Herbert Lom Movies and Career Information

Herbert Lom (Czech pronunciation: [ɦɛrbɛrd lom]; born 11 September 1917) is an internationally known Czech film actor, mainly renowned for having played the part of commissioner Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series. He was born Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich von Schluderbacheru in Prague to upper-class parents. Lom's film debut was in the Czech film Žena pod křížem. His early film appearances were mainly supporting roles, with the occasional top billing. He moved to Britain in 1939 and made many appearances in British films throughout the 1940s, usually in villainous roles, although he later appeared in comedies as well. He managed to escape being typecast as a European heavy by securing a diverse range of castings, including as Napoleon Bonaparte in The Young Mr. Pitt (1942, and again in the 1956 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 (1946). He continued into the 1950s with roles opposite Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers in The Ladykillers (1955), and with Robert Mitchum, Jack Lemmon