Sydney Greenstreet

Greenstreet remained exclusively a theatrical performer for over three decades. He shifted easily from musical comedy to Shakespeare, and in 1933 he joined the Lunts in Idiot's Delight, performing with their Theatre Guild for the duration of the decade. While appearing in Los Angeles in a touring production of There Shall Be No Night in 1940, Greenstreet met John Huston, who requested he play the ruthless Guttman in his 1941 film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's -The Maltese Falcon. A heavy, imposing man, Greenstreet was perfectly cast as the massive yet strangely effete Guttman, a dignified dandy who was in truth the very essence of malevolence. Making his film debut at the age of 62, he appeared alongside the two actors with whom he would be forever connected, star Humphrey Bogart and fellow character actor Peter Lorre.

The acclaim afforded Greenstreet for The Maltese Falcon earned him a long-term contract with Warner Bros., where, after appearing in They Died With Their Boots On, he again played opposite Bogart in 1942's Across the Pacific. In 1942, he appeared briefly in Casablanca, another reunion with Bogart as well as Lorre. When Greenstreet and Lorre again reteamed in 1943's Background in Danger, their fate was sealed, and they appeared together numerous other times including 1944's Passage to Marseilles (again with Bogart), The Mask of Dimitrios, The Conspirators, and Hollywood Canteen, in which they portrayed themselves. Yearning to play comedy, Greenstreet got his wish in 1945's Pillow to Post, which cast him alongside Ida Lupino. He also appeared opposite Bogart again in the drama Conflict and with Barbara Stanwyck in Christmas in Connecticut. In 1952, he announced his retirement, and died two years later on January 18, 1954. ~ Jason Ankeny