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IMDbPro

Herbert Lom(1917-2012)

  • Actor
  • Additional Crew
  • Soundtrack
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See rank
Herbert Lom
Charles Dreyfus encounters Jacques Gambrelli, who reminds him painfully of Inspector Clouseau, the man who drove him insane. With good reason: Gambrelli is Clouseau's son.
Play trailer1:12
Son of the Pink Panther (1993)
29 Videos
99+ Photos
Herbert Lom was born on September 11, 1917 as Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru into 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. 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.
BornSeptember 11, 1917
DiedSeptember 27, 2012(95)
BornSeptember 11, 1917
DiedSeptember 27, 2012(95)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos124

Herbert Lom in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Udo Kier and Herbert Lom in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Herbert Lom and Michael Maien in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Herbert Lom in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Herbert Lom in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Udo Kier, Herbert Lom, and Johannes Buzalski in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Herbert Lom and Olivera Katarina in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Herbert Lom and Michael Maien in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Udo Kier, Herbert Lom, and Michael Maien in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Udo Kier and Herbert Lom in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Herbert Lom in Mark of the Devil (1970)
Herbert Lom in Mark of the Devil (1970)

Known for

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
7.2
  • Charles Dreyfus
  • 1976
The Dead Zone (1983)
The Dead Zone
7.2
  • Dr. Sam Weizak
  • 1983
Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis, John Gavin, Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons, and Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)
Spartacus
7.9
  • Tigranes Levantus
  • 1960
Peter Sellers and Elke Sommer in A Shot in the Dark (1964)
A Shot in the Dark
7.4
  • Charles Dreyfus
  • 1964

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie in Agatha Christie's Marple (2004)
    Agatha Christie's Marple
  • Tars: The Ladder (1999)
    Tars: The Ladder
    • (voice)
  • The Detectives (1993)
    The Detectives
  • Roberto Benigni in Son of the Pink Panther (1993)
    Son of the Pink Panther
  • Sherlock Holmes v pánském klubu aneb Komisar Dreyfus zasahuje
  • The Pope Must Diet (1991)
    The Pope Must Diet
  • Kelly Curtis in The Sect (1991)
    The Sect
  • The Masque of the Red Death (1989)
    The Masque of the Red Death
  • Ten Little Indians (1989)
    Ten Little Indians
  • Michael Dudikoff in River of Death (1989)
    River of Death
  • Ernest Borgnine, Oliver Reed, and Robert Vaughn in Skeleton Coast (1988)
    Skeleton Coast
  • Going Bananas (1987)
    Going Bananas
  • Master of Dragonard Hill (1987)
    Master of Dragonard Hill
  • Scoop (1987)
    Scoop
  • Whoops Apocalypse (1986)
    Whoops Apocalypse

Additional Crew

  • Mark of the Devil (1970)
    Mark of the Devil
    • (german version, uncredited)
  • Siegfried Wischnewski in Die Nibelungen 2. Teil - Kriemhilds Rache (1967)
    Die Nibelungen 2. Teil - Kriemhilds Rache
    • (german version, uncredited)
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin (1965)
    Uncle Tom's Cabin
    • (german version, uncredited)

Soundtrack

  • Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)
    Trail of the Pink Panther
  • The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
    The Pink Panther Strikes Again
    • (uncredited)

Videos29

Official Trailer
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Trailer 2:04
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Original Trailer
Trailer 1:22
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Trailer 3:46
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Personal details

Edit
    • September 11, 1917
    • Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]
    • September 27, 2012
    • London, England, UK(natural causes)
    • January 10, 1948 - 1971 (divorced, 2 children)
  • Other works
    Novel: "Dr Guillotine".
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 4 Interviews
    • 1 Article
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    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.
  • Quotes
    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.
    • Rich authoritative voice

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