--- name: "Sydney Greenstreet" canonical: "https://film.one/person/sydney-greenstreet" fi1m_id: "sydney-greenstreet" imdb_id: "nm0002113" tmdb_id: 4114 wikidata_id: "Q656507" roles: ["Actor"] born: "27 December 1879" died: "18 January 1954" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 90 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T17:17:54.878979+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Sydney Greenstreet ## Identity Sydney Greenstreet - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sydney-greenstreet - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** sydney-greenstreet - **IMDb ID:** nm0002113 - **TMDB ID:** 4114 - **Wikidata ID:** Q656507 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Greenstreet, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q656507, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002113/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4114 Actor. Born 27 December 1879 in Eastry, Kent, England, UK. Died 18 January 1954. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 27 December 1879, Eastry, Kent, England, UK - **Died:** 18 January 1954 - **Active:** 1941–1943 - **Also known as:** Sydney Hughes Greenstreet, Сідні Г'юз Ґрінстріт, Сидни Хьюз Гринстрит, Σίντνεϊ Γκρίνστριτ - **Frequently works with:** [Humphrey Bogart](https://film.one/person/humphrey-bogart.md) - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Average Fi1m score:** 90, as actor, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Greenstreet, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q656507, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002113/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4114 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Casablanca*](https://film.one/film/casablanca.md) (93), [*The Maltese Falcon*](https://film.one/film/the-maltese-falcon.md) (87) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Sydney Greenstreet > Sydney Greenstreet makes polished manners feel faintly dangerous, chiefly by refusing to hurry. We rate the precision of his delivery and his work with other actors, despite the repeated casting as schemers. Greenstreet takes his time over Kasper Gutman's talk in *The Maltese Falcon* (1941), and makes us want to hear the next sentence. Peter Lorre's Joel Cairo brings a less comfortable sort of comedy, and their differing manners make their shared determination to get their own way particularly entertaining. We laughed at the contrast, but remained wary of both men. John Huston gives them room to be peculiar without allowing either to become harmless. Greenstreet is a reason to keep listening even when the plotting gets cramped and the dialogue stiffens. That was his film debut, after decades on stage, and the screen career that followed lasted only eight years. His suave villains use polished speech to conceal calculation and menace. *Across the Pacific* (1942) reunited him with Huston and Humphrey Bogart, while *The Mask of Dimitrios* (1944) put him alongside Lorre again. These partnerships suit an actor whose leisurely authority becomes more interesting when someone else has to deal with it. The repeated casting as heavies was a restriction, though: films kept asking for a quality he had already supplied. In *Casablanca* (1943), his Signor Ferrari belongs to another company that includes Bogart and Lorre. The wit gives us something to enjoy alongside the hurt of the central romance, and Greenstreet fits comfortably among actors who know how to make a line count. It is a film we recommend without allowances for its age, though Gutman remains the clearer introduction to Greenstreet's particular skills. *Christmas in Connecticut* (1945), with Greenstreet as Alexander Yardley, offers the contrast of a sympathetic comic role. It is worth remembering that alternative when the villains begin to seem inevitable. His familiar manner can make the casting predictable, but the pleasure remains in hearing how carefully he handles it. Start with *The Maltese Falcon*, and do not be in a hurry for the talking to stop. ## Biography Sydney Hughes Greenstreet (27 December 1879 – 18 January 1954) was an English character actor. He began his stage career in 1902 with a role in a production of Sherlock Holmes and appeared in numerous plays in Britain and the United States, including work with the Theatre Guild. He became an American citizen in 1925. Greenstreet made his film debut at the age of 61 as Kasper Gutman in *The Maltese Falcon* (1941). He appeared in 24 films over the next eight years, often in Warner Bros. productions alongside Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. His roles included Signor Ferrari in *Casablanca* (1942), Dr Lorenz in *Across the Pacific* (1942), Major Duval in *Passage to Marseille* (1944) and Sheriff Titus Semple in *Flamingo Road* (1949). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for *The Maltese Falcon*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Casablanca* (1943), Fi1m 93, as Signor Ferrari — [page](https://film.one/film/casablanca.md) - *The Maltese Falcon* (1941), Fi1m 87, as Kasper Gutman — [page](https://film.one/film/the-maltese-falcon.md) ## Complete filmography (23) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Malaya* (1949), as The Dutchman - *It's a Great Feeling* (1949), as Sydney Greenstreet (uncredited) - *Flamingo Road* (1949), as Sheriff Titus Semple - *The Velvet Touch* (1948), as Capt. Danbury - *The Woman in White* (1948), as Count Fosco - *Ruthless* (1948), as Buck Mansfield - *The Hucksters* (1947), as Evan Llewellyn Evans - *That Way with Women* (1947), as James P. Alden - *The Verdict* (1946), as Supt. George Edward Grodman - *Devotion* (1946), as William Makepeace Thackeray - *Three Strangers* (1946), as Jerome K. Arbutny - *Christmas in Connecticut* (1945), as Alexander Yardley - *Conflict* (1945), as Mark Hamilton - *Pillow to Post* (1945), as Colonel Michael Otley - *The Conspirators* (1944), as Ricardo Quintanilla - *The Mask of Dimitrios* (1944), as Mr. Peters - *Between Two Worlds* (1944), as Reverend Tim Thompson - *Passage to Marseille* (1944), as Maj. Duval - *Background to Danger* (1943), as Colonel Robinson - *Casablanca* (1943), as Signor Ferrari — Fi1m 93, [page](https://film.one/film/casablanca.md) - *Across the Pacific* (1942), as Dr. Lorenz - *They Died with Their Boots On* (1941), as Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott - *The Maltese Falcon* (1941), as Kasper Gutman — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/the-maltese-falcon.md) ## Gallery - ![Sydney Greenstreet](https://film.one/media/person/58980/gallery-a32421ad4f69.jpg) Sydney Greenstreet — Trailer screenshot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Sydney_Greenstreet_headshot.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Colonial Theater advertisement for the American drama film Casablanca (1942) - 27 Jan. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA](https://film.one/media/person/58980/gallery-feab46d23245.jpg) Colonial Theater advertisement for the American drama film Casablanca (1942) - 27 Jan. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA — Warner Bros., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/1943_-_Colonial_Theater_Ad_-_27_Jan_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg/1280px-1943_-_Colonial_Theater_Ad_-_27_Jan_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Colonial Theater advertisement for the American drama film Casablanca (1942) - 28 Jan. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA](https://film.one/media/person/58980/gallery-e6de16b94ac1.jpg) Colonial Theater advertisement for the American drama film Casablanca (1942) - 28 Jan. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA — Warner Bros., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/1943_-_Colonial_Theater_Ad_-_28_Jan_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg/1280px-1943_-_Colonial_Theater_Ad_-_28_Jan_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Frame from the 1941 public domain trailer for the Warner Bros. film The Maltese Falcon showing Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo](https://film.one/media/person/58980/gallery-dec82242f052.jpg) Frame from the 1941 public domain trailer for the Warner Bros. film The Maltese Falcon showing Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo — my own screen capture, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/GutmanCairoMaltFalc1941Trailer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Sydney Greenstreet](https://film.one/media/person/58980/gallery-cf6531cc6e26.jpg) Sydney Greenstreet — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1942: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *The Maltese Falcon* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sydney-greenstreet