Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre might have invented the Hollywood stereotype of sinister foreigner.

Lorre was one of the first to be typecast in that role; you can see him in such classics as "The Maltese Falcon" and "Casablanca". Short, bulging eyes, crooked smile... so sinister! So foreign!

Lorre was foreign, natch; he was born as Laszlo Lowenstein in what is now Slovakia to a Jewish family. His first role was as a child killer in Fritz Lang's classic "M"... the villainous mark stuck with him as he transitioned to English and American films.

There was a respite from the sinister, however. In the late 1930s, Lorre starred in eight movies as a good guy: a detective named Mr. Moto. That would be Japanese detective Mr. Moto.

Probably he should have stuck with villains...