Warner Oland, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Warner Oland
Acting

Warner Oland
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1879-10-03,Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden
Gender
Male
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.

Filmography

Shanghai Express

6.985

Shanghai Express
1932-02-12

The Jazz Singer

6.121

The Jazz Singer
1927-10-06

The Romance of Elaine

0

The Romance of Elaine
1915-06-14

The Winding Stair

10

The Winding Stair
1925-10-25

Charlie Chan at the Olympics

6.846

Charlie Chan at the Olympics
1937-05-21

Charlie Chan at the Circus

6.357

Charlie Chan at the Circus
1936-03-27

Charlie Chan's Secret

6.963

Charlie Chan's Secret
1936-01-10

Charlie Chan at the Race Track

7.109

Charlie Chan at the Race Track
1936-08-07

Charlie Chan in Egypt

6.922

Charlie Chan in Egypt
1935-06-04

Charlie Chan in London

6.875

Charlie Chan in London
1934-09-12

Charlie Chan in Paris

6.568

Charlie Chan in Paris
1935-01-21

Charlie Chan in Shanghai

6.724

Charlie Chan in Shanghai
1935-10-11

The Horror Show

3.8

The Horror Show
1979-02-06

Werewolf of London

6.053

Werewolf of London
1935-05-13

Man of the Forest

10

Man of the Forest
1926-12-27

Charlie Chan at the Opera

6.8

Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936-12-04

0

The Naulahka
1918-02-14

6.125

The Big Gamble
1931-09-04

The Black Camel

6.095

The Black Camel
1931-06-21

Charlie Chan on Broadway

7.104

Charlie Chan on Broadway
1937-09-22

Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo

6.313

Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
1937-12-17

8

As Husbands Go
1934-01-27

The Painted Veil

6.4

The Painted Veil
1934-11-23

6.844

Dishonored
1931-04-04

Sailor Izzy Murphy

7

Sailor Izzy Murphy
1927-10-08

Daughter of the Dragon

5.25

Daughter of the Dragon
1931-09-24

6.563

Don Juan
1926-08-06

When a Man Loves

6

When a Man Loves
1927-08-21

Don Q Son of Zorro

6.7

Don Q Son of Zorro
1925-06-15

The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu

5.962

The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
1929-08-10

The Drums of Jeopardy

5.4

The Drums of Jeopardy
1931-03-01

5.7

Before Dawn
1933-08-04

7.3

Shanghai
1935-07-19

Stand and Deliver

6

Stand and Deliver
1928-02-18

The Studio Murder Mystery

4.563

The Studio Murder Mystery
1929-06-01

Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back

5.625

Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934-08-15

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

5.7

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019-10-13

The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu

5.344

The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1930-05-02

The Son-Daughter

6.5

The Son-Daughter
1932-12-23

0

The Avalanche
1919-06-29

0

The Reapers
1916-04-03

Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)

0

Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942-01-01

Dangerous Paradise

3.9

Dangerous Paradise
1930-02-13

Pilgrim's Progress

7

Pilgrim's Progress
1912-10-08

Wheel of Chance

8

Wheel of Chance
1928-06-17

5.778

Mandalay
1934-02-10

Charlie Chan's Chance

7.333

Charlie Chan's Chance
1932-01-24

Charlie Chan's Courage

8.667

Charlie Chan's Courage
1934-07-06

0

The Fatal Ring
1917-07-07

The Lightning Raider

9

The Lightning Raider
1919-01-02

In Search of Charlie Chan

7

In Search of Charlie Chan
2006-06-20

A Passport to Hell

5

A Passport to Hell
1932-08-25

Tell It to the Marines

6.45

Tell It to the Marines
1926-12-23

8

The Faker
1929-01-02

Old San Francisco

5.8

Old San Francisco
1927-09-04

Movies on Sundays

0

Movies on Sundays
1935-01-01

7.333

Dream of Love
1928-12-01

Good Time Charley

8

Good Time Charley
1927-11-05

The Marriage Clause

9

The Marriage Clause
1926-09-12

Chinatown Nights

4.375

Chinatown Nights
1929-03-29

Riders of the Purple Sage

6.1

Riders of the Purple Sage
1925-03-15

10

Curlytop
1924-12-28

The Vagabond King

5.889

The Vagabond King
1930-02-17

6.5

Patria
1917-01-14

The Rise of Susan

0

The Rise of Susan
1916-12-18

The Eternal Sapho

0

The Eternal Sapho
1916-05-06

The Scarlet Lady

7

The Scarlet Lady
1928-08-01

Days of Thrills and Laughter

6

Days of Thrills and Laughter
1961-03-21

Flower of Night

10

Flower of Night
1925-10-17

6.8

Twinkletoes
1926-11-28

Charlie Chan's Greatest Case

8

Charlie Chan's Greatest Case
1933-09-14

7

A Million Bid
1927-05-27

6

The Mighty
1929-11-16

Paramount on Parade

6.111

Paramount on Parade
1930-04-22

How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action

10

How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
1933-06-23

Beatrice Fairfax

5

Beatrice Fairfax
1916-08-07

6.8

The Twin Pawns
1919-03-18

Charlie Chan Carries On

7

Charlie Chan Carries On
1931-04-11

Complicated Women

6.917

Complicated Women
2003-05-06

What Happened To Father

8

What Happened To Father
1927-06-25

8

East Is West
1922-10-15

Hurricane Hutch

6.5

Hurricane Hutch
1921-09-25

His Children's Children

8

His Children's Children
1923-11-04

The Pride of Palomar

7

The Pride of Palomar
1922-11-26

The Eternal Question

8

The Eternal Question
1916-07-03

10

Infatuation
1925-12-27

1

Destruction
1915-12-26

The Fighting American

6.75

The Fighting American
1924-05-26

9

The Third Eye
1920-05-23

The Witness for the Defense

7

The Witness for the Defense
1919-09-14

0

Sin
1915-10-03

The Yellow Ticket

0

The Yellow Ticket
1918-05-26

The Phantom Foe

7

The Phantom Foe
1920-10-11

So This Is Marriage?

7

So This Is Marriage?
1924-11-26

Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'

7.25

Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999-01-01

Mandarin's Gold

7

Mandarin's Gold
1919-02-10

10

The Yellow Arm
1921-06-19

The Cigarette Girl

8

The Cigarette Girl
1917-07-08

The Mystery Club

10

The Mystery Club
1926-08-30