Warner Oland
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- October 3, 1879
- Died
- August 6, 1938 (aged 58)
- Birthplace
- Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden
Biography
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
Photos
Filmography
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Movie · as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
In Search of Charlie Chan
Movie · as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Horror Show
Movie · as (archive footage)
Days of Thrills and Laughter
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chan at the Olympics
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan on Broadway
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Circus
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Secret
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Egypt
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Paris
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Werewolf of London
Movie · as Dr. Yogami
Shanghai
Movie · as Ambassador Lun Sing
Movies on Sundays
Movie · as Charlie Chan (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in London
Movie · as Charlie Chan
As Husbands Go
Movie · as Hippolitus Lomi
The Painted Veil
Movie · as General Yu
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Movie · as Prince Achmed
Mandalay
Movie · as Nick
Charlie Chan's Courage
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Before Dawn
Movie · as Dr. Paul Cornelius
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case
Movie · as Charlie Chan
How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
Movie · as Himself
Shanghai Express
Movie · as Mr. Henry Chang
The Son-Daughter
Movie · as Fen Sha
Charlie Chan's Chance
Movie · as Charlie Chan
A Passport to Hell
Movie · as Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
The Big Gamble
Movie · as Andrew North
The Black Camel
Movie · as Charlie Chan
Dishonored
Movie · as Colonel von Hindau
Daughter of the Dragon
Movie · as Fu Manchu
The Drums of Jeopardy
Movie · as Dr. Boris Karlov
Charlie Chan Carries On
Movie · as Charlie Chan
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
Movie · as Dr. Fu Manchu
Dangerous Paradise
Movie · as Schomberg
The Vagabond King
Movie · as Thibault
Paramount on Parade
Movie · as Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
Movie · as Dr. Fu Manchu
The Studio Murder Mystery
Movie · as Rupert Borka
The Faker
Movie · as Hadrian
Chinatown Nights
Movie · as "Boston Charley" Wu
The Mighty
Movie · as Sterky
Stand and Deliver
Movie · as Ghika - the Bandit Leader
Wheel of Chance
Movie · as Mosher Turkeltaub
Dream of Love
Movie · as The Duke
The Scarlet Lady
Movie · as Ivan Zaneriff
The Jazz Singer
Movie · as Cantor Rabinowitz
Sailor Izzy Murphy
Movie · as Perfume Manufacturer
When a Man Loves
Movie · as André Lescaut
Old San Francisco
Movie · as Chris Buckwell
Good Time Charley
Movie · as Good Time Charley Keene
A Million Bid
Movie · as Geoffrey Marsh
What Happened To Father
Movie · as W. Bradberry, Father
Man of the Forest
Movie · as Clint Beasley
Don Juan
Movie · as Cesare Borgia
Tell It to the Marines
Movie · as Chinese Bandit Chief
The Marriage Clause
Movie · as Max Ravenal
Twinkletoes
Movie · as Roseleaf
The Mystery Club
Movie · as Eli Sinsabaugh
The Winding Stair
Movie · as Petras
Don Q Son of Zorro
Movie · as The Archduke Paul
Riders of the Purple Sage
Movie · as Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
Flower of Night
Movie · as Luke Rand
Infatuation
Movie · as Osman Pasha
Curlytop
Movie · as Shanghai Dan
The Fighting American
Movie · as Fu Shing
So This Is Marriage?
Movie · as King David
His Children's Children
Movie · as Dr. Dahl
East Is West
Movie · as Charley Yong
The Pride of Palomar
Movie · as Okada
Hurricane Hutch
Movie · as Clifton Marlow
The Yellow Arm
Movie · as Joel Bain
The Third Eye
Movie · as Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
The Phantom Foe
Movie · as Uncle Leo Sealkirk
The Avalanche
Movie · as Nick Delano
The Lightning Raider
Movie · as Wu Fang
The Twin Pawns
Movie · as John Bent
The Witness for the Defense
Movie · as Captain Ballantyne
Mandarin's Gold
Movie · as Li Hsun
The Naulahka
Movie · as Maharajah
The Yellow Ticket
Movie · as Baron Andrey
The Fatal Ring
Movie · as Richard Carslake
Patria
Movie · as Baron Huroki
The Cigarette Girl
Movie · as Mr. Wilson
The Reapers
Movie · as James Shaw
The Rise of Susan
Movie · as Sinclair La Salle
The Eternal Sapho
Movie · as H. Coudal
Beatrice Fairfax
Movie · as Detective
The Eternal Question
Movie · as Pierre Felix
The Romance of Elaine
Movie
Destruction
Movie · as Mr. Deleveau
Sin
Movie · as Pietro
Pilgrim's Progress
Movie · as John Bunyon