Lorre did have [[SelfDeprecation a sense of humor]] about his typecasting: he once quipped that "with occasional interruptions, I've been killing my way through life." Filming Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', Lorre expressed surprise that a mechanical squid played the role usually reserved for him!

[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peterlorre_3259.jpg]]

He was close friends with his occasional costar Creator/VincentPrice, who read the eulogy at his funeral.[[note]]It was once rumored that the two attended the funeral of fellow horror icon Creator/BelaLugosi, where Lorre asked Price if they should "[[Film/{{Dracula}} drive a stake through [Lugosi]'s heart just to be safe,]]" but this turned out to be false.[[/note]] He also counseled Creator/HumphreyBogart to marry Creator/LaurenBacall despite their age difference, telling him "five good years are better than none!"

He was close friends and occasionally co-starred with Creator/VincentPrice, who read the eulogy at his funeral.[[note]]It was once rumored that the two attended the funeral of fellow horror icon Creator/BelaLugosi, where Lorre asked Price if they should "[[Film/{{Dracula}} drive a stake through [Lugosi]'s heart just to be safe,]]" but this turned out to be false.[[/note]] Counseled Creator/HumphreyBogart to marry Creator/LaurenBacall, despite their age difference, by telling him "five good years are better than none!"

The speech pattern of Ren C. Hoek from ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' is a ShoutOut to Lorre, as is Creator/TheFiresignTheatre's Rocky Rococo, likewise Agent X Two Zero in Creator/GerryAnderson's ''Series/{{Stingray 1964}}'', [[Creator/RobinWilliams the Genie]] briefly impersonates him when he transforms into a [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies zombie]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' has referenced Lorre and his roles too many times to count. The Creator/WoodyAllen GagDub spy movie ''Film/WhatsUpTigerLily'' gives a Lorre voice to a villain, who at one point complains that "this Peter Lorre impression is ''keeeeling'' my throat!" Music/SpikeJones'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 ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series of computer games has Ugarte, Lorre's character in ''Casablanca'', as a minor recurring character alongside Creator/SydneyGreenstreet's Signor Ferrari. Lorre's life and career are the subject of ''Addicted to Bad Ideas'', a musical by Music/TheWorldInfernoFriendshipSociety. Music/AlStewart mentions him in the first verse of "Year of the Cat." Lastly, Music/TomSmith has a song dedicated to him named "I Want to Be Peter Lorre". A parody of him is also a recurring character in ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow''.

Throughout his career, Lorre battled typecasting. Hollywood predictably wanted him to play villains and varying shades of TheWoobie, epitomized not only by Lorre's best-known films like ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' and ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' but also many lesser works. Lorre especially disliked his association with horror movies; he appreciated PsychologicalHorror such as by Creator/EdgarAllenPoe greatly, but those weren't the works being brought to the screen. Horror that relied on scary makeup and shock value was something he objected to. That said, Lorre did have [[SelfDeprecation a sense of humor]] about his typecasting: he once quipped that "with occasional interruptions, I've been killing my way through life." Filming Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', Lorre expressed surprise that a mechanical squid played the role usually reserved for him!

Throughout his career, Lorre battled typecasting. Hollywood predictably wanted him to play villains and varying shades of TheWoobie, epitomized not only by Lorre's best-known films like ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' and ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' but also many lesser works. Lorre especially disliked appearing in horror movies, a genre he had little respect for. That said, Lorre did have [[SelfDeprecation a sense of humor]] about his typecasting: he once quipped that "with occasional interruptions, I've been killing my way through life." Filming Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', Lorre expressed surprise that a mechanical squid played the role usually reserved for him!

* CampStraight: He was by all accounts straight, but had an effete acting style which got him cast as AmbiguouslyGay in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' and ''The Maltese Falcon''. In any case, ''The Mask of Dimitrios'' is considered by some viewers to practically revolve around gay subtext.

!!Peter Lorre displays examples of:
* CampStraight: He was by all accounts straight, but had an effete acting style which got him cast as AmbiguouslyGay in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' and ''The Maltese Falcon''. In any case, ''The Mask of Dimitrios'' is considered by some viewers to practically revolve around gay subtext.
* CantUnhearIt: His unmistakeable voice has not only outlived him, but most people's knowledge of him; it has been parodied so often and for so long that has ceased to have any connection to him and has simply become a stock "creepy voice."

* NiceGuy: Despite playing the baddie often, he was a warm, gentle, loving man and a lifelong romantic. Given some of his most ([[Film/{{M}} in]])famous roles, he's also an example of MeanCharacterNiceActor.
** One story often told about him concerns him going to a famous restaurant in New York. While he was seated almost immediately once the maitre'd recognized him, he asked about a throng of other people waiting to get in. He was told "you're important, Mr. Lorre. They're just tourists." With that, Lorre got up from his seat, took down the velvet rope that barred the restaurant's entrance off, and began personally seating the waiting tourists. He then said to the completely astonished maitre'd "I know what it's like to be excluded."

Throughout his career, Lorre battled typecasting. Hollywood predictably wanted him to play villains and varying shades of TheWoobie, epitomized not only by Lorre's best-known films like ''The Maltese Falcon'' and ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' but also many lesser works. Lorre especially disliked appearing in horror movies, a genre he had little respect for. That said, Lorre did have [[SelfDeprecation a sense of humor]] about his typecasting: he once quipped that "with occasional interruptions, I've been killing my way through life." Filming Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', Lorre expressed surprise that a mechanical squid played the role usually reserved for him!