Warner Oland
Known for Acting · 99 credits
- Born
- 1879-10-03
- Died
- 1938-08-06
- Place of birth
- Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden
- Also known as
- Johan Verner Ölund
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.
Known For
Movies (99)
Shanghai Express
1932
as Mr. Henry Chang
The Jazz Singer
1927
as Cantor Rabinowitz
Chinatown Nights
1929
as "Boston Charley" Wu
The Faker
1929
as Hadrian
Complicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Werewolf of London
1935
as Dr. Yogami
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
Don Juan
1926
as Cesare Borgia
Dishonored
1931
as Colonel von Hindau
Charlie Chan in London
1934
as Charlie Chan
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
Charlie Chan on Broadway
1937
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Olympics
1937
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Circus
1936
as Charlie Chan
Shanghai
1935
as Ambassador Lun Sing
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
The Painted Veil
1934
as General Yu
Before Dawn
1933
as Dr. Paul Cornelius
The Son-Daughter
1932
as Fen Sha
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
1935
as Charlie Chan
Infatuation
1925
as Osman Pasha
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
as Charlie Chan
The Black Camel
1931
as Charlie Chan
Days of Thrills and Laughter
1961
as Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
1937
as Charlie Chan
Don Q Son of Zorro
1925
as The Archduke Paul
When a Man Loves
1927
as André Lescaut
Old San Francisco
1927
as Chris Buckwell
Charlie Chan in Egypt
1935
as Charlie Chan
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934
as Prince Achmed
Daughter of the Dragon
1931
as Fu Manchu
The Drums of Jeopardy
1931
as Dr. Boris Karlov
Tell It to the Marines
1926
as Chinese Bandit Chief
East Is West
1922
as Charley Yong
Good Time Charley
1927
as Good Time Charley Keene
As Husbands Go
1934
as Hippolitus Lomi
Beatrice Fairfax
1916
as Detective
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1930
as Dr. Fu Manchu
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
1936
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Secret
1936
as Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Paris
1935
as Charlie Chan
Mandalay
1934
as Nick
The Vagabond King
1930
as Thibault
Curlytop
1924
as Shanghai Dan
Charlie Chan's Courage
1934
as Charlie Chan
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
1929
as Dr. Fu Manchu
The Yellow Arm
1921
as Joel Bain
Dream of Love
1928
as The Duke
The Mighty
1929
as Sterky
Charlie Chan's Chance
1932
as Charlie Chan
The Big Gamble
1931
as Andrew North
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942
as Self (archive footage)
So This Is Marriage?
1924
as King David
The Third Eye
1920
as Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
Wheel of Chance
1928
as Mosher Turkeltaub
Dangerous Paradise
1930
as Schomberg
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case
1933
as Charlie Chan
Paramount on Parade
1930
as Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
The Naulahka
1918
as Maharajah
Charlie Chan Carries On
1931
as Charlie Chan
The Avalanche
1919
as Nick Delano
Patria
1917
as Baron Huroki
Twinkletoes
1926
as Roseleaf
The Witness for the Defense
1919
as Captain Ballantyne
The Winding Stair
1925
as Petras
A Passport to Hell
1932
as Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
The Reapers
1916
as James Shaw
Sin
1915
as Pietro
Movies on Sundays
1935
as Charlie Chan (uncredited)
The Twin Pawns
1919
as John Bent
Stand and Deliver
1928
as Ghika - the Bandit Leader
The Romance of Elaine
1915
What Happened To Father
1927
as W. Bradberry, Father
Man of the Forest
1926
as Clint Beasley
The Marriage Clause
1926
as Max Ravenal
The Lightning Raider
1919
as Wu Fang
Riders of the Purple Sage
1925
as Lew Walters aka Judge Dyer
Sailor Izzy Murphy
1927
as Perfume Manufacturer
The Mystery Club
1926
as Eli Sinsabaugh
The Eternal Question
1916
as Pierre Felix
Pilgrim's Progress
1912
as John Bunyon
The Phantom Foe
1920
as Uncle Leo Sealkirk
The Fatal Ring
1917
as Richard Carslake
The Pride of Palomar
1922
as Okada
The Eternal Sapho
1916
as H. Coudal
The Scarlet Lady
1928
as Ivan Zaneriff
The Studio Murder Mystery
1929
as Rupert Borka
A Million Bid
1927
as Geoffrey Marsh
The Fighting American
1924
as Fu Shing
Hurricane Hutch
1921
as Clifton Marlow
Flower of Night
1925
as Luke Rand
His Children's Children
1923
as Dr. Dahl
How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
1933
as Himself
The Yellow Ticket
1918
as Baron Andrey
Destruction
1915
as Mr. Deleveau
The Rise of Susan
1916
as Sinclair La Salle
The Cigarette Girl
1917
as Mr. Wilson
Mandarin's Gold
1919
as Li Hsun
In Search of Charlie Chan
2006
as Charlie Chan (archive footage)
About Warner Oland
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, includin… With 99 credits spanning from 1912 to 2019, Warner Oland has appeared in 99 films and 0 TV shows.
Fans searching for Warner Oland movies, Warner Oland filmography, or the latest projects starring Warner Oland can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Warner Oland Movies
- Shanghai Express (1932) — as Mr. Henry Chang
- The Jazz Singer (1927) — as Cantor Rabinowitz
- Chinatown Nights (1929) — as "Boston Charley" Wu
- The Faker (1929) — as Hadrian
- Complicated Women (2003) — as Self (archive footage)
Where to Watch Warner Oland Films
Most Warner Oland movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Warner Oland, check our movies catalogue and browse page.