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.
Acted in 91
1970s
- 1979
The Horror Show
(archive footage)
1930s
- 1937
Charlie Chan on Broadway
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Olympics
Charlie Chan
- 1936
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Circus
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Secret
Charlie Chan
- 1935
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
Charlie Chan
Shanghai
Ambassador Lun Sing
Charlie Chan in Egypt
Charlie Chan
- 1934
Charlie Chan in London
Charlie Chan
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Prince Achmed
Charlie Chan's Courage
Charlie Chan
Mandalay
Nick
As Husbands Go
Hippolitus Lomi
- 1933
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case
Charlie Chan
Before Dawn
Dr. Paul Cornelius
- 1932
The Son-Daughter
Fen Sha
A Passport to Hell
Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
Shanghai Express
Mr. Henry Chang
Charlie Chan's Chance
Charlie Chan
- 1931
Daughter of the Dragon
Fu Manchu
The Big Gamble
Andrew North
Charlie Chan Carries On
Charlie Chan
The Drums of Jeopardy
Dr. Boris Karlov
- 1930
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu
Paramount on Parade
Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
The Vagabond King
Thibault
Dangerous Paradise
Schomberg
1920s
- 1929
The Mighty
Sterky
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu
The Studio Murder Mystery
Rupert Borka
Chinatown Nights
"Boston Charley" Wu
The Faker
Hadrian
- 1928
The Scarlet Lady
Ivan Zaneriff
Wheel of Chance
Mosher Turkeltaub
Stand and Deliver
Ghika - the Bandit Leader
- 1927
Good Time Charley
Good Time Charley Keene
Sailor Izzy Murphy
Perfume Manufacturer
Old San Francisco
Chris Buckwell
When a Man Loves
André Lescaut
What Happened To Father
W. Bradberry, Father
A Million Bid
Geoffrey Marsh
- 1926
Man of the Forest
Clint Beasley
Tell It to the Marines
Chinese Bandit Chief
Twinkletoes
Roseleaf
The Marriage Clause
Max Ravenal
The Mystery Club
Eli Sinsabaugh
- 1925
Infatuation
Osman Pasha
The Winding Stair
Petras
Don Q Son of Zorro
The Archduke Paul
Riders of the Purple Sage
Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
- 1924
Curlytop
Shanghai Dan
So This Is Marriage?
King David
The Fighting American
Fu Shing
- 1923
His Children's Children
Dr. Dahl
- 1922
The Pride of Palomar
Okada
East Is West
Charley Yong
- 1921
Hurricane Hutch
Clifton Marlow
The Yellow Arm
Joel Bain
- 1920
The Phantom Foe
Uncle Leo Sealkirk
The Third Eye
Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
1910s
- 1919
The Witness for the Defense
Captain Ballantyne
The Avalanche
Nick Delano
The Twin Pawns
John Bent
Mandarin's Gold
Li Hsun
The Lightning Raider
Wu Fang
- 1918
The Yellow Ticket
Baron Andrey
The Naulahka
Maharajah
- 1917
The Cigarette Girl
Mr. Wilson
The Fatal Ring
Richard Carslake
Patria
Baron Huroki
- 1916
The Rise of Susan
Sinclair La Salle
Beatrice Fairfax
Detective
The Eternal Question
Pierre Felix
The Eternal Sapho
H. Coudal
The Reapers
James Shaw
- 1915
Sin
Pietro
The Romance of Elaine
Movie
- 1912
Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyon
Appearances4
2000s
- 2003
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
1990s
- 1999
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Self (archive footage)
1960s
- 1961
Days of Thrills and Laughter
Self (archive footage)
1940s
- 1942
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
Self (archive footage)