Herbert Lom


Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru, known professionally as Herbert Lom, was a Czech actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegant elocution saw him cast as criminals or suave villains in his younger years, and professional men and nobles as he aged. Highly versatile, he was also known to legions of comedy fans as the beleaguered Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther film series.
Lom's other notable films included The Ladykillers, War and Peace, Spartacus, El Cid, Mysterious Island, The Phantom of the Opera and The Dead Zone. He also originated the role of the King of Siam in the original West End production of The King and I, and starred on the 1960s television drama The Human Jungle.

Early life and education

Lom was born in Prague to Karl Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru and Olga Gottlieb. His mother was of Jewish ancestry. His ancestor, Christian Schluderpacher, a burgher of Bozen, was ennobled in 1601. Lom's family were comfortable, but not grandly aristocratic. His grandfather owned property in Prague and the Bohemian Forest, with his income deriving mainly from two restaurants and a guest house. Lom's father, as a younger son, inherited little, supporting his family by variously running a printing business, a car repair shop, and trying to establish himself as an art agent. The family lived at various Prague city quarters: Žižkov before moving to Vysočany, subsequently lived at Vinohrady, then New Town, where Lom attended a famous German grammar school. He studied philosophy for some time at the German University in Prague, but ceased his studies to become an actor.

Career

Lom's film debut was in the Czech film Žena pod křížem followed by the Boží mlýny. His early film appearances were mainly supporting roles, with the occasional top billing. At this time he also changed his surname to Lom because it was the shortest he found in a local telephone directory.
Due to the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Poland and Hungary in 1938–39, Lom emigrated to Britain in 1939. He made numerous appearances in British films throughout the 1940s, usually in villainous roles, although he later appeared in comedies as well. Despite his mother's Jewish ancestry, Lom's parents survived to join him in England.
He managed to escape being typecast as a European heavy by securing a diverse range of casting, including as Napoleon Bonaparte in The Young Mr. Pitt, and again in the King Vidor version of War and Peace. He secured a seven-picture Hollywood contract after World War II, but was unable to obtain an American visa for "political reasons". In a rare starring role, Lom played twin trapeze artists in Dual Alibi.
Lom starred as the King of Siam in the original London production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I. Opening at the Drury Lane Theatre on 8October 1953, it ran for 926 performances. He can be heard on the cast recording.
A few years later, he appeared opposite Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers in The Ladykillers ; and with Robert Mitchum, Jack Lemmon and Rita Hayworth in Fire Down Below. He went on to more film success in the 1960s with a wide range of parts, including Spartacus ; El Cid ; Mysterious Island, as Captain Nemo; and Hammer Films' remake of The Phantom of the Opera, in which Lom had the leading role, wearing a full-face Phantom mask. "It was wonderful to play such a part," he said, "but I was disappointed with the picture... This version of the famous Gaston Leroux story dragged. The Phantom wasn't given enough to do, but at least I wasn't the villain, for a change. Michael Gough was the villain." Lom co-starred, with Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine, in Gambit.
During this period, Lom starred in his only regular TV series, the British drama The Human Jungle, playing a Harley Street psychiatrist for two series. He starred in another low-budget horror film, the witch-hunting story Mark of the Devil, with unusually graphic torture scenes. Cinemas reportedly handed out sick bags at screenings. Lom appeared in other horror films made in both the US and UK, including Asylum, And Now the Screaming Starts!, Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Dead Zone.
Lom was perhaps best known for his portrayal of Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus, Inspector Clouseau's long-suffering superior, in most of Blake Edwards' Pink Panther films, beginning with the second in the series, A Shot in the Dark. He also appeared in two screen versions of the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None—as Dr. Armstrong in the 1975 version, and as General Romensky in the 1989 version.
Lom wrote two historical novels: one on the playwright Christopher Marlowe, and the other on the French Revolution. The film rights to the latter have been purchased, but no film has yet been produced.

Personal life

Lom married Diana Scheu in 1948. They had two children before they divorced after separating between 1961 and 1976. He had a child from a relationship with Brigitta Appleby. He later married Eve Lacik; they divorced in 1990.
Lom died in his sleep at his home in Camden Town, London, on 27 September 2012, at the age of 95.

Selected filmography

  • Žena pod křížem as Gustav, Hodan's son
  • Boží mlýny as Chasník
  • The Young Mr. Pitt as Napoleon
  • Secret Mission as Medical Officer
  • Tomorrow We Live as Kurtz
  • The Dark Tower as Stephen Torg
  • Hotel Reserve as Andre Roux
  • The Seventh Veil as Dr. Larsen
  • Night Boat to Dublin as Keitel
  • Appointment with Crime as Gregory Lang
  • Dual Alibi as Jules de Lisle / Georges de Lisle
  • Snowbound as Keramikos
  • Good-Time Girl as Max Vine
  • Brass Monkey as Peter Hobart
  • Portrait from Life as Fritz Kottler Hendlmann
  • The Lost People as Guest
  • Golden Salamander as Rankl
  • Night and the City as Kristo
  • State Secret as Karl Theodor
  • The Black Rose as Anthemus
  • Cage of Gold as Rahman
  • Hell Is Sold Out as Dominic Danges
  • Two on the Tiles as Ford
  • Mr. Denning Drives North as Mados
  • Whispering Smith Hits London as Roger Ford
  • The Ringer as Maurice Meister
  • The Man Who Watched Trains Go By as Julius de Koster, Jr.
  • The Net as Dr. Alex Leon
  • Rough Shoot as Sandorski
  • The Love Lottery as André Amico
  • Star of India as Vicomte de Narbonne
  • Beautiful Stranger as Emile Landosh
  • The Ladykillers as Louis
  • War and Peace as Napoleon
  • Fire Down Below as Harbour Master
  • Hell Drivers as Gino Rossi
  • Action of the Tiger as Trifon
  • Chase a Crooked Shadow as Police Commissar Vargas
  • I Accuse! as Major du Paty de Clam
  • Intent to Kill as Juan Menda
  • The Roots of Heaven as Orsini
  • Passport to Shame as Nick Biaggi
  • No Trees in the Street as Wilkie
  • The Big Fisherman as Herod Antipas
  • North West Frontier as Peter van Leyden
  • Third Man on the Mountain as Emil Saxo
  • I Aim at the Stars as Anton Reger
  • Spartacus as Tigranes Levantus
  • Mr. Topaze as Castel Benac
  • Mysterious Island as Captain Nemo
  • The Frightened City as Waldo Zhernikov
  • El Cid as Ben Yusuf
  • The Phantom of the Opera as The Phantom
  • Tiara Tahiti as Chong Sing
  • Treasure of the Silver Lake as Colonel Brinkley
  • as Schiapa
  • The Human Jungle as Dr. Roger Corder
  • A Shot in the Dark as Police Commissioner Charles Dreyfus
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin as Simon Legree
  • Return from the Ashes as Dr. Charles Bovard
  • Our Man in Marrakesh as Mr. Casimir
  • Gambit as Ahmad Shahbandar
  • The Karate Killers as Randolph
  • Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge as King Etzel
  • Villa Rides as General Huerta
  • Eve as Diego
  • Assignment to Kill as Matt Wilson
  • 99 Women as Governor Santos
  • Doppelgänger as Dr Kurt Hassler
  • Mark of the Devil as Lord Cumberland
  • Mister Jerico as Rosso
  • Count Dracula as Van Helsing
  • Dorian Gray as Henry Wotton
  • Murders in the Rue Morgue as René Marot
  • Hawaii Five-O as Mondrago
  • Asylum as Dr. Byron
  • Dark Places as Prescott
  • And Now the Screaming Starts! as Sir Henry Fengriffin
  • And Then There Were None as Dr. Edward Armstrong
  • The Return of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
  • The Pink Panther Strikes Again as Former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
  • Charleston as Inspector Watkins
  • Revenge of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
  • The Lady Vanishes as Dr. Hartz
  • The Man with Bogart's Face as Mr. Zebra
  • Hopscotch as Yaskov
  • Peter and Paul as Barnabas
  • Trail of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
  • Curse of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
  • The Dead Zone as Dr. Sam Weizak
  • Lace as Monsieur Chardin
  • Memed, My Hawk as Ali Safa Bey
  • King Solomon's Mines as Colonel Bockner
  • Scoop as Mr. Baldwin
  • Master of Dragonard Hill as Le Farge
  • Going Bananas as Captain Mackintosh
  • Skeleton Coast as Elia
  • Whoops Apocalypse as General Mosquera
  • River of Death as Colonel Ricardo Diaz
  • Masque of the Red Death as Ludwig
  • Ten Little Indians as General Romensky
  • The Devil's Daughter as Moebius Kelly
  • The Pope Must Die as Vittorio Corelli
  • Son of the Pink Panther as Police Commissioner Charles Dreyfus
  • Agatha Christie's Marple, episode "Murder at the Vicarage", as Augustin Dufosse