Warner Oland
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- October 3, 1879
- Died
- August 6, 1938
- Birthplace
- Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden
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
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood 2019
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
- In Search of Charlie Chan
In Search of Charlie Chan 2006
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
Complicated Women 2003
as Self (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' 1999
as Self (archive footage)
The Horror Show 1979
as (archive footage)
Days of Thrills and Laughter 1961
as Self (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) 1942
as Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo 1937
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan on Broadway 1937
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Olympics 1937
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Opera 1936
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Race Track 1936
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Circus 1936
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Secret 1936
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Shanghai 1935
as Charlie Chan
Shanghai 1935
as Ambassador Lun Sing
Charlie Chan in Egypt 1935
as Charlie Chan
Werewolf of London 1935
as Dr. Yogami
Charlie Chan in Paris 1935
as Charlie Chan
- Movies on Sundays
Movies on Sundays 1935
as Charlie Chan (uncredited)
The Painted Veil 1934
as General Yu
Charlie Chan in London 1934
as Charlie Chan
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back 1934
as Prince Achmed
Charlie Chan's Courage 1934
as Charlie Chan
Mandalay 1934
as Nick
As Husbands Go 1934
as Hippolitus Lomi
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case 1933
as Charlie Chan
Before Dawn 1933
as Dr. Paul Cornelius
- How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action 1933
as Himself
The Son-Daughter 1932
as Fen Sha
A Passport to Hell 1932
as Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
Shanghai Express 1932
as Mr. Henry Chang
Charlie Chan's Chance 1932
as Charlie Chan
Daughter of the Dragon 1931
as Fu Manchu
The Big Gamble 1931
as Andrew North
The Black Camel 1931
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan Carries On 1931
as Charlie Chan
Dishonored 1931
as Colonel von Hindau
The Drums of Jeopardy 1931
as Dr. Boris Karlov
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu 1930
as Dr. Fu Manchu
Paramount on Parade 1930
as Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
The Vagabond King 1930
as Thibault
Dangerous Paradise 1930
as Schomberg
The Mighty 1929
as Sterky
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu 1929
as Dr. Fu Manchu
The Studio Murder Mystery 1929
as Rupert Borka
Chinatown Nights 1929
as "Boston Charley" Wu
The Faker 1929
as Hadrian
Dream of Love 1928
as The Duke
The Scarlet Lady 1928
as Ivan Zaneriff
Wheel of Chance 1928
as Mosher Turkeltaub
Stand and Deliver 1928
as Ghika - the Bandit Leader
Good Time Charley 1927
as Good Time Charley Keene
Sailor Izzy Murphy 1927
as Perfume Manufacturer
The Jazz Singer 1927
as Cantor Rabinowitz
Old San Francisco 1927
as Chris Buckwell
When a Man Loves 1927
as André Lescaut
What Happened To Father 1927
as W. Bradberry, Father
A Million Bid 1927
as Geoffrey Marsh
Man of the Forest 1926
as Clint Beasley
Tell It to the Marines 1926
as Chinese Bandit Chief
Twinkletoes 1926
as Roseleaf
The Marriage Clause 1926
as Max Ravenal
The Mystery Club 1926
as Eli Sinsabaugh
Don Juan 1926
as Cesare Borgia
Infatuation 1925
as Osman Pasha
The Winding Stair 1925
as Petras
- Flower of Night
Flower of Night 1925
as Luke Rand
Don Q Son of Zorro 1925
as The Archduke Paul
Riders of the Purple Sage 1925
as Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
Curlytop 1924
as Shanghai Dan
So This Is Marriage? 1924
as King David
The Fighting American 1924
as Fu Shing
His Children's Children 1923
as Dr. Dahl
The Pride of Palomar 1922
as Okada
East Is West 1922
as Charley Yong
Hurricane Hutch 1921
as Clifton Marlow
The Yellow Arm 1921
as Joel Bain
The Phantom Foe 1920
as Uncle Leo Sealkirk
The Third Eye 1920
as Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
The Witness for the Defense 1919
as Captain Ballantyne
The Avalanche 1919
as Nick Delano
The Twin Pawns 1919
as John Bent
Mandarin's Gold 1919
as Li Hsun
The Lightning Raider 1919
as Wu Fang
The Yellow Ticket 1918
as Baron Andrey
The Naulahka 1918
as Maharajah
The Cigarette Girl 1917
as Mr. Wilson
The Fatal Ring 1917
as Richard Carslake
Patria 1917
as Baron Huroki
The Rise of Susan 1916
as Sinclair La Salle
Beatrice Fairfax 1916
as Detective
The Eternal Question 1916
as Pierre Felix
The Eternal Sapho 1916
as H. Coudal
The Reapers 1916
as James Shaw
Destruction 1915
as Mr. Deleveau
Sin 1915
as Pietro
The Romance of Elaine 1915
Actor
Pilgrim's Progress 1912
as John Bunyon
Credits from TMDB.