Warner Oland
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund, October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American characters: the Honolulu Police detective, Lieutenant Charlie Chan; Dr. Fu Manchu; and Henry Chang in Shanghai Express. His family emigrated to the United States when he was 13. He pursued a film career that would include time on Broadway and dozens of film appearances, including 16 Charlie Chan films. After several years in theater, including appearances on Broadway as Warner Oland, in 1912 he made his silent film debut in Pilgrim's Progress, a film based on the John Bunyan novel. As a result of his training as a Shakespearean actor and his easy adoption of a sinister look, he was much in demand as a villain and in ethnic roles. Over the next 15 years, he appeared in more than 30 films, including a major role in The Jazz Singer (1927), one of the first talkies produced. Oland's normal appearance fit the Hollywood expectation of caricatured Asianness of the time, despite his having no definitively proven Asian cultural background. Oland portrayed a variety of Asian characters in several movies before being offered the leading role in the 1929 film, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu. It was the first onscreen portrayal of the Fu Manchu character in film. Oland continued to appear onscreen as an Asian, probably more often than any other white actor in the history of cinema. In Old San Francisco, Oland played an Asian unsuccessfully impersonating a white man. Oland was the first actor to play a werewolf in a major Hollywood film, biting the protagonist, played by Henry Hull, in Werewolf of London (1935). Once again, Oland's character was Asian. A box office success, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu made Oland a star, and during the next two years he portrayed the evil Dr. Fu Manchu in three more films (although the second one was purely a cameo appearance). Firmly locked into such roles, he was cast as Charlie Chan in the international detective mystery film Charlie Chan Carries On (1931) and then in director Josef von Sternberg's 1932 classic film Shanghai Express opposite Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong. The enormous worldwide box office success of his Charlie Chan film led to more, with Oland starring in 16 Chan films in total. The series, Jill Lepore later wrote, "kept Fox afloat" during the 1930s, while earning Oland $40,000 per movie. Oland took his role seriously, studying the Chinese language and calligraphy.
Known for
Credits
Shanghai Express (1932)
as Mr. Henry Chang
The Jazz Singer (1927)
as Cantor Rabinowitz
Werewolf of London (1935)
as Dr. Yogami
Dishonored (1931)
as Colonel von Hindau
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019)
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
Complicated Women (2003)
as Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chan in London (1934)
as Charlie Chan
Before Dawn (1933)
as Dr. Paul Cornelius
The Painted Veil (1934)
as General Yu
Don Juan (1926)
as Cesare Borgia
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' (1999)
as Self (archive footage)
The Black Camel (1931)
as Charlie Chan
The Horror Show (1979)
as (archive footage)
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)
as Charlie Chan
Infatuation (1925)
as Osman Pasha
Daughter of the Dragon (1931)
as Fu Manchu
The Mighty (1929)
as Sterky
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
as Charlie Chan
The Vagabond King (1930)
as Thibault
Mandalay (1934)
as Nick
Paramount on Parade (1930)
as Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935)
as Charlie Chan
Destruction (1915)
as Mr. Deleveau
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929)
as Dr. Fu Manchu
Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)
as Charlie Chan
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930)
as Dr. Fu Manchu
Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)
as Charlie Chan
The Witness for the Defense (1919)
as Captain Ballantyne
Sin (1915)
as Pietro
Shanghai (1935)
as Ambassador Lun Sing
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)
as Prince Achmed
Charlie Chan Carries On (1931)
as Charlie Chan
Don Q Son of Zorro (1925)
as The Archduke Paul
Charlie Chan's Secret (1936)
as Charlie Chan
The Drums of Jeopardy (1931)
as Dr. Boris Karlov
Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)
as Charlie Chan
The Son-Daughter (1932)
as Fen Sha
When a Man Loves (1927)
as André Lescaut
The Studio Murder Mystery (1929)
as Rupert Borka
The Fighting American (1924)
as Fu Shing
The Big Gamble (1931)
as Andrew North
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) (1942)
as Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chan's Courage (1934)
as Charlie Chan
Old San Francisco (1927)
as Chris Buckwell
The Eternal Question (1916)
as Pierre Felix
A Passport to Hell (1932)
as Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
The Naulahka (1918)
as Maharajah
Chinatown Nights (1929)
as "Boston Charley" Wu
Wheel of Chance (1928)
as Mosher Turkeltaub
The Third Eye (1920)
as Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
Good Time Charley (1927)
as Good Time Charley Keene
Hurricane Hutch (1921)
as Clifton Marlow
Charlie Chan's Chance (1932)
as Charlie Chan
Riders of the Purple Sage (1925)
as Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
Stand and Deliver (1928)
as Ghika - the Bandit Leader
Patria (1917)
as Baron Huroki
The Scarlet Lady (1928)
as Ivan Zaneriff
The Phantom Foe (1920)
as Uncle Leo Sealkirk
Mandarin's Gold (1919)
as Li Hsun
Days of Thrills and Laughter (1961)
as Self (archive footage)
The Mystery Club (1926)
as Eli Sinsabaugh
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933)
as Charlie Chan
So This Is Marriage? (1924)
as King David
As Husbands Go (1934)
as Hippolitus Lomi
The Twin Pawns (1919)
as John Bent
Movies on Sundays (1935)
as Charlie Chan (uncredited)
Man of the Forest (1926)
as Clint Beasley
Dangerous Paradise (1930)
as Schomberg
Twinkletoes (1926)
as Roseleaf
What Happened To Father (1927)
as W. Bradberry, Father
The Eternal Sapho (1916)
as H. Coudal
The Pride of Palomar (1922)
as Okada
Dream of Love (1928)
as The Duke
The Romance of Elaine (1915)
Actor
Tell It to the Marines (1926)
as Chinese Bandit Chief
Pilgrim's Progress (1912)
as John Bunyon
The Winding Stair (1925)
as Petras
Curlytop (1924)
as Shanghai Dan
The Yellow Arm (1921)
as Joel Bain
The Reapers (1916)
as James Shaw
The Faker (1929)
as Hadrian
A Million Bid (1927)
as Geoffrey Marsh
East Is West (1922)
as Charley Yong
The Fatal Ring (1917)
as Richard Carslake
The Marriage Clause (1926)
as Max Ravenal
Sailor Izzy Murphy (1927)
as Perfume Manufacturer
His Children's Children (1923)
as Dr. Dahl
The Lightning Raider (1919)
as Wu Fang
Flower of Night (1925)
as Luke Rand
The Avalanche (1919)
as Nick Delano
The Yellow Ticket (1918)
as Baron Andrey
In Search of Charlie Chan (2006)
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
The Rise of Susan (1916)
as Sinclair La Salle
The Cigarette Girl (1917)
as Mr. Wilson
Beatrice Fairfax (1916)
as Detective
How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action (1933)
as Himself