Sydney Greenstreet Overview:

Legendary character actor, Sydney Greenstreet, was born Sydney Hughes Greenstreet on Dec 27, 1879 in Sandwich, Kent. Greenstreet died at the age of 74 on Jan 18, 1954 in Hollywood, CA and was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Cemetery in Glendale, CA.

MINI BIO:

Huge English actor with impeccable diction and tiny, hostile features above a bulky body that at one time reached 325 pounds. A massive hit in more ways than one as the fat man in The Maltese Falcon - his first film at 61 - and a regular in Warner Brothers films after that throughout the forties. Ill-health forced him to retire earlier than the studio would have wished. Most popular of all in films that teamed him with Peter Lorre - a kind of Laurel and Hardy in Hell. He was once a tea planter in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). Died from Bright's Disease complicated by diabetes. Oscar-nominated for The Maltese Falcon.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

.

Although Greenstreet was nominated for one Oscar, he never won a competitive Academy Award.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1941Best Supporting ActorThe Maltese Falcon (1941)Kaspar GutmanNominated
.

BlogHub Articles:

By Amanda Garrett on Dec 17, 2016 From Old Hollywood Films

Today, I'm looking at the life and career of character actor . This article is part of the Fifth Annual What a Character! Blogathon hosted by Paula's Cinema Club, Once Upon a Screen, and Outspoken and Freckled. The wonderful character actor didn't make his ... Read full article


Flamingo Road (1949) with Joan Crawford and

By Orson De Welles on Jun 9, 2016 From Classic Film Freak

Share This! A wrong girl for the right side of the tracks. Director Michael Curtiz reunited with Mildred Pierce star Joan Crawford for 1949?s Flamingo Road, a Southern story with noir leanings full of politics and intrigue.? Thankfully the politics never take center stage and stay in the near backgr... Read full article


How many Films did and Peter Lorre Star in Together?

By Annmarie Gatti on Dec 27, 2015 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

An Iconic Pair: and Peter Lorre made his Feature Film Debut in 1941 at the age of 62 as “Fat Man” Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon.?The film also featured Peter Lorre, as the shady Joel Cairo, and of course Humphrey Bogart as private eye Sam Spade... Read full article


Seven Things to Know About

By Rick29 on Nov 19, 2015 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

1. did not appear in a movie until he was 62. His film debut was pretty memorable, though—he played Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon. 2. Despite a number of popular supporting performances (e.g., Casablanca, Christmas in Connecticut, Devotion), etc., he received only one... Read full article


By Bogart Fan on Aug 10, 2014 From The Bogie Film Blog

Birth Name: Sydney Hughes Greenstreet Birthdate: December 27, 1879 Date of Death: January 18, 1954 Number of Films made with Humphrey Bogart: 5 The Actor The son of a leather merchant, spent some time working in both the tea industry and a brewery before finall... Read full article


See all articles

Sydney Greenstreet Quotes:

The Dutchman: You'd better let me do the talking. Probably the only thing standing between you and eternity is my vocabulary.


The Dutchman: [to his pet cockatoo] One day in your seed will be cyanide, and you'll stop laughing for the rest of time.


Richard Mason: What're you doing here? What've you got to do with all of this?
Dr. Mark Hamilton: I caught the one slip you made. The rose. You said Kathryn was wearing it the last time you saw her.
Richard Mason: She was! It was pinned to her coat.
Dr. Mark Hamilton: I gave her that rose when she stopped at my house. A rose you couldn't have seen when you were supposed to be helpless at home.


read more quotes from Sydney Greenstreet...



Share this page:
Visit the Classic Movie Hub Blog CMH
Also a Capricorn






See All Capricorns >>
Best Supporting Actor Oscar 1941






See more Best Supporting Actor awards>>
Sydney Greenstreet Facts
Partially inspired the appearance of Jabba the Hut in the "Star Wars" series. When asked what the intergalactic gangster should look like by the designer, George Lucas replied, "A big blob, a huge mass of matter." The designer immediately thought of Greenstreet in Casablanca (1942). At one point during the production, a fez was placed on the final Jabba's head, to make him look like Greenstreet.

His little-known Cyrus Redblock role was recycled into another same-name character for the series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), episode "The Big Good-Bye". Played fittingly by the late Lawrence Tierney.

Of the only 23 movies he appeared in, nine were with co-star Peter Lorre.

See All Related Facts >>