WO
Warner Oland
Actor
Born October 3, 1879Died August 6, 1938 (58 years)
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.
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
Filmography
| 2019 | Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood · as Charlie Chan (archive Footage) |
| 1997 | Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years · as Actor 'charlie Chan At The Opera' |
| 1979 | The Horror Show · as (archive Footage) |
| 1937 | Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo · as Charlie Chan |
| 1937 | Charlie Chan on Broadway · as Charlie Chan |
| 1937 | Charlie Chan at the Olympics · as Charlie Chan |
| 1936 | Charlie Chan at the Opera · as Charlie Chan |
| 1936 | Charlie Chan at the Race Track · as Charlie Chan |
| 1936 | Charlie Chan at the Circus · as Charlie Chan |
| 1935 | Charlie Chan's Secret · as Charlie Chan |
| 1935 | Charlie Chan in Shanghai · as Charlie Chan |
| 1935 | Shanghai · as Ambassador Lun Sing |
| 1935 | Charlie Chan in Egypt · as Charlie Chan |
| 1935 | Werewolf of London · as Dr. Yogami |
| 1935 | Charlie Chan in Paris · as Charlie Chan |
| 1934 | The Painted Veil · as General Yu |
| 1934 | Charlie Chan in London · as Charlie Chan |
| 1934 | Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back · as Prince Achmed |
| 1934 | Charlie Chan's Courage · as Charlie Chan |
| 1934 | Mandalay · as Nick |
| 1933 | Charlie Chan's Greatest Case · as Charlie Chan |
| 1933 | Before Dawn · as Dr. Paul Cornelius |
| 1932 | The Son-Daughter · as Fen Sha |
| 1932 | A Passport to Hell · as Baron Von Sydow, Police Commandant |
| 1932 | Shanghai Express · as Mr. Henry Chang |
| 1932 | Charlie Chan's Chance · as Charlie Chan |
| 1931 | Daughter of the Dragon · as Fu Manchu |
| 1931 | The Big Gamble · as Andrew North |
| 1931 | The Black Camel · as Charlie Chan |
| 1931 | Charlie Chan Carries On · as Charlie Chan |
| 1931 | Dishonored · as Colonel Von Hindau |
| 1931 | The Drums of Jeopardy · as Dr. Boris Karlov |
| 1930 | The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu · as Dr. Fu Manchu |
| 1930 | Paramount on Parade · as Fu Manchu (murder Will Out) |
| 1930 | The Vagabond King · as Thibault |
| 1930 | Dangerous Paradise · as Schomberg |
| 1929 | The Mighty · as Sterky |
| 1929 | The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu · as Dr. Fu Manchu |
| 1929 | The Studio Murder Mystery · as Rupert Borka |
| 1929 | Chinatown Nights · as "boston Charley" Wu |
| 1928 | Dream of Love · as The Duke |
| 1928 | Stand and Deliver · as Ghika - The Bandit Leader |
| 1927 | The Jazz Singer · as Cantor Rabinowitz |
| 1927 | Old San Francisco · as Chris Buckwell |
| 1927 | When a Man Loves · as André Lescaut |
| 1926 | Tell It to the Marines · as Chinese Bandit Chief |
| 1926 | Twinkletoes · as Roseleaf |
| 1926 | Don Juan · as Cesare Borgia |
| 1925 | Don Q Son of Zorro · as The Archduke Paul |
| 1925 | Riders of the Purple Sage · as Lew Walters Aka Judge Dyer |
| 1924 | The Fighting American · as Fu Shing |
| 1923 | His Children's Children · as Dr. Dahl |
| 1922 | The Pride of Palomar · as Okada |
| 1922 | East Is West · as Charley Yong |
| 1919 | The Twin Pawns · as John Bent |
| 1919 | The Witness for the Defense · as Captain Ballantyne |
| 1919 | The Lightning Raider · as Wu Fang |
| 1916 | Beatrice Fairfax · as Detective |