I agree that Warner Oland is VERy believable as Chan and is problably "best" in the role. However, my favorite is
1. Sidney Toler. I guess it kind of like what was said about Basil Rathbone and Jermey Brett.
2. Nest is Warner Oland because he is just So good.
3. then J. Carrol Nash. I think he had great potential. if he had a film or longer episodes to show what he could do I think we would've seen a worthy sucessor to Oland and Toler.
4. Roland Winters. He took a while to grow into the rola and as was mentioned show an unattractive harsh side to Chan toward his offspring.
5. Keye Luke. Not so bad if I recall correctly, but it was an over the top cartoon, so he has to rank poorly because of the nature of the venue.
5. Ross Martin. A fine actor, a terrible Chan. As was mentioned there seemed an element of characture in later Chan portrayals and by the time it got to Ross it was just plain ridculous.
I have a feeling that many prefer the first actor they saw portray CC. Regardless, I will always prefer Sidney Toler, since the others all seemed much too passive and obsequious to be a police lieutenant,
and not in control of the situation. Actually, Toler was for many many years the only CC that I was aware of. His were the films I saw on the TV during the 1950s.
