He ran away from home, worked as a bank clerk, and after stage training in Vienna made his acting debut in Zurich. He remained unknown, traveling for seven years acting in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, until Fritz Lang cast him as the psychopathic child killer in ‘M.’ After several more German films, as the Nazis came to power, he left for Paris, London and, in 1935, Hollywood. He began his pairing with Sydney Greenstreet as Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon (1941), continued in Casablanca (1942) and seven other films during the early 1940s. Vintage matte-finish 8 x 10 photo of Lorre smoking a cigarette, signed and inscribed in fountain pen “To Patty, Virginia and Florence: Take good care of Daddy, will you! Good luck, Peter Lorre.” A few small edge creases and some scattered surface marks and dings, otherwise fine condition. R&R COA.
