Keye Luke
Keye Luke
Actor Keye Luke was born in China (he described himself as a "Cantonese Ham") and brought to the U.S. at age 3. Raised in Seattle, he attended Washington University. Following his graduation, he worked in the advertising department at RKO Radio Pictures, and also designed billboards and layout art for movie-theatre displays. After a bit part in a forgotten 1934 quickie called Ho for China, Luke was hired to appear in Greta Garbo's The Painted Veil (1934) when director Richard Boleslavsky put out a call for someone who could play an intellectual Chinese. In 1935, Luke was cast in Charlie Chan in Paris as Lee Chan, Number One son of the great detective; he would reprise this role in 12 subsequent Chan films. He also took over for Boris Karloff in Monogram's Mr. Wong series, starring in 1940's Phantom of Chinatown. During the early 1940s, Luke was cast opposite Lionel Barrymore in MGM's "Dr. Gillespie" series, playing one of Barrymore's rotating pool of interns. From 1958 through 1961, Luke appeared as Master Wang in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical Flower Drum Song. The actor's many TV appearances include recurring roles on Kentucky Jones, Anna and the King, and Kung Fu (as Master Po); he also supplied the voice of Charlie Chan in the 1972 Hanna-Barbera cartoon weekly The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan. Among Keye Luke's final film assignments were the two Gremlins pictures and a marvelous supporting part as a philosophical herb merchant in Woody Allen's Alice (1989). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmography of Keye Luke:
- Bowery Blitzkrieg with Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Warren Hull , Jack Mulhall
- Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood with Bruce Dern , Madeline Kahn , Art Carney , Phil Silvers , Ron Leibman , Teri Garr , Edward Ashley , Billy Barty , William Benedict , Edgar Bergen , Janet Blair , Joan Blondell , John Carradine , Jack Carter , Cyd Charisse , Jackie Coogan , Broderick Crawford , Yvonne DeCarlo , Gloria DeHaven , William Demarest , Andy Devine , Alice Faye , Fritz Feld , Stepin Fetchit , Rhonda Fleming , Eddie Jr. Foy , Shecky Greene , Huntz Hall , Dick Haymes , Sterling Holloway , Dorothy Lamour , Peter Lawford , Guy Madison , Victor Mature , Virginia Mayo , Mike Mazurki , Ethel Merman , Ann Miller , Ricardo Montalban , Dennis Morgan , Patricia Morison , Louis Nye , Walter Pidgeon , Aldo Ray , Ann Rutherford , Dean Stockwell , Regis Toomey , Rudy Vallee , Doodles Weaver , Jesse White , Henny Youngman , Milton Berle , Rory Calhoun , Tab Hunter , George Jessel , Fernando Lamas , Ken Murray , Henry Wilcoxon
- The Chairman with Gregory Peck , Anne Heywood , Arthur Hill , Burt Kwouk
- Around the World in 80 Days with David Niven , Cantinflas , Robert Newton , Shirley MacLaine , Charles Boyer , Joe E. Brown , Ronald Colman , Martine Carol , John Carradine , Charles Coburn , Melville Cooper , Noel Coward , Finlay Currie , Reginald Denny , Andy Devine , Marlene Dietrich , Fernandel , John Gielgud , Hermione Gingold , Jose Greco , Cedric Hardwicke , Trevor Howard , Glynis Johns , Buster Keaton , Evelyn Keyes , Peter Lorre , Edmund Lowe , Victor McLaglen , Mike Mazurki , John Mills , Alan Mowbray , Robert Morley , Jack Oakie , George Raft , Gilbert Roland , Cesar Romero , Frank Sinatra , Red Skelton , Basil Sydney , Ava Gardner , Chuck Hamilton , Roddy Hughes , Frederick Leister , Richard Loo , Tim McCoy , Jack Mulhall , Bill Shine , Philip vanZandt , Richard Wattis
Keye Luke Trivia
