From the novel, Behind That Curtain (1928), Chapter 13:
Miss Morrow sighed. "If only it had been a girl," she said. "Good luck," Chan told her, "dogs me in such matters. Of eleven opportunities, I am disappointed but three times."
In the above quote (from the Novels) we learn that Mr. & Mrs. Chan have 11 Children in all; 3 of which are girls and 8 boys. This is the last count in the novels.
In this weeks Subject Comic strip on the site (https://charliechanfamily.tripod.com/id75.html) Alfred Andriola also gives Charlie 11 children seen waving goodbye to him with Mrs. Chan! However, Mr. Android depicts 6 boys and 5 girls?
By now there were approximately 13 Chan films produced for moviegoes and it appears due to their
popularity the artist decided to take up the count from the films--versus the novels--probably due to thier huge popularity now.
To see a picture of the family of 11 from film go to the link on this site "Family Room." It's the very first picture. June 11th and 11 Chan Children...Thank you so much.
Re: Sunday Comic June 11 (1939) and 11 Chan Children
"...it appears due to their popularity the artist decided to take up the count from the films--versus the novels--probably due to their huge popularity now."
Yes, Lou, Alfred Andriola, who was the artist and creator of the Charlie Chan newspaper strip, had certainly based his work on the Chan films series. From the start, Andriola modeled "his" Charlie Chan after Warner Oland. Originally, Number One Son, Lee, mirrored Keye Luke, but that son later "morphed" into a Keye Luke/Victor Sen Yung version! In the November 13, 1938 Sunday strip, Chan's son, Barry, appears to have been modeled after Layne Tom (who portrayed THREE sons in the Chan series!).
We find in "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service," that the Chans had, in the end, 14 children, and we know of only one grandson, born to Number One Daughter, Ling, in "Charlie Chan in Honolulu."
If anyone wishes to take a look at a pieced-together puzzle of the Chan family, please pay a visit to our Family Room!
