12 Facts About Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels.

The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes and villains like Fu Manchu.

Many stories feature Charlie Chan traveling the world beyond Hawaii as he investigates mysteries and solves crimes.

Charlie Chan first appeared in Biggers' novels and then was featured in a number of media.

In 1931, for the first film centering on Chan, Charlie Chan Carries On, the Fox Film Corporation cast Swedish actor Warner Oland; the film became popular, and Fox went on to produce 15 more Chan films with Oland in the title role.

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Charlie Chan was seen as an attractive character, portrayed as intelligent, heroic, benevolent, and honorable; this contrasted the common depiction of Asians as evil or conniving which dominated Hollywood and national media in the early 20th century.

Charlie Chan did not begin to write that novel until four years later when he was inspired to add a Chinese-American police officer to the plot after reading in a newspaper of Chang Apana and Lee Fook, two detectives on the Honolulu police force.

Again, the detective's role was minimal, with Charlie Chan appearing only in the last ten minutes of the film.

In 1955, Producciones Cub-Mex produced a Mexican version of Charlie Chan called El Monstruo en la Sombra, starring Orlando Rodriguez as "Chan Li Po".

On radio, Charlie Chan was heard in several different series on three networks between 1932 and 1948 for the 20th Century Fox Radio Service.

Some find the character to be a positive role model, while others argue that Charlie Chan is an offensive stereotype.

Charlie Chan's character has come under fire for "nuggets of fortune cookie Confucius" and the "counterfeit proverbs" which became so widespread in popular culture.