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 (1962 film)|Erik (The Phantom of the Opera)|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.
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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 sonBoží mlýny as ChasníkThe Young Mr. Pitt as NapoleonSecret Mission as Medical OfficerTomorrow We Live as KurtzThe Dark Tower as Stephen TorgHotel Reserve as Andre RouxThe Seventh Veil as Dr. LarsenNight Boat to Dublin as KeitelAppointment with Crime as Gregory LangDual Alibi as Jules de Lisle / Georges de LisleSnowbound as KeramikosGood-Time Girl as Max VineBrass Monkey as Peter HobartPortrait from Life as Fritz Kottler HendlmannThe Lost People as Guest Golden Salamander as RanklNight and the City as KristoState Secret as Karl TheodorThe Black Rose as AnthemusCage of Gold as RahmanHell Is Sold Out as Dominic DangesTwo on the Tiles as FordMr. Denning Drives North as MadosWhispering Smith Hits London as Roger FordThe Ringer as Maurice MeisterThe Man Who Watched Trains Go By as Julius de Koster, Jr.The Net as Dr. Alex LeonRough Shoot as SandorskiThe Love Lottery as André AmicoStar of India as Vicomte de NarbonneBeautiful Stranger as Emile LandoshThe Ladykillers as Louis War and Peace as NapoleonFire Down Below as Harbour MasterHell Drivers as Gino RossiAction of the Tiger as TrifonChase a Crooked Shadow as Police Commissar VargasI Accuse! as Major du Paty de ClamIntent to Kill as Juan MendaThe Roots of Heaven as OrsiniPassport to Shame as Nick BiaggiNo Trees in the Street as WilkieThe Big Fisherman as Herod AntipasNorth West Frontier as Peter van LeydenThird Man on the Mountain as Emil SaxoI Aim at the Stars as Anton RegerSpartacus as Tigranes Levantus Mr. Topaze as Castel BenacMysterious Island as Captain NemoThe Frightened City as Waldo ZhernikovEl Cid as Ben YusufThe Phantom of the Opera as The PhantomTiara Tahiti as Chong SingTreasure of the Silver Lake as Colonel Brinkley as SchiapaThe Human Jungle as Dr. Roger CorderA Shot in the Dark as Police Commissioner Charles DreyfusUncle Tom's Cabin as Simon LegreeReturn from the Ashes as Dr. Charles BovardOur Man in Marrakesh as Mr. CasimirGambit as Ahmad ShahbandarThe Karate Killers as RandolphDie Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge as King Etzel Villa Rides as General HuertaEve as DiegoAssignment to Kill as Matt Wilson99 Women as Governor SantosDoppelgänger as Dr Kurt HasslerMark of the Devil as Lord CumberlandMister Jerico as RossoCount Dracula as Van HelsingDorian Gray as Henry WottonMurders in the Rue Morgue as René MarotHawaii Five-O as MondragoAsylum as Dr. Byron Dark Places as PrescottAnd Now the Screaming Starts! as Sir Henry FengriffinAnd Then There Were None as Dr. Edward ArmstrongThe Return of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles DreyfusThe Pink Panther Strikes Again as Former Chief Inspector Charles DreyfusCharleston as Inspector WatkinsRevenge of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles DreyfusThe Lady Vanishes as Dr. HartzThe Man with Bogart's Face as Mr. ZebraHopscotch as YaskovPeter and Paul as BarnabasTrail of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles DreyfusCurse of the Pink Panther as Chief Inspector Charles DreyfusThe Dead Zone as Dr. Sam WeizakLace as Monsieur ChardinMemed, My Hawk as Ali Safa BeyKing Solomon's Mines as Colonel BocknerScoop as Mr. BaldwinMaster of Dragonard Hill as Le FargeGoing Bananas as Captain MackintoshSkeleton Coast as EliaWhoops Apocalypse as General MosqueraRiver of Death as Colonel Ricardo DiazMasque of the Red Death as LudwigTen Little Indians as General RomenskyThe Devil's Daughter as Moebius KellyThe Pope Must Die as Vittorio CorelliSon of the Pink Panther as Police Commissioner Charles DreyfusAgatha Christie's Marple, episode "Murder at the Vicarage", as Augustin Dufosse

Voice work