Acting · Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden · Born October 3, 1879
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.
MovieYellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
In Search of Charlie Chan
2006
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
MovieComplicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
MovieMonster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
MovieDays of Thrills and Laughter
1961
as Self (archive footage)
MovieScreen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942
as Self (archive footage)
MovieCharlie Chan at Monte Carlo
1937
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan on Broadway
1937
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan at the Olympics
1937
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan at the Opera
1936
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan at the Race Track
1936
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan at the Circus
1936
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan's Secret
1936
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan in Shanghai
1935
as Charlie Chan
MovieShanghai
1935
as Ambassador Lun Sing
MovieCharlie Chan in Egypt
1935
as Charlie Chan
MovieWerewolf of London
1935
as Dr. Yogami
MovieCharlie Chan in Paris
1935
as Charlie Chan
Movies on Sundays
1935
as Charlie Chan (uncredited)
MovieThe Painted Veil
1934
as General Yu
MovieCharlie Chan in London
1934
as Charlie Chan
MovieBulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934
as Prince Achmed
MovieCharlie Chan's Courage
1934
as Charlie Chan
MovieMandalay
1934
as Nick
MovieAs Husbands Go
1934
as Hippolitus Lomi
MovieCharlie Chan's Greatest Case
1933
as Charlie Chan
MovieBefore Dawn
1933
as Dr. Paul Cornelius
How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
1933
as Himself
MovieThe Son-Daughter
1932
as Fen Sha
MovieA Passport to Hell
1932
as Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
MovieShanghai Express
1932
as Mr. Henry Chang
MovieCharlie Chan's Chance
1932
as Charlie Chan
MovieDaughter of the Dragon
1931
as Fu Manchu
MovieThe Big Gamble
1931
as Andrew North
MovieThe Black Camel
1931
as Charlie Chan
MovieCharlie Chan Carries On
1931
as Charlie Chan
MovieDishonored
1931
as Colonel von Hindau
MovieThe Drums of Jeopardy
1931
as Dr. Boris Karlov
MovieThe Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1930
as Dr. Fu Manchu
MovieParamount on Parade
1930
as Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
MovieThe Vagabond King
1930
as Thibault
MovieDangerous Paradise
1930
as Schomberg
MovieThe Mighty
1929
as Sterky
MovieThe Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
1929
as Dr. Fu Manchu
MovieThe Studio Murder Mystery
1929
as Rupert Borka
MovieChinatown Nights
1929
as "Boston Charley" Wu
MovieThe Faker
1929
as Hadrian
MovieDream of Love
1928
as The Duke
MovieThe Scarlet Lady
1928
as Ivan Zaneriff
MovieWheel of Chance
1928
as Mosher Turkeltaub
MovieStand and Deliver
1928
as Ghika - the Bandit Leader
MovieGood Time Charley
1927
as Good Time Charley Keene
MovieSailor Izzy Murphy
1927
as Perfume Manufacturer
MovieThe Jazz Singer
1927
as Cantor Rabinowitz
MovieOld San Francisco
1927
as Chris Buckwell
MovieWhen a Man Loves
1927
as André Lescaut
MovieWhat Happened To Father
1927
as W. Bradberry, Father
MovieA Million Bid
1927
as Geoffrey Marsh
MovieMan of the Forest
1926
as Clint Beasley
MovieTell It to the Marines
1926
as Chinese Bandit Chief
MovieTwinkletoes
1926
as Roseleaf
MovieThe Marriage Clause
1926
as Max Ravenal
MovieThe Mystery Club
1926
as Eli Sinsabaugh
MovieDon Juan
1926
as Cesare Borgia
MovieInfatuation
1925
as Osman Pasha
MovieThe Winding Stair
1925
as Petras
Flower of Night
1925
as Luke Rand
MovieDon Q Son of Zorro
1925
as The Archduke Paul
MovieRiders of the Purple Sage
1925
as Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
MovieCurlytop
1924
as Shanghai Dan
MovieSo This Is Marriage?
1924
as King David
MovieThe Fighting American
1924
as Fu Shing
MovieHis Children's Children
1923
as Dr. Dahl
MovieThe Pride of Palomar
1922
as Okada
MovieEast Is West
1922
as Charley Yong
MovieHurricane Hutch
1921
as Clifton Marlow
MovieThe Yellow Arm
1921
as Joel Bain
MovieThe Phantom Foe
1920
as Uncle Leo Sealkirk
MovieThe Third Eye
1920
as Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
MovieThe Witness for the Defense
1919
as Captain Ballantyne
MovieThe Avalanche
1919
as Nick Delano
MovieThe Twin Pawns
1919
as John Bent
MovieMandarin's Gold
1919
as Li Hsun
MovieThe Lightning Raider
1919
as Wu Fang
MovieThe Yellow Ticket
1918
as Baron Andrey
MovieThe Naulahka
1918
as Maharajah
MovieThe Cigarette Girl
1917
as Mr. Wilson
MovieThe Fatal Ring
1917
as Richard Carslake
MoviePatria
1917
as Baron Huroki
MovieThe Rise of Susan
1916
as Sinclair La Salle
MovieBeatrice Fairfax
1916
as Detective
MovieThe Eternal Question
1916
as Pierre Felix
MovieThe Eternal Sapho
1916
as H. Coudal
MovieThe Reapers
1916
as James Shaw
MovieDestruction
1915
as Mr. Deleveau
MovieSin
1915
as Pietro
MovieThe Romance of Elaine
1915
MoviePilgrim's Progress
1912
as John Bunyon
