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.

Filmography

• 2019Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood — Charlie Chan (archive footage)
• 2006In Search of Charlie Chan — Charlie Chan (archive footage)
• 1979The Horror Show — (archive footage)
• 1937Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo — Charlie Chan
• 1937Charlie Chan at the Olympics — Charlie Chan
• 1937Charlie Chan on Broadway — Charlie Chan
• 1936Charlie Chan at the Circus — Charlie Chan
• 1936Charlie Chan at the Opera — Charlie Chan
• 1936Charlie Chan at the Race Track — Charlie Chan
• 1936Charlie Chan's Secret — Charlie Chan
• 1935Charlie Chan in Egypt — Charlie Chan
• 1935Charlie Chan in Paris — Charlie Chan
• 1935Charlie Chan in Shanghai — Charlie Chan
• 1935Movies on Sundays — Charlie Chan (uncredited)
• 1935Shanghai — Ambassador Lun Sing
• 1935Werewolf of London — Dr. Yogami
• 1934As Husbands Go — Hippolitus Lomi
• 1934Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back — Prince Achmed
• 1934Charlie Chan in London — Charlie Chan
• 1934Charlie Chan's Courage — Charlie Chan
• 1934Mandalay — Nick
• 1934The Painted Veil — General Yu
• 1933Before Dawn — Dr. Paul Cornelius
• 1933Charlie Chan's Greatest Case — Charlie Chan
• 1932A Passport to Hell — Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
• 1932Charlie Chan's Chance — Charlie Chan
• 1932Shanghai Express — Mr. Henry Chang
• 1932The Son-Daughter — Fen Sha
• 1931Charlie Chan Carries On — Charlie Chan
• 1931Daughter of the Dragon — Fu Manchu
• 1931Dishonored — Colonel von Hindau
• 1931The Big Gamble — Andrew North
• 1931The Black Camel — Charlie Chan
• 1931The Drums of Jeopardy — Dr. Boris Karlov
• 1930Dangerous Paradise — Schomberg
• 1930Paramount on Parade — Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
• 1930The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu — Dr. Fu Manchu
• 1930The Vagabond King — Thibault
• 1929Chinatown Nights — "Boston Charley" Wu
• 1929The Faker — Hadrian
• 1929The Mighty — Sterky
• 1929The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu — Dr. Fu Manchu
• 1929The Studio Murder Mystery — Rupert Borka
• 1928Dream of Love — The Duke
• 1928Stand and Deliver — Ghika - the Bandit Leader
• 1928The Scarlet Lady — Ivan Zaneriff
• 1928Wheel of Chance — Mosher Turkeltaub
• 1927A Million Bid — Geoffrey Marsh
• 1927Good Time Charley — Good Time Charley Keene
• 1927Old San Francisco — Chris Buckwell
• 1927Sailor Izzy Murphy — Perfume Manufacturer
• 1927The Jazz Singer — Cantor Rabinowitz
• 1927What Happened To Father — W. Bradberry, Father
• 1927When a Man Loves — André Lescaut
• 1926Don Juan — Cesare Borgia
• 1926Man of the Forest — Clint Beasley
• 1926Tell It to the Marines — Chinese Bandit Chief
• 1926The Marriage Clause — Max Ravenal
• 1926The Mystery Club — Eli Sinsabaugh
• 1926Twinkletoes — Roseleaf
• 1925Don Q Son of Zorro — The Archduke Paul
• 1925Flower of Night — Luke Rand
• 1925Infatuation — Osman Pasha
• 1925Riders of the Purple Sage — Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
• 1925The Winding Stair — Petras
• 1924Curlytop — Shanghai Dan
• 1924So This Is Marriage? — King David
• 1924The Fighting American — Fu Shing
• 1923His Children's Children — Dr. Dahl
• 1922East Is West — Charley Yong
• 1922The Pride of Palomar — Okada
• 1921Hurricane Hutch — Clifton Marlow
• 1921The Yellow Arm — Joel Bain
• 1920The Phantom Foe — Uncle Leo Sealkirk
• 1920The Third Eye — Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
• 1919Mandarin's Gold — Li Hsun
• 1919The Avalanche — Nick Delano
• 1919The Lightning Raider — Wu Fang
• 1919The Twin Pawns — John Bent
• 1919The Witness for the Defense — Captain Ballantyne
• 1918The Naulahka — Maharajah
• 1918The Yellow Ticket — Baron Andrey
• 1917Patria — Baron Huroki
• 1917The Cigarette Girl — Mr. Wilson
• 1917The Fatal Ring — Richard Carslake
• 1916Beatrice Fairfax — Detective
• 1916The Eternal Question — Pierre Felix
• 1916The Eternal Sapho — H. Coudal
• 1916The Reapers — James Shaw
• 1916The Rise of Susan — Sinclair La Salle
• 1915Destruction — Mr. Deleveau
• 1915Sin — Pietro
• 1915The Romance of Elaine
• 1912Pilgrim's Progress — John Bunyon

Appearances as themselves (5)

• 2003Complicated Women — Self (archive footage)
• 1999Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' — Self (archive footage)
• 1961Days of Thrills and Laughter — Self (archive footage)
• 1942Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) — Self (archive footage)
• 1933How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action — Himself