Director Robert Florey, actress Andrea King and Peter Lorre enjoy the latest issue of Vogue on the set of The Beast With Five Fingers (1946). Co-worker John Alvin remembered Lorre as a “practical joker of the first water.” Clearly frustrated with the assignment, the actor was not on his best behavior during filming. At the time, Florey thought him “talented, but always sarcastic, with a good sense of humor.” Some thirty-odd years later, the director described Lorre as a charming conversationalist and an intelligent man.

Robert Florey directs Andrea King and Peter Lorre on the set of The Beast with Five Fingers (1946). Seeing M for the first time, good friend Andrea King was struck by Lorre’s performance: “It was such a mysterious performance. He never gave everything totally away. You were in another world. You wanted to meet this beautiful actor and hoped he would come to America one day and do other things.”

Just because your name appears on the same cast sheet doesn’t mean you were friends. Yvonne DeCarlo and Joan Fontaine both admitted they never got to know Lorre, although they shared a scene or two with him. Likewise, Dorothy Lamour appeared in My Favorite Brunette (1947) and even ran across Lorre in Germany several years later. Still, she referred to him as “just an acquaintance.” Nonetheless, like many others who worked with the actor only briefly, she expressed her great admiration for the actor.

Lorre and Bob Hope not only shared the screen but the radio microphone. Peter performed on The Pepsodent Show, hosted by Hope, on May 31, 1947. However much fun they had behind-the-scenes, Hope and Lorre never became good friends. Here, according to a press release, the “Hero” and the “Menace” (n his gardener’s costume) get together for a few friendly words between shots on My Favorite Brunette (Paramount, 1947).

Script in hand, an animated Peter Lorre talks with producer Lou Edelman and author Vicki Baum, whose novel Hotel Berlin ‘43 formed the basis for the movie Hotel Berlin (1945). The actor is possibly pointing out continuity problems created by reducing his role.

A gag publicity photo taken in December 1948 during Peter Lorre’s stop in Chicago on his House Act tour. According to the snipe, Lorre learns that no seats had been held for him at the Joe Louis – Billy Conn public exhibition boxing match in the Windy City on December 10 and mock-menaces Chicago restaurateur and fight promoter Frank Harmon as he phones for help from his two boxers. Lorre would perform a dramatic reading of “The Tell-Tale Heart” at The Chicago, before moving on to The Albee in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Fans often sent Lorre caricature sketches. One devotee even made him a Joel Cairo (The Maltese Falcon) doll, which he passed on to his daughter, Catharine.

Another one of the numerous caricature sketches sent to Lorre by fans.

Peter Lorre in the screening room of Jungen Film Union, in Bendesdorf, Germany, after watching the completed work print of Der Verlorene (1951), the only film he directed, co-wrote, and co-produced.

At a press conference for the premiere of Der Verlorene in Frankfurt, Germany, Hessischer Rundfunk’s Martin Jente von Lossow interviewed Peter Lorre, the film’s director and lead actor. The broadcast aired September 18, 1951.

Peter Lorre and journalist Egon Jacobson attend the premiere of Der Verlorene in Frankfurt, on September 18, 1951. At the press conference, Lorre said he intended to return to the United States and make an American version of Der Verlorene, then come back to Germany in six months. Sadly, his dream of creating a German-American film production team was never realized.

Peter Lorre poses with a Colonel and his wife at a military social function hosted by the 899th Army Field Artillery Headquarters at Nuremberg, February 1952. After Der Verlorene’s disappointing run in German theaters in 1951, Lorre accepted the offer of a free flight home in exchange for showings of his film at U.S. Army bases in Italy, Greece and North Africa. Before boarding a DC-4 Air Force transport out of Frankfurt’s Rhein Main airport, the actor received a medical clearance at the 18th Field Hospital at Nuremberg. Photo courtesy of Del Disney.

A Brenning family photo of Peter, Annemarie and a friend identified only as Teddy, likely taken in Hamburg after Lorre’s release from Wiggers Kurheim in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1949.

Peter Lorre moved his new family to a house on Rodeo Drive in 1957. This photo was taken in the backyard, with little Cathy (aged about four), Peter, and his third wife Annemarie.

Peter, Annemarie and daughter Cathy, in front of the family car, a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500. It is rare to see the three of them pictured together. It is even rarer to see Lorre smiling about it.

Catharine Lorre sitting on her father’s lap at his apartment on 7655 Hollywood Blvd., circa 1962. Peter’s rather disgruntled look belies the depth of his feelings for Cathy. He always said, “She looks like me, but on her it looks good.” Indeed, she bore a striking resemblance to her father.