Luke Chan
{{short description|Canadian actor}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Luke Chan
| birth_name = Luke Tin Chan
| birth_date = April 16, 1896
| birth_place = Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| death_date = September 30, 1983
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, USA
| alma_mater = Columbia University
| occupation = Actor
| spouse = Mary Vanvliet (m. 1936)
}}
Luke Chan was a Canadian character actor and designer who worked in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a prominent figure in the development of Los Angeles's Chinatown neighborhood.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3AbAgAAQBAJ&q=%22luke+chan%22+actor&pg=PA39|title=Chinese in Hollywood|last=California|first=Jenny Cho and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern|date=2013|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738599731|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/143412848/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title=Chinese Actors in Great Demand in Movie Studios|last=|first=|date=30 Aug 1942|website=The Pittsburgh Press|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}
Biography
Chan was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to parents of Chinese origin. His father, Chan Yu Tan, was a minister and his mother was a doctor.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/499932021/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title=Chinese Minister Dies at 85|last=|first=|date=5 Oct 1948|website=The Province|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}
Chan graduated from Columbia University, and later married Mary Alice Van Vleet in 1936; she died several years later. He was known for his intellectual manner, and he struck up an enduring friendship with actress Elissa Landi.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/261104977/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title=Luke Chan Discovers Hollywood No Place for Philosophers|last=|first=|date=29 Jul 1935|website=Press and Sun-Bulletin|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}} Like a lot of Chinese actors during this period, he often played Japanese roles.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/593989843/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title=Chinese Actors Are Busy|last=|first=|date=27 Dec 1942|website=The Knoxville News-Sentinel|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}
Chan opened the Chinese Junk Cafe in Los Angeles's Chinatown in the late 1930s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/380698284/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title=Chinatown Rises Anew|last=|first=|date=29 May 1938|website=The Los Angeles Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}} He and fellow actor Johnson Sing spent time designing a large replica of a Chinese pirate ship that adorned the restaurant at 733 N. Main St. (The building later burned down in a fire.){{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/385382347/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title=Pirate Junk in China City|last=|first=|date=29 Mar 1939|website=The Los Angeles Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JOMKe-Nx7ZYC&q=%22luke+chan%22+%22china+city%22&pg=PA56|title=Chinatown and China City in Los Angeles|last1=Cho|first1=Jenny|last2=California|first2=Chinese Historical Society of Southern|date=2011|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738581651|language=en}} Chan also served as president of the neighborhood's China City Merchants' Association and as Chinatown's unofficial mayor, and helped design the look of the area.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/523998958/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title=Working Mayor|last=|first=|date=15 Nov 1942|website=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9L6rDwAAQBAJ&q=%22luke+chan%22+%22china+city%22&pg=PT200|title=Tourism Fictions, Simulacra and Virtualities|last1=Gravari-Barbas|first1=Maria|last2=Graburn|first2=Nelson|last3=Staszak|first3=Jean-Francois|date=2019-08-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781000681178|language=en}}
Selected filmography
- Saigon (1948)
- Singapore (1947)
- Ladies' Man (1947)
- The Show-Off (1946)
- The Well Groomed Bride (1946)
- Secret Agent X-9 (1945)
- God Is My Co-Pilot (1945)
- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
- Dragon Seed (1944)
- The Chinese Cat (1944)
- The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
- The Purple Heart (1944){{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/419386738/?terms=%22luke+chan%22+actor|title='The Purple Heart' Proves Powerful and Dramatic War Film|last=|first=|date=1 Apr 1944|website=The Gazette|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}
- The Man from Down Under (1943)
- Behind the Rising Sun (1943)
- Night Plane from Chungking (1943)
- Mission to Moscow (1943)
- The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (1943)
- Destination Unknown (1942)
- Somewhere I'll Find You (1942)
- Wake Island (1942)
- Submarine Raider (1942)
- Remember Pearl Harbor (1942)
- A Yank on the Burma Road (1942)
- They Met in Bombay (1941)
- The Real Glory (1939)
- Too Hot to Handle (1938)
- West of Shanghai (1937)
- Roaming Lady (1936)
- Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935)
- Without Regret (1935)
- The Mysterious Mr. Wong (1934)
- Now and Forever (1934)
- The Secrets of Wu Sin (1932)
- War Correspondent (1932)