Chester Bue Gan | |
---|---|
Born | [ citation needed ] Grass Valley, California, U.S. | July 4, 1908
Died | June 29, 1959 50) San Francisco, California, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1932–1959 |
Spouse | Mei Heong Lee |
Chester Gan (1908-1959) was an American character actor of Chinese descent who worked in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Chester Gan was born in Grass Valley, California, to Wing Hong Gan and Wong Shee. He went to China for a university education, where he developed an interest in acting. [1] Upon his return to the United States, he headed to Los Angeles, where he worked as an engineer. [1]
In 1932, Gan's acting career in Hollywood began as a Chinese guard in Secrets of the French Police . Gan played almost a hundred roles, typically portraying Asian stereotypes, from the Chinese cook or waiter to the Japanese enemy soldier. (He once joked that as an actor, he was responsible for hundreds of on-screen deaths.) He also worked as an interpreter and a consultant on Chinese culture and customs on Hollywood films like The Good Earth. [2] [3]
Aside from his acting career, owned a slipper store and a restaurant in Los Angeles's Chinatown neighborhood. [4] World War II put a pause on his career as an actor, as he joined the navy. [5] [6] He died in San Francisco—where he operated a photography business—in 1959 after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife, his four children, and his father. [7]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1931 | Prestige | Soldier in Indo-China | Uncredited |
1932 | War Correspondent | Bandit | Uncredited |
1932 | Secrets of the French Police | Chinese Guard | Uncredited |
1933 | The World Gone Mad | Alpha Delta - Houston's Servant | Uncredited |
1933 | Meet the Baron | Chinese Man | Uncredited |
1934 | Lazy River | Sam Kee's Henchman | Uncredited |
1934 | Monte Carlo Nights | Larry's Valet | Uncredited |
1934 | The Red Rider | Wing | Serial, Uncredited |
1934 | Fighting Through | Wong | |
1934 | Tailspin Tommy | Flapjack - the Cook | Serial, Ch. 1, Uncredited |
1934 | The Mysterious Mr. Wong | Tung's Secret Service Agent | Uncredited |
1935 | The Case of the Curious Bride | Ping - Perry's Servant at Party | Uncredited |
1935 | Vagabond Lady | Japanese Fisherman | Uncredited |
1935 | Shadows of the Orient | Chinaman at Canton House | Uncredited |
1935 | China Seas | Rickshaw Boy | Uncredited |
1935 | Wanderer of the Wasteland | Ling | |
1935 | The Bishop Misbehaves | Chinese Man Smoking | Uncredited |
1935 | Stormy | Chinaman | Uncredited |
1935 | Moonlight on the Prairie | Chinese Cook | Uncredited |
1935 | East of Java | Crewman | Uncredited |
1935 | Last of the Pagans | Chinese Cook | Uncredited |
1936 | The Adventures of Frank Merriwell | Lumber Camp Cook | Serial, Uncredited |
1936 | Drift Fence | Clarence | Uncredited |
1936 | Klondike Annie | Ship's Cook | Uncredited |
1936 | Sutter's Gold | Charlie - Chinese Waiter | Uncredited |
1936 | Small Town Girl | Wing | Uncredited |
1936 | The Country Beyond | Chinese Cook | Uncredited |
1936 | San Francisco | Jowl Lee | Uncredited |
1936 | Sea Spoilers | Oil | |
1936 | Ace Drummond | Kai-Chek | Serial |
1936 | Mad Holiday | Vendor | Uncredited |
1936 | Hideaway Girl | Chinese cook | |
1936 | Arizona Mahoney | Chinese Man at Sing-a-Long | Uncredited |
1936 | Crack-Up | House Boy | Uncredited |
1936 | Stowaway | Chinese Merchant | Uncredited |
1936 | After the Thin Man | Chinese Waiter | Uncredited |
1937 | The Mighty Treve | Chang | |
1937 | The Good Earth | Teahouse Singer | Uncredited, (credited as Chester Gann) |
1937 | China Passage | Rooftop Marauder | Uncredited |
1937 | Slave Ship | Crew Member | Uncredited |
1937 | Wild West Days | Wong, 1st Cook | Serial, (Ch's. 4-5) |
1937 | West of Shanghai | Kung Nui | |
1937 | Mannequin | Chinese Waiter | Uncredited |
1937 | Thank You, Mr. Moto | Wing | Uncredited |
1937 | Wells Fargo | Chinese Workman | Uncredited |
1938 | Love Is a Headache | Louie, Peter's Butler | Uncredited |
1938 | International Settlement | Green Dragon Proprietor | Uncredited |
1938 | Gold Is Where You Find It | Wong - McCooey's Servant | Uncredited |
1938 | Air Devils | Hotel Waiter | Uncredited |
1938 | Speed to Burn | Chung | Uncredited |
1938 | The Mexicali Kid | Mo Cort - Chinese Cook | |
1938 | Too Hot to Handle | Chinese Sergeant | Uncredited |
1938 | Shadows Over Shanghai | Lun Sat Li | |
1939 | North of Shanghai | Policeman 'C' | |
1939 | Blackwell's Island | Wong, Prison Laundryman | Uncredited |
1939 | Nancy Drew... Reporter | Waiter | Uncredited |
1939 | The Mystery of Mr. Wong | Sing, the Butler | |
1939 | King of Chinatown | Mr. Foo | |
1939 | Torchy Runs for Mayor | Ling - Ward's Assistant | Uncredited |
1939 | No Place to Go | Cheng | Uncredited |
1939 | Barricade | Mongol Bandit Leader | Uncredited |
1939 | Westbound Stage | Charlie | |
1940 | My Little Chickadee | Chinese Train Passenger | Uncredited |
1940 | 'Til We Meet Again | Hong Kong Policeman | Uncredited |
1940 | Pals of the Silver Sage | Ling | |
1940 | The Carson City Kid | Wong Lee | |
1940 | Victory | Wang | |
1941 | Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery | Henchman | Uncredited |
1941 | Man-Made Monster | Wong | |
1941 | Singapore Woman | Waiter at Crow's Nest | Uncredited |
1941 | The Get-Away | Sam | |
1941 | They Met in Bombay | Woo Tau Woo | Uncredited |
1941 | Rawhide Rangers | Sing Lo - the Cook | |
1941 | Passage from Hong Kong | Chung | |
1941 | The Maltese Falcon | Bit Part | Uncredited |
1941 | Burma Convoy | Keela | |
1942 | All Through the Night | Gloves' Rescuer at Nazi Meeting | Uncredited |
1942 | A Yank on the Burma Road | Doctor | Uncredited |
1942 | To the Shores of Tripoli | Chinese Man Watching Parade | Uncredited |
1942 | Moontide | Henry Hirota | |
1942 | The Tuttles of Tahiti | Emily's servant | Uncredited |
1942 | Escape from Hong Kong | Tamoto | |
1942 | Submarine Raider | Yoshiwara | Uncredited |
1942 | Busses Roar | Yamanito | |
1942 | Across the Pacific | Captain Higoto | |
1942 | Flying Tigers | Mike the Mechanic | |
1942 | Heart of the Golden West | Chinese Cook | Uncredited |
1942 | China Girl | Japanese Officer | Uncredited |
1943 | The Amazing Mrs. Holliday | Young Farmer | Uncredited |
1943 | China | Japanese General | [9] |
1943 | Crash Dive | Lee Wong | Uncredited |
1943 | Salute to the Marines | Japanese Officer | Uncredited |
1959 | Blood Alley | Ferry Boat Captain | Uncredited |
Chester William Nimitz was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, commanding Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.
Wong Liu Tsong, known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition. Her varied career spanned silent film, sound film, television, stage, and radio.
Kintarō Hayakawa, known professionally as Sessue Hayakawa, was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man in the United States and Europe. His "broodingly handsome" good looks and typecasting as a sexually dominant villain made him a heartthrob among American women during a time of racial discrimination, and he became one of the first male sex symbols of Hollywood.
Benson Fong was an American character actor.
William Albert Henry was an American actor who worked in both films and television.
Philip Ahn was an American actor and activist of Korean descent. With over 180 film and television credits between 1935 and 1978, he was one of the most recognizable and prolific Asian-American character actors of his time. He is widely regarded as the first Korean American film actor in Hollywood. He is not to be confused with Philson Ahn, another screen actor who broke into films in the late 1930s; Philson was Philip's younger brother.
James Saburo Shigeta was an American actor and singer of Japanese descent. He was noted for his roles in The Crimson Kimono (1959), Walk Like a Dragon (1960), Flower Drum Song (1961), Bridge to the Sun (1961), Die Hard (1988), and Mulan (1998). In 1960, he won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, along with three other actors.
Wong Tung Jim, A.S.C. (Chinese: 黃宗霑; August 28, 1899 – July 12, 1976), known professionally as James Wong Howe (Houghto), was a Chinese-born American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was one of the most sought after cinematographers in Hollywood due to his innovative filming techniques. Howe was known as a master of the use of shadow and one of the first to use deep-focus cinematography, in which both foreground and distant planes remain in focus.
William Joseph Patrick O'Brien was an American film actor with more than 100 screen credits. Of Irish descent, he often played Irish and Irish-American characters and was referred to as "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence" in the press. One of the best-known screen actors of the 1930s and 1940s, he played priests, cops, military figures, pilots, and reporters. He is especially well-remembered for his roles in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Some Like It Hot (1959). He was frequently paired onscreen with Hollywood star James Cagney. O'Brien also appeared on stage and television.
Darryl Gerard Hickman was an American actor, screenwriter, television executive, and acting coach. He started his career as a child actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood and appeared in numerous television serials as an adult, including several episodes of the CBS series The Nanny. He appeared in films such as The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Leave Her to Heaven (1945).
George O'Brien was an American actor, popular during the silent film era and into the sound film era of the 1930s, best known today as the lead actor in F. W. Murnau's 1927 film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and subsequent appearances in a number of Westerns in the 1930s and 1940s.
Helmut Dantine was an Austrian-American actor who often played Nazis in thriller films of the 1940s. His best-known performances are perhaps the German pilot in Mrs. Miniver and the desperate Bulgarian refugee in Casablanca, who tries gambling to obtain travel visa money for himself and his wife. As his acting career waned, he turned to producing.
Henry O'Neill was an American actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles on film during the 1930s and 1940s.
Tzi Ma is a Hong Kong-American actor. He has appeared in television shows including The Man in the High Castle and 24, and films including Dante's Peak, Rush Hour, Rush Hour 3, Arrival, The Farewell, Tigertail, and Mulan. From 2021 to 2023, he starred in the American martial arts television series Kung Fu on The CW.
Teru Shimada was a Japanese-born American actor.
Jason Tobin, credited in Chinese as To Jun Wai is a Hong Kong-British film and television actor. He is known for his role as Young Jun in the HBO MAX series Warrior.
Allen Jung was an American film and television actor who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1970s.
Spencer Chan was an American character actor of Chinese descent. He had a long career in numerous films.
Bruce Wong was a Chinese American character actor, filmmaker, and restaurateur who worked in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s.
Frank Tang was a Chinese-American character actor, filmmaker, community leader, and restaurateur who was best-known for directing the 1936 Cantonese-language film Sum Hun.