Warner Oland
| Warner Oland | |
|---|---|
Warner Oland in 1919
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| Born |
Johan Verner Ölund October 3, 1879 Nyby, Bjurholm Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden |
| Died | August 6, 1938 (aged 58) , Sweden |
| Cause of death | bronchial pneumonia |
| Resting place | Southborough Rural Cemetery, Southborough, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1906–1937 |
| Known for | Charlie Chan |
| Spouse(s) | Edith Gardener Shearn (m. 1907–38) |
Warner Oland (October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor most remembered for playing several characters of Asian descent: the detective Charlie Chan, Dr. Fu Manchu, and Henry Chang in Shanghai Express. He moved to the United States when he was 13 and pursued a film career that would include time on Broadway and dozens of film appearances. He starred in a total of 16 Charlie Chan films.
He was born Johan Verner Ölund in the village of Nyby, Bjurholm Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden. He claimed that his vaguely Asian appearance was due to possessing some Mongolian ancestry, though his known ancestry contains no indication that this was so. When he was thirteen, his family immigrated to the United States. Educated in Boston, he spoke English and his native Swedish, and eventually translated some of the plays of August Strindberg. As a young man he pursued a career in theater, at first working on set design while developing his skills as a dramatic actor. In 1906, he was signed to tour the country with the troupe led by actress Alla Nazimova. The following year he met and married the playwright and portrait painter Edith Gardener Shearn. The woman made an ideal partner for Oland. She mastered Swedish, helping him with the translation of Strindberg's works that they jointly published in book form in 1912.
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. It would be another three years before he returned to film work with a role in The Romance of Elaine, an adventure film starring the extremely popular Pearl White. 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. He made several more films with Pearl White including his first portrayal of an oriental character in her film, The Lightning Raider (1919). 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.
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