- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHerbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru
- Height5′ 7¾″ (1.72 m)
- Herbert Lom was born as Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevic ze Schluderpacheru on September 11, 1917 in Prague, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of Olga (Gottlieb) and Karl Kuchacevic ze Schluderpacheru. His father was from an aristocratic family living in genteel poverty. His incredibly long surnames led him to select the shortest surname he could find extant ("Lom") and adopt it as his own, professionally. He made his film debut in the Czech film Woman Below the Cross (1937) and played supporting and, occasionally, lead roles. Moving to England to escape the Nazis in 1939, his career picked up in the 1940s and he played, among other roles, Napoleon Bonaparte in The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) and in War and Peace (1956). In a rare starring role, Lom played twin trapeze artists in Dual Alibi (1947). He continued into the 1950s with roles opposite Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers in The Ladykillers (1955), and Robert Mitchum, Jack Lemmon and Rita Hayworth in Fire Down Below (1957). His career really took off in the 1960s and he got the title role in Hammer Films' production of The Phantom of the Opera (1962). He also played "Captain Nemo" in Mysterious Island (1961) and landed supporting parts in El Cid (1961) and an especially showy role in Spartacus (1960) as a pirate chieftain contracted to transport Spartacus' army away from Italy.
The 1960s was also the decade in which Lom secured the role for which he will always be remembered: Clouseau/Peter Sellers' long-suffering boss, Commissioner Charles Dreyfus, in the "Pink Panther" films, in which he pulled off the not-inconsiderable feat of stealing almost every scene he and Sellers were in--a real accomplishment, considering what a veteran scene-stealer Sellers was. However, Lom did not concentrate solely on feature films. He became a familiar face to British television viewers when he starred as Dr. Roger Corder in The Human Jungle (1963). He moved into horror films in the 1970s, with parts in Asylum (1972) and And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973). He played Prof. Abraham Van Helsing opposite Christopher Lee in Count Dracula (1970), matching wits against the sinister vampire himself.
Lom appeared as one of the victims in Ten Little Indians (1974), the drunken Dr. Edward Armstrong. His career continued into the 1980s, a standout role being that of Christopher Walken's sympathetic doctor in The Dead Zone (1983). He also played opposite Walter Matthau in Hopscotch (1980) and returned to the murder mystery Ten Little Indians (1989), this time playing The General. Lom has been taking it easy since then, though he returned to his familiar role of Dreyfus in Son of the Pink Panther (1993). He was always a reliable and eminently watchable actor, and unfortunately did not receive the stardom he should have.
Herbert Lom died in his sleep at age 95 on September 27, 2012, in London, England.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com and Nick Johansen honassen@yahoo.com
- SpousesDiana Scheu(January 10, 1948 - 1971) (divorced, 2 children)Eve Lacik(? - 1990) (divorced)
- Children
- Rich authoritative voice
- Intense staring eyes
- Often played arrogant, menacing villains
- Early in 1939, shortly before Germany and Hungary overran the remainder of Czechoslovakia, he arrived in Britain with his Jewish girlfriend, Didi, but she was sent back at Dover because she did not have the correct papers. Her subsequent death in a concentration camp haunted him all his life. Lom said in a 2004 interview that he did not even know she was Jewish. He studied philosophy at Cambridge University and worked for the BBC's European Service during World War II.
- When asked about his various roles in low-budget movies, he said he felt it was better to be miscast than not be cast at all.
- The son of a Christian father, Karl Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru, and a mother of Jewish descent, Olga Gottlieb, Lom's parents wanted him to be a doctor but he was always interested in acting.
- In 1978, he published a book about the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe.
- Had a daughter with Brigitta Appleby.
- Peter Sellers was always a mixed-up guy, a childish fellow. But if you're fond of children, you're also fond of childish men. He was always very helpful to me. After he was famous and when I was still in trouble with the US embassy, he wrote a letter in support of me which was magnificent. But it is true that he was very cruel to his children. He was so hurt by the way children treat you when you're their father. I have been hurt by my children. But he was not in possession of a proper brain when it came to these things.
- Asylum (1972) was good exposure for me and it is still shown quite often on television. I remember the special effects people had fun making a little doll that looked like me - which is not so easy - and it had to move along the floor.
- You know, I always do my best, no matter the quality of the film.
- For one of my scenes, the Hammer people wanted me to smash my head against a stone pillar, because they said they couldn't afford one made of rubber. I refused to beat my head against stone, of course.
- In English eyes, all foreigners are sinister.
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