Sunday, August 12, 2007

Scandinavian Film Stars: Warner Oland


Finally a male tribute! Swedish-born Warner Oland is best known for his role in the Charlie Chan films of the 1930s.

He was born Johan Verner Ă–lund in 1879. His family emigrated to the US at age 13. He began his career in theatre including broadway. He entered silents in the film, Pilgrim's Progress. Often he played villians and ethnic roles. He appeared in many silents and then The Jazz Singer, the first talkie.

Due to the racial climate of the time, there were very few Asian actors and hardly any in principal roles. Often whites portrayed Asian characters in "yellowface." Oland needed very little makeup to play Asian roles.

He first portrayed the evil Dr. Fu Manchu in The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu. It was a box office success and he portrayed Dr. Fu Manchu 3 more times. Then he was cast as Charlie Chan in 1931 starring in over 10 Charlie Chan films. He also played a Chinese in the Marlene Dietrich classic, Shanghai Express, also starring Asian-American sex symbol Anna May Wong.

Oland's talents were not only in acting. He and his wife of 30 years, both of whom spoke Swedish translated some of the plays of August Stringberg, one of the fathers of modern theatre. They jointly published his plays in book form in 1912.

He died in Stockholm.

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