Eugene Weingand (1 April 1934 – 30 November 1986) was an American actor, misleadingly known and credited as Peter Lorre Jr.

Biography

Weingand was born in

Karlsruhe, Germany Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

as Eugen Weingand and immigrated to the US at age of 20. Because of his resemblance to

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

he began calling himself Peter Lorie Jr. (''sic''). In 1963 he applied to have his name legally changed to Peter Lorie Jr., but Peter Lorre objected, as did

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

, which had Lorre under contract. After a hearing in which the judge denied Weingand's petition, by deciding he was merely trying to cash in on the name, Weingand was barred from using the name Peter Lorie Jr. without Lorre's permission. After Lorre's death a few months later, Weingand began calling himself Peter Lorre Jr. and claimed to be the son of the actor. Under this name, he made a handful of film and TV appearances in the 1960s and 70s. including ''

The Cat Creature ''The Cat Creature'' is a 1973 American made-for-television horror film produced by Douglas S. Cramer and directed by Curtis Harrington from a teleplay by Robert Bloch and starring Meredith Baxter, David Hedison and Gale Sondergaard. The film s ...

'', scripted by

Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small ...

. He had an uncredited appearance in the

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

movie ''

Torn Curtain ''Torn Curtain'' is a 1966 American Political thriller, political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. Written by Brian Moore (novelist), Brian Moore, the film is set in the Cold War. It is about ...

'' as a taxi driver. He also was the voice of Booberry in a breakfast cereal television advertisement for the

breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...

of the same name.p. 442 Youngkin, Stephen D. ''The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre'' University Press of Kentucky, 30 Sep. 2005 He died in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, USA.

Filmography

References

1934 births 1986 deaths American male television actors Actors from Karlsruhe German emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male actors American male film actors {{US-tv-actor-1930s-stub