Warner Oland
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Oct 3, 1879
- Died
- Aug 6, 1938 (aged 58)
- Place of birth
- Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden
- Credits
- 99
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
The Jazz Singer
1927Movie
Cantor Rabinowitz
Shanghai Express
1932Movie
Mr. Henry Chang
Werewolf of London
1935Movie
Dr. Yogami
Dishonored
1931Movie
Colonel von Hindau
The Painted Veil
1934Movie
General Yu
The Black Camel
1931Movie
Charlie Chan
Filmography
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019Movie
Charlie Chan (archive footage)
In Search of Charlie Chan
2006Movie
Charlie Chan (archive footage)
Complicated Women
2003Movie
Self (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Horror Show
1979Movie
(archive footage)
Days of Thrills and Laughter
1961Movie
Self (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942Movie
Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
1937Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan on Broadway
1937Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Olympics
1937Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
1936Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Circus
1936Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Secret
1936Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
1935Movie
Charlie Chan
Shanghai
1935Movie
Ambassador Lun Sing
Charlie Chan in Egypt
1935Movie
Charlie Chan
Werewolf of London
1935Movie
Dr. Yogami
Charlie Chan in Paris
1935Movie
Charlie Chan
Movies on Sundays
1935Movie
Charlie Chan (uncredited)
The Painted Veil
1934Movie
General Yu
Charlie Chan in London
1934Movie
Charlie Chan
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934Movie
Prince Achmed
Charlie Chan's Courage
1934Movie
Charlie Chan
Mandalay
1934Movie
Nick
As Husbands Go
1934Movie
Hippolitus Lomi
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case
1933Movie
Charlie Chan
Before Dawn
1933Movie
Dr. Paul Cornelius
How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
1933Movie
Himself
The Son-Daughter
1932Movie
Fen Sha
A Passport to Hell
1932Movie
Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
Shanghai Express
1932Movie
Mr. Henry Chang
Charlie Chan's Chance
1932Movie
Charlie Chan
Daughter of the Dragon
1931Movie
Fu Manchu
The Big Gamble
1931Movie
Andrew North
The Black Camel
1931Movie
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan Carries On
1931Movie
Charlie Chan
Dishonored
1931Movie
Colonel von Hindau
The Drums of Jeopardy
1931Movie
Dr. Boris Karlov
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1930Movie
Dr. Fu Manchu
Paramount on Parade
1930Movie
Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
The Vagabond King
1930Movie
Thibault
Dangerous Paradise
1930Movie
Schomberg
The Mighty
1929Movie
Sterky
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
1929Movie
Dr. Fu Manchu
The Studio Murder Mystery
1929Movie
Rupert Borka
Chinatown Nights
1929Movie
"Boston Charley" Wu
The Faker
1929Movie
Hadrian
Dream of Love
1928Movie
The Duke
The Scarlet Lady
1928Movie
Ivan Zaneriff
Wheel of Chance
1928Movie
Mosher Turkeltaub
Stand and Deliver
1928Movie
Ghika - the Bandit Leader
Good Time Charley
1927Movie
Good Time Charley Keene
Sailor Izzy Murphy
1927Movie
Perfume Manufacturer
The Jazz Singer
1927Movie
Cantor Rabinowitz
Old San Francisco
1927Movie
Chris Buckwell
When a Man Loves
1927Movie
André Lescaut
What Happened To Father
1927Movie
W. Bradberry, Father
A Million Bid
1927Movie
Geoffrey Marsh
Man of the Forest
1926Movie
Clint Beasley
Tell It to the Marines
1926Movie
Chinese Bandit Chief
Twinkletoes
1926Movie
Roseleaf
The Marriage Clause
1926Movie
Max Ravenal
The Mystery Club
1926Movie
Eli Sinsabaugh
Don Juan
1926Movie
Cesare Borgia
Infatuation
1925Movie
Osman Pasha
The Winding Stair
1925Movie
Petras
Flower of Night
1925Movie
Luke Rand
Don Q Son of Zorro
1925Movie
The Archduke Paul
Riders of the Purple Sage
1925Movie
Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
Curlytop
1924Movie
Shanghai Dan
So This Is Marriage?
1924Movie
King David
The Fighting American
1924Movie
Fu Shing
His Children's Children
1923Movie
Dr. Dahl
The Pride of Palomar
1922Movie
Okada
East Is West
1922Movie
Charley Yong
Hurricane Hutch
1921Movie
Clifton Marlow
The Yellow Arm
1921Movie
Joel Bain
The Phantom Foe
1920Movie
Uncle Leo Sealkirk
The Third Eye
1920Movie
Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
The Witness for the Defense
1919Movie
Captain Ballantyne
The Avalanche
1919Movie
Nick Delano
The Twin Pawns
1919Movie
John Bent
Mandarin's Gold
1919Movie
Li Hsun
The Lightning Raider
1919Movie
Wu Fang
The Yellow Ticket
1918Movie
Baron Andrey
The Naulahka
1918Movie
Maharajah
The Cigarette Girl
1917Movie
Mr. Wilson
The Fatal Ring
1917Movie
Richard Carslake
Patria
1917Movie
Baron Huroki
The Rise of Susan
1916Movie
Sinclair La Salle
Beatrice Fairfax
1916Movie
Detective
The Eternal Question
1916Movie
Pierre Felix
The Eternal Sapho
1916Movie
H. Coudal
The Reapers
1916Movie
James Shaw
Destruction
1915Movie
Mr. Deleveau
Sin
1915Movie
Pietro
The Romance of Elaine
1915Movie
Pilgrim's Progress
1912Movie
John Bunyon