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He ran away from home, worked as a bank clerk, and after stage training in Vienna made his acting debut in Zurich. He remained unknown, traveling for seven years acting in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, until Fritz Lang cast as the psychopathic child killer in "M" (1931). After several more German films, as the Nazis came to power, he left for Paris, London and, in 1935, Hollywood. He played Raskolnikov in "Crime and Punishment" (1935), and a series of Mr. Moto movies during the late 'thirties. He began his pairing with Sydney Greenstreet as Joel Cairo in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), continued in "Casablanca" (1942) and seven other films during the early 'forties. In Germany he wrote, directed and starred in "Der Verlorene"/"The Lost One" (1951). After that, somewhat heavier, he played in a string of not-so- stellar efforts; an exception -- the clown in "The Big Circus" (1959). He died the year he made his last movie, playing a stooge in Jerry Lewis' "The Patsy".

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