Born 28 July 1914 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Died 9 December 1944 Los Angeles, California, USA. (heart attack) His funeral eulogy was delivered by Vincent Price.

Cregar supported himself as a bouncer early in his career. The formally-trained actor and son of a rich Philadelphian, sometimes had to sleep in a car due to lack of money before his acting career took off. Best remembered as the title character in The Lodger (1944) . Seldom weighing less than 300 pounds throughout his adult life, Cregar came to a tragic end because of his obsession to become a slim, what he called a "beautiful man". His rapid loss of one-hundred pounds may have contributed to a deadly heart attack.

notable films:

• I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
• This Gun for Hire (1942)
• The Lodger (1944)
• Heaven Can Wait (1943)
• Hangover Square (1945)