Keye Luke

Biography for Keye Luke

Keye Luke was born in Canton, China. He grew up in Seattle, Washington, and entered the film business as a commercial artist and a designer of movie posters. He was hired as a technical advisor on several Asian-themed films, and made his film debut in The Painted Veil (1934). It seemed that he appeared in almost every film that called for Chinese characters, usually in small parts but occasionally, as in The Good Earth (1937), in a meatier, more substantial role. In addition, he played Dr. Kildare's rival at the hospital in the Dr. Kildare series at MGM, but it was as Charlie Chan's #1 son in that series that Luke achieved his greatest recognition. In the 1970s a new generation was made aware of his talents by virtue of his recurring role in the TV series "Kung Fu" (1972).

Keye Luke is an American actor, born June 18, 1904 in Guangzhou (China), and died on January 12, 1991 in Whittier, California (United States).

Keye Luke was an American actor of Chinese origin. He was born on June 18, 1904 in Canton in China and died on January 12, 1991 in Whittier in California in the United States.

Luke began his acting career in Hollywood in the 1930s. He played in many films, especially in horror films like "The Cat and the Canary" and "The Gorilla". He also played in war films such as "The Painted Desert" and "The Three Musketeers".

Luke was also active in television, where he played in television series such as "The Adventures of Superman" and "The Green Hornet". He also played the role of Lee Chan's character in the series "The Charlie Mus Family".

Apart from his acting career, Luke was also a painter and engraver. His works were exhibited in several art galleries in the United States.

Despite his prolific career, Luke has never received major recognition for his acting talents. However, he was admired by his peers and the public for his talent and his diligence. He died in 1991 at the age of 86.

Photos

Filmography

Trivia

• Best remembered as "No. 1 Son", Lee Chan, in Warner Oland's Charlie Chan films of the 1930s.
• Luke was an accomplished artist who specialized in murals. Examples of his work appear in the films The Shanghai Gesture (1941) and Macao (1952).
• Did a lot of TV work in his later years, at one point (1972-73) serving as a regular on three TV series simultaneously: "Kung Fu" (1972), "Anna and the King" (1972), "The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan" (1972). In addition, although not a regular, he was a frequent guest star on "M*A*S*H" (1972).
• Almost 40 years after he played "Lee Chan" to the Charlie Chans of Warner Oland and Roland Winters, he took a turn at playing Charlie Chan himself, providing his voice in the Hanna-Barbera animated ABC-TV series "The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan" (1972). Among those who provided the voices of his children were Jodie Foster and Robert Ito.
• Was 44 years of age when he returned to the role of Lee Chan, Charlie Chan's 'Number One Son' in the last two Chan films (The Feathered Serpent (1948) and The Sky Dragon (1949)). He was actually 5 months older than Roland Winters, the actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in these films.
• Was the original Kato in the Green Hornet serials
• He also painted the garden fairytale setting murals of the interior of the Graumans Chinese theatre and the Chinese theatre massive auditorium ceiling.
• In addition to his on-screen roles, he had a successful career as a voice artist. This included the dubbing of foreign language films into English as well as doing voices for animated cartoons.
• Created the role of Master Wang in the original Broadway production of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical "Flower Drum Song," playing the role for two years in New York and another two on the road without ever missing a performance.
• He had the distinction of being the only Asian actor to play a lead Asian detective in the 1930/1940s era. He played Mr. Wong in Phantom of Chinatown (1940) for Monogram. It was the final film in the series and he took over the role from Boris Karloff.
• He continued working until age 86. He died only weeks after his final film, Woody Allen's Alice (1990), was released.
• Drew artwork used in the press book for the original King Kong (1933).
• Was considered for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars (1977).

Quotes

"I have played so many doctors and characters in the mainstream. Because of my appearance, or because of my personality, or whatever it may be, I was always put into good Boy Scout roles -- lawyers, doctors, business executives and tycoons, the nice Chinese guy down the block."

"To me, theater is an art. It's the art of make-believe. If an actor can cast aside his own personality and create a character that you, the audience, can believe in and buy, my hat's off to him."

Family

• Brother of Edwin Luke.

Author of the card

• Creation date: 08/01/2008 by jsolera