Lorre as Dr. Hermann Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace
Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein, June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian actor, later naturalized as an American. Lorre began his stage career in Austria before moving to Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lorre caused an international sensation in the Weimar Republic-era film M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang, in which he portrayed a serial killer who preys on little girls.
While Lorre never appeared in a true Frankenstein movie, he is indirectly connected to the mythos in popular culture. There was once an urban legend that Lorre appeared in Frankenstein (1931) as Fritz, who was retroactively renamed Igor in popular culture. This role was in fact played by Dwight Frye, who had considerably similar mannerisms. Comedians imitating Igor began using Lorre's body language and speech patterns. This has been acknowledged in the animated film Frankenweenie (2012), where the analogous character Edgar E. Gore is closely modeled on Lorre.
Lorre appeared in the standalone horror-comedy film Arsenic and Old Lace (and some performances of the stage play) as Dr. Hermann Einstein, a character with an unhealthy fondness for the 1931 Frankenstein.
The only Universal Pictures monster movie Lorre appeared in was The Invisible Agent (1942), as Baron Ikito.
Lorre appeared in a number of movies alongside Vincent Price.