Sidney Toler(1874-1947)
- Actor
- Writer
The son of Colonel H.G. Toler, breeder of trotting horses, Sidney Toler
acted on stage by the time he was seven years old. He was an
established star of the theater by the 1890s, long before his career
in motion pictures began. He was also active as a playwright and had a good
enough voice to be cast as a lead baritone with an operatic stock
company at the Orpheum Theatre in New York. He made his Broadway debut
in 'The Office Boy' in 1903 and for the next nine years went on the
road with his own touring acting troupes. His prowess as a writer
equaled that of his performances with two of his plays opening on
Broadway while a third
('The Man They Left Behind') was enacted by no less than eighteen different stock companies in a single week nationwide.
Frequently under the auspices of theatrical impresario David Belasco,
Sidney starred in Broadway comedy for twelve years (1918-30).
Having decided to abandon his successful stage career, he made the move to Hollywood
and played supporting roles as a free-lance actor for several years,
often cast as police officers, bankers or butlers.
In the mid-1930s, he joined 20th Century Fox under contract. The death of Charlie Chan impersonator Warner Oland
in 1938 presented him with an opportunity for a leading role and he
successfully auditioned for the part among 34 candidates screen-tested.
His expansive, avuncular personality made Sidney, arguably, the most
popular incarnation of the famous oriental detective with a noticeably strong
line in sarcastic wit -- usually directed at 'Number Two Son'. He played
Chan in 22 feature films beginning with
Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938),
and ending with The Trap (1946). The
first 11 Charlie Chan outings were produced by 20th Century Fox Studios.
All of them were box office hits. However, by 1942, the quality of the series began to decline.
With America's entry into the Second World War, overseas markets began to dwindle.
Fox retired the series, but two years later, in 1944, sold
the character rights to the 'poverty row' company Monogram Pictures.
This inevitably resulted in poorer scripts and lower production values.
Moreover, after years of being typecast as Charlie Chan and given few
opportunities to expand his range as an actor, Sidney's performances
also became less defined and more automatic. While filming the last
three Charlie Chan installments (Shadows Over Chinatown (1946),
Dangerous Money (1946), and The Trap (1946)), the actor became increasingly incapacitated by ill-health which resulted in extra screen time for his co-stars Mantan Moreland
and Victor Sen Yung. After being
bedridden for several months, he passed away at his Hollywood home from
intestinal cancer on February 12, 1947 at age 72.
acted on stage by the time he was seven years old. He was an
established star of the theater by the 1890s, long before his career
in motion pictures began. He was also active as a playwright and had a good
enough voice to be cast as a lead baritone with an operatic stock
company at the Orpheum Theatre in New York. He made his Broadway debut
in 'The Office Boy' in 1903 and for the next nine years went on the
road with his own touring acting troupes. His prowess as a writer
equaled that of his performances with two of his plays opening on
Broadway while a third
('The Man They Left Behind') was enacted by no less than eighteen different stock companies in a single week nationwide.
Frequently under the auspices of theatrical impresario David Belasco,
Sidney starred in Broadway comedy for twelve years (1918-30).
Having decided to abandon his successful stage career, he made the move to Hollywood
and played supporting roles as a free-lance actor for several years,
often cast as police officers, bankers or butlers.
In the mid-1930s, he joined 20th Century Fox under contract. The death of Charlie Chan impersonator Warner Oland
in 1938 presented him with an opportunity for a leading role and he
successfully auditioned for the part among 34 candidates screen-tested.
His expansive, avuncular personality made Sidney, arguably, the most
popular incarnation of the famous oriental detective with a noticeably strong
line in sarcastic wit -- usually directed at 'Number Two Son'. He played
Chan in 22 feature films beginning with
Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938),
and ending with The Trap (1946). The
first 11 Charlie Chan outings were produced by 20th Century Fox Studios.
All of them were box office hits. However, by 1942, the quality of the series began to decline.
With America's entry into the Second World War, overseas markets began to dwindle.
Fox retired the series, but two years later, in 1944, sold
the character rights to the 'poverty row' company Monogram Pictures.
This inevitably resulted in poorer scripts and lower production values.
Moreover, after years of being typecast as Charlie Chan and given few
opportunities to expand his range as an actor, Sidney's performances
also became less defined and more automatic. While filming the last
three Charlie Chan installments (Shadows Over Chinatown (1946),
Dangerous Money (1946), and The Trap (1946)), the actor became increasingly incapacitated by ill-health which resulted in extra screen time for his co-stars Mantan Moreland
and Victor Sen Yung. After being
bedridden for several months, he passed away at his Hollywood home from
intestinal cancer on February 12, 1947 at age 72.