Warner Oland was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American characters: Dr. Fu Manchu, Henry Chang in Shanghai Express, and, most notably, Honolulu Police detective Lieutenant Charlie Chan in 16 films.
Oland in 1919
Oland as the popular Asian character Charlie Chan in 1936's Charlie Chan's Secret
Dr. Fu Manchu is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, comic strips and comic books for over 100 years, and he has also become an archetype of the evil criminal genius and mad scientist, while lending his name to the Fu Manchu moustache.
Boris Karloff as Fu Manchu in the 1932 film The Mask of Fu Manchu
Fah Lo Suee on the cover of The Mask of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer. Illustration by Ronnie Lesser, 1962.
I. W. Publications' Dr. Fu Manchu (1958), reprinting material from Avon Comics, cover art by Carl Burgos
The Coalition of Asians to Nix Charlie Chan members picketing the film The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980) at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre