Warner Oland
Biography
Warner Oland was a Swedish-American actor whose career took him from Broadway to a long run in films, where he became best known for playing Chinese and Chinese-American characters. Born in Västerbotten County, Sweden, he immigrated to the United States as a boy and trained as a dramatic actor while doing set design. After years in the theater, including Broadway roles, he entered silent films in 1912 with Pilgrim's Progress, then spent about 15 years in villain and ethnic parts, among them a major role in The Jazz Singer (1927). Hollywood's caricatured ideas of Asianness matched his looks, and after The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929) became a hit he was a star. He appeared in Shanghai Express (1932) with Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong and played a werewolf in Werewolf of London (1934). Cast as detective Charlie Chan in 1931, he played the role in 16 films and studied Chinese language and calligraphy.
58years old at death
- Born Västerbotten County
- Died Stockholm
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
- Johan Verner Ölund (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 18
- Career span
- 11 years1925 to 1936
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Big break
Oland was cast as Charlie Chan in 1931 after becoming familiar from his Oriental roles, and the film's enormous worldwide box office success led to 16 Chan films in total.
First role
Oland spent several years in theater and appeared on Broadway before his silent film debut in 1912. That first movie was Pilgrim's Progress, which drew on the John Bunyan novel.
Languages
Warner Oland was educated in Boston and knew both English and his native Swedish. He later translated several plays written by August Strindberg.
A change of course
Oland began his working life in the theater as a young man, taking jobs in set design while he built up his abilities as a dramatic actor.
Early training
In 1906, Oland joined a troupe headed by Russian-American actress Alla Nazimova, and he was signed to go on a tour of the country with it.
Warner Oland movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Josef von Sternberg directed two of these films, Alan Crosland two and H. Bruce Humberstone two. Keye Luke appears in five of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Keye Luke's page
Murray Kinnell's page
Thomas Beck's page
George Irving's page
Lawrence Grant's page
Wong Chung's page
Josef von SternbergDirector, 2 films, 1931 to 1932
All films by Josef von Sternberg
Alan CroslandDirector, 2 films, 1927
All films by Alan Crosland
H. Bruce HumberstoneDirector, 2 films, 1936
All films by H. Bruce Humberstone
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.