Peter Lorre: The Master of Radio Horror
This article is an excerpt
from RUSC Member's Area
Peter Lorre was born on June 26, 1904, in Rozahegy, Austria-Hungary (now Ruzomberok, Slovakia) under the name, Laszlo Lowenstein, the son of Jewish parents. His family moved to Vienna, Austria where Lorre attended school and began acting on the stage at age 17. He ran away from home to Germany and there was cast in several plays. Lorre found fame as a child murderer when Fritz Lang cast him in the 1931 film – M, a tale of a killer who stalks and kills little girls.
Lorre fled to Paris and then London during the Nazi’s rise to power. He then migrated to Hollywood where he was usually typecast as a demonic and mysterious character. In 1945, when Fanny Brice missed several episodes of her radio program, The Baby Snooks Show, Lorre was featured as a substitute star. He also starred occasionally with Boris Karloff on Creeps By Night, a radio horror/melodrama.
One of the most memorable and popular shows on the radio, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, a horror anthology starred Lorre, Boris Karloff and other horror film stars from 1941 until 1942. Many macabre stories were featured on Inner Sanctum Mysteries, including The Horla, by Guy de Maupassant in which Lorre starred with Claude Rains and George Coulouris.
Lorre also starred in The Horla when it was presented on the radio by Mystery In The Air on the 21st of August 1947. Mystery In The Air broadcast during the summer of 1947 was a mystery anthology of classic crime tales from authors such as Edgar Allen Poe in which Peter Lorre both hosted and performed. All eight programs are extant, of excellent sound quality and available to listen to live on RUSC.
Lorre’s popularity was mostly from his films, but he was also asked to participate in or guest star on a number of radio shows including Bob Hope Show, The Dinah Shore Show, Abbott & Costello Show, The Big Show, Molle Mystery Theater, Suspense and Nightmare in which Peter Lorre both narrated and performed.
Peter Lorre, a diminutive actor at 5' 5" with a whiney, yet sinister voice, enjoyed fame from the parts he played in the movie, Mr. Moto, a film in which Lorre played the part of a Japanese detective, You’ll Find Out (a Kay Kyser movie), in which Lorre acted with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, The Maltese Falcon (Lorre played Joel Cairo), and the blockbuster movie, Casablanca.
In 1934, Lorre married his first wife, Celia Lovsky and they divorced in 1945. Also in 1945, Lorre married Karen Verne but they were also divorced five years later in 1950. Lorre’s third wife, Annemarie Brenning, whom he married in 1953, had his only child, Catharine. Annemarie and Peter were married until his death on March 23, 1964.
Gall-bladder problems plagued Lorre for years and doctors gave him morphine for the pain. Lorre eventually became addicted to the morphine, but couldn’t give it up because of the excruciating pain. Eventually, he became overweight and this coupled with his addictions led to a stroke when he was only 59 years old.
Peter Lorre was cremated and his ashes were interred at his crypt at Hollywood Forever Cemetery and fellow famous horror actor Vincent Price read the eulogy at his funeral.
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