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Re: Non-Chan depictions of Charlie Chan (as in Murder By Death and others)

Dear Tenman,

First, I can think of a short "skit" that Milton Berle did with Keye Luke way back in 1949 on TV. Today, this would never fly, but back in 1949, Keye Luke seemed to enjoy being a part of the show! Here it is (the Keye Luke part starts at about the 11-minute mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxLzLnBsH_o

Next, here's something fun! A Volkswagon TV commercial from 1968 which can be seen at this address: https://youtu.be/gbBfDOPeZ2g

As Lou mentioned, we now live in hyper-sensative times where the scope of actors' roles are more and more limited. When asked in the mid-1980s about Warner Oland, a non-Chinese portraying Charlie Chan, he basically said, "It's ACTING!" He had absolutely no trouble with Oland and others of his era who played ethnic roles. J. Caroll Naish, who was eventually Charlie Chan in "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan," was specifically noted for his "ethnic" portrayals. Oh well...such is the price of "enlightenment!"

I hope you enjoy the videos!

Sincerely,
Rush

Re: Non-Chan depictions of Charlie Chan (as in Murder By Death and others)

Cool. Loved the videos!

Re: Non-Chan depictions of Charlie Chan (as in Murder By Death and others)

Tenman,

I remember seeing the VW ad on TV when I was a kid! In the commercial we see Marvin Miller appear as Charlie Chan. Miller had a very distinguished career on radio, film, and television. He starred in "The Millionaire" TV series (1955-60), which I used to watch!, he was the voice of Robbie the Robot in "The Forbidden Planet" (1956), and interestingly, he played Dr. Yat Fu in the 1949-50 TV series "Mysteries of Chinatown." Although his portrayal in the commercial was tongue-in-cheek, I feel he looked good in the part!

Take care...thank you, again...

Sincerely,
Rush

Re: Non-Chan depictions of Charlie Chan (as in Murder By Death and others)

I just watched those links, too goid! And here's one I believe you or Hawaii Steve had found awhile back: https://youtu.be/pWFfUt66Hyg

Re: Non-Chan depictions of Charlie Chan (as in Murder By Death and others)

Thank you for sharing this one, Lou. This was another one that I am pretty sure I saw "back in the day"!

We could start a collection of these!

Sincerely,
Rush

Re: Non-Chan depictions of Charlie Chan (as in Murder By Death and others)

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