Sidney Toler

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Sidney Toler (1920)

Sidney Toler (born April 28, 1874 in Warrensburg , Missouri , † February 12, 1947 in Beverly Hills , Los Angeles County , California ) was an American actor who primarily played the role of the Chinese-born police officer Charlie, created by Earl Derr Biggers Chan became known, playing that role as the successor to the late Warner Oland in 22 films produced by 20th Century Fox and Monogram Pictures Corporation from 1938 until his death .

Life

Theater actor and playwright

Toler, son of the trotter breeder Colonel HG Toler, was already on stage as a child actor at the age of seven and was in demand as a theater actor long before his film acting career since the 1890s. He also worked as a playwright and also appeared as a baritone at the Orpheum Theater in New York City . He made his Broadway debut in 1903 in The Office Boy and then went on tour with a traveling theater company until 1912.

Since then, his success as a playwright has grown with two plays that premiered on Broadway while a third stage work , The Man They Left Behind , was performed simultaneously in a single week by eighteen theater companies nationwide.

Under the influence of the well-known theater producer David Belasco , Toler returned to Broadway in 1918 and played there for twelve years until 1930 in countless comedies such as Some One in the House (1918), On the Hiring Line (1919), Sophie (1920), Poldekin (1920), Deburau (1920), Golden Days (1921), Kiki (1921), The 49ers (1921), Laugh, Clown, Laugh! (1923), The Dove (1925), Canary Dutch (1925), Tommy (1927), Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh (1929), It's a Wise Child (1929) with.

He also wrote the scripts for the silent films Playthings (1918), The Bait (1921) and A Heart To Let (1921). The plays he wrote at the time included The Exile (1923) and Ritzy (1929).

Beginning of the film acting career and Charlie Chan actor

After giving up his successful stage acting activity, Toler began his film acting career in the Hollywood film industry in 1929 and played supporting roles as a police officer, banker or butler for a few years as a freelance actor. He made his debut as a film actor in 1929 as a police officer in the comedy short film The Gay Nineties, directed by Murray Roth ; or, The Unfaithful Husband . In the mid-1930s he got a contract with the film production company 20th Century Fox .

After the death of longtime Charlie Chan actor Warner Oland on August 6, 1938, Toler was given the chance to take on the lead role in the popular detective film series as his successor. He was able to assert himself in the casting from 34 applicants for the role and played the role of the Chinese-born police officer from Hawaii in 22 films until his death, first in Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938) and most recently in Charlie Chan - The Trap (1946 ).

Chan embodied tolerance in particular through his sarcastic wit, which was often directed against his son and assistant Jimmy Chan, played by Victor Sen Yung . The first eleven films were produced by 20th Century Fox and all were box office hits. Ultimately, after these films in 1942, the quality of the series began to decline. With the entry of the United States into the Second World War , the sales opportunities on the foreign film markets also dwindled, so that 20th Century Fox initially discontinued the series after Charlie Chan - The Castle in the Desert (1942), before the rights to the character of Charlie Chan in 1944 was sold to the Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures , which produced eleven more films in rapid succession by 1946 with less demanding scripts and lower production costs with Toler.

Toler, who over time was locked into the role of Charlie Chan and given few other opportunities to broaden his range as an actor, played the role less defined and more automatic than in the early years. He fell ill with cancer while filming the last three films Charlie Chan - Shadows Over Chinatown , Charlie Chan - Dangerous Money, and Charlie Chan - The Trap , all of which were produced in 1946 . As a result, appearances of the series' co-stars, Victor Sen Yung as Jimmy Chan and Mantan Moreland in the role of Birmingham Brown, were expanded in the films.

After being bedridden for several months, Toler finally died of colon cancer on February 12, 1947 at the age of 72 in Hollywood . After his death, Toler, who had been married to actress Viva Tattersall since 1943 , was buried in Highland Cemetery in Wichita .

Filmography

Other films (selection)

Charlie Chan films

20th Century Fox

Monogram Pictures Corporation

script

  • 1918: Playthings
  • 1921: A Heart to Let
  • 1921: The Bait

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Toler, Sidney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Warrensburg , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1947
Place of death Beverly Hills , Los Angeles County , California