Warner Oland
Oct 3, 1879 — Aug 6, 1938 (58 years)
Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden
87 Movies
Warner Oland is a Swedish actor. He appears in the film 'The Jazz Singer' as Cantor Rabinowitz.
58R.I.P.
87Movies
0Series
Warner Oland
87 Movies
Warner Oland is a Swedish actor. He appears in the film 'The Jazz Singer' as Cantor Rabinowitz.
58 R.I.P.
R.I.P.
87
Movies
0
Series
Movies
Dishonored
1931
Before Dawn
1933
The Jazz Singer
1927
Shanghai Express
1932
Werewolf of London
1935
The Fighting American
1924
The Painted Veil
1934
The Twin Pawns
1919
Paramount on Parade
1930
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
1935
Charlie Chan in Paris
1935
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
1937
The Son-Daughter
1932
When a Man Loves
1927
Don Juan
1926
Daughter of the Dragon
1931
Charlie Chan in Egypt
1935
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
Stand and Deliver
1928
The Vagabond King
1930
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
1936
The Big Gamble
1931
Don Q Son of Zorro
1925
The Black Camel
1931
Tell It to the Marines
1926
Charlie Chan at the Circus
1936
Charlie Chan at the Olympics
1937
Shanghai
1935
Charlie Chan on Broadway
1937
Charlie Chan in London
1934
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
1929
Charlie Chan's Secret
1936
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1930
The Studio Murder Mystery
1929
Old San Francisco
1927
Charlie Chan Carries On
1931
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934
Dangerous Paradise
1930
The Mighty
1929
Charlie Chan's Chance
1932
Chinatown Nights
1929
Charlie Chan's Courage
1934
The Witness for the Defense
1919
Mandalay
1934
The Scarlet Lady
1928
The Drums of Jeopardy
1931
A Passport to Hell
1932
Dream of Love
1928
Twinkletoes
1926
Latest Trailers
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Werewolf of London
Full Filmography
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
Charlie Chan
1937
Film
Charlie Chan on Broadway
Charlie Chan
1937
Film
Charlie Chan at the Olympics
Charlie Chan
1937
Film
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Charlie Chan
1936
Film
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
Charlie Chan
1936
Film
Charlie Chan at the Circus
Charlie Chan
1936
Film
Charlie Chan's Secret
Charlie Chan
1936
Film
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
Charlie Chan
1935
Film
Shanghai
Ambassador Lun Sing
1935
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Warner Oland still alive?
Warner Oland passed away on August 6, 1938 at age 58.
What are the most famous roles of Warner Oland?
Warner Oland is best known for roles in The Jazz Singer, Shanghai Express, Werewolf of London.
How many movies has Warner Oland been in?
Over a 26-year career (since 1912), Warner Oland has appeared in 92 movies and 0 TV shows.
What was Warner Oland's first movie?
The career of Warner Oland began with Pilgrim's Progress (1912).
What is Warner Oland's most recent movie or series?
Warner Oland's most recent release is Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo, which premiered on December 17, 1937.
Warner Oland
1879-10-03 · Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden
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.