Peter Lorre Quotes
- Mini Bio
- Name: László Löwenstein
- Born: 26th June 1904, Rózsahegy, Austria-Hungary
- Died: 23rd March 1964, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Occupation: Actor
- Stage name: Recognising his birth name would not cut it in the world of acting he adopted the stage name Peter Lorre
- Nickname: Lazzy, The Walking Overcoat and Europe's One Man Chamber of Horrors
- Height: 5' 3½" (1.61 m)
- Typecast: He was frequently cast to play psychopaths and sinister characters that suited his slow mellowed tenor voice
- Trivia: In 1954 he became the first on screen Bond villain when he played the role of Le Chiffre in an adapted for television program of Ian Flemings Casino Royale
"If I gave you any thought I probably would"
Peter Lorre"I had to be a villain enough for a child, with the clear perception of childhood, to dislike me, and yet for a grown-up to see nothing out of the ordinary in me at all"
Peter Lorre"I watched him like a hawk, and when I was of the opinion he had just told the punchline of a story, I broke out in such laughter that I almost fell off my chair" [about Hitchcock]
Peter Lorre"I find it so easy. I just look mad and like old man river I keep rolling along doing devilish things in motion pictures"
Peter Lorre"Me act? Why, I just make faces! Really, that's all I do, I make lots of faces and they pay me for it"
Peter Lorre"For a lazy man I work awfully hard, I couldn't live without acting. In fact anybody who can live without that feeling is a complete idiot"
Peter Lorre"If I had wanted to remain one character. I could still be playing Mr. Moto"
Peter Lorre"All that anyone needs to imitate me is two soft-boiled eggs and a bedroom voice"
Peter Lorre"You know I can get away with murder. The audience loves me"
Peter Lorre"Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?" [as spoken to Vincent Price when viewing the body at Bela Lugosi's actual funeral]
Peter Lorre"We are but strangers on this moving globe; it's not for us to tarry long"
Peter Lorre"I was a murderer, but I was a matinee idol" [after the success of "M"]
Peter Lorre"Some people save strings; I pull them"
Peter Lorre"Impossible? .... Nothing is impossible"
Peter Lorre"Each man kills the thing he loves"
Peter Lorre
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Peter Lorre Biography
Bio By: Michael Joseph Farrelly
Little did Peter Lorre know when Fritz Lang cast him as the psychotic child murderer in the epic 1931 movie "M" that the movie would make its presence felt around the world and he would be typecast as the 'go to' sinister villain for the rest of his career.
M made headlines and got Lorre noticed to the effect that he received in excess of 300 movie offers on the strength of this one iconic film that was a precursor to the Hollywood film noir genre of the 1940's.
As much as Lorre tried to distance himself from the bad guy roles they were the one recurring theme throughout his distinguished movie career that saw him share the camera with the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet in the epic Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon.
In 1937 Lorre was to star somewhat out of his psychopathic personification in the Japanese detective movie based on the novel of the same name "Think Fast, Mr. Moto". This was a success and it led Peter to play the Mr Moto role in 7 subsequent sequels.
Critics say it was his voice and his bulging eyes that were his passport to success but it was his delivery and on screen presence combined that made the whole package so successful. From his slow distinctive voice he uttered some great lines with deep meaning and he was quite quick with a one liner also. So this is my compilation of 15 of the best Peter Lorre quotes
Quotes About Peter Lorre
The director John Huston was impressed to say: "Peter could do anything. He had himself such a rich and varied personality that he could incorporate anything into it"
The biographer Stephen Youngkin on Lorre playing villains: "Yes, he was pigeonholed and unhappy at being typecast, but he was having a great time"
Vincent Price was praiseful: "Peter was the most inventive actor I've ever known. He was a great scholar, an accomplished dramatic actor and a masterful comedian. Peter liked to make pictures which entertained people, not critics"
A young Montgomery Clift said after he went back to watch Lorre in "M" for the third time: "Wouldn't it be wonderful to be like him as an actor"
