Keye Luke


Keye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor, and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He portrayed Lee Chan, the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, the original Kato in the 1939–1941 Green Hornet film serials, Brak in the 1960s Space Ghost cartoons, Master Po in the television series Kung Fu, and Mr. Wing in the Gremlins films. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed by RKO, Universal Pictures, 20th Century-Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was one of the most prominent Asian actors of American cinema in the mid-20th century.

Early life

Luke's father, Lee Luke, was born in San Francisco in 1880, and traveled to China several times, where he married Keye's mother, Down Cook. Lee Luke established an art/import shop in Seattle Chinatown.
Born in Canton, China, during the Qing dynasty, Luke was raised in Seattle. He had four siblings who all moved from Seattle to California during the Great Depression. His younger brother Edwin Luke also became an actor in the Charlie Chan series. The Luke family includes Washington assistant attorney-general Wing Luke.
In Seattle, Luke attended Franklin High School, where he contributed cartoons and illustrations to school publications. He attended the University of Washington for a brief time, studying engineering. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944.

Career

Artist

Before becoming an actor, he was an artist in Seattle and, later, Hollywood. Luke worked on several of the murals inside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. He did some of the original artwork for the pressbook of the original King Kong. Luke also painted a mural for the casino set in The Shanghai Gesture.
He published a limited edition set of pen and ink drawings of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in the 1950s. He also created illustrations for the books The Unfinished Song of Achmed Mohammed by Earle Liederman, Blessed Mother Goose by Frank Scully and an edition of Messer Marco Polo by Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne. Other artwork completed by Luke included the dust jackets for books published in the 1950s and 1960s. It was through his studio art work that he was recruited for his earliest movie roles.

Acting

Luke made his film debut for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in The Painted Veil, and played his first major role, as Charlie Chan's eldest son, Lee Chan in Charlie Chan in Paris. He became a regular in the series, where Lee Chan alternately helped and distracted his father in each of his murder cases. Lee Chan is culturally American and was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 100-metre swimming in Charlie Chan at the Olympics. Luke appeared seven times as Lee Chan opposite Warner Oland's Charlie Chan. He left the Charlie Chan series in 1938, shortly after Oland died. The unfinished Oland-Luke film Charlie Chan at the Ringside was completed as Mr. Moto's Gamble, with Luke now opposite Peter Lorre.
Luke worked prolifically with several Hollywood studios. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cast him in a recurring role in its Dr. Kildare film series, and Monogram Pictures featured him in its Frankie Darro comedies and starred him as Mr. Wong in Phantom of Chinatown. Unlike Boris Karloff, who preceded him in the Mr. Wong role, Luke played the detective without any exotic touches. His Mr. Wong, of Chinese descent and able to speak Chinese, was otherwise an ordinary American detective with no trace of a foreign accent.
RKO Radio Pictures used Luke in its The Falcon series and Mexican Spitfire. Luke also worked at Universal Pictures, where he played the valet/chauffeur Kato, the title character's sidekick in its Green Hornet serials. Universal mounted a low-budget serial consisting largely of action footage from older films; Luke was hired to match old footage of Sabu in the serial Lost City of the Jungle.
Luke returned to the Chan mysteries, which were then being produced by Monogram and starred Roland Winters as Chan. "Number One Son" appeared in the last two Chan features, The Feathered Serpent, along with "Number Two Son" Tommy Chan in their only appearance together, and Sky Dragon. In both of these films, Luke was older than the actor playing his father. Luke had a featured Broadway role in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song, directed by Gene Kelly in 1958. In the original cast album he sang the part of Mr. Wang, the family patriarch.
Luke continued to play character parts in motion pictures. He had a featured role in The Chairman starring Gregory Peck. He dubbed the voice of the evil Mr. Han in Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee. Luke played the mysterious old Chinatown shopowner Mr. Wing in the two Gremlins movies and he had a significant role in Woody Allen's movie Alice.
Luke also worked extensively in television, making numerous guest appearances, including four on The F.B.I. and seven TV movies. He was a regular cast member in two short lived sitcoms, Anna and the King starring Yul Brynner and Sidekicks. He appeared as Lin Fong in an episode of Dragnet 1967.
In 1972, he played the voice of Charlie Chan, in the animated television series The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, becoming the first actor of Chinese descent to play the role. He voiced other animated characters including Brak in Space Ghost and Zoltar/The Great Spirit/Colonel Cronus in Battle of the Planets.
Luke played Master Po in the television series Kung Fu. In 1985, Luke appeared as "The Ancient One" in the ABC soap opera General Hospital, for the Asian Quarter storyline, which showcased Luke and young actress Kimberly McCullough, whom he mentored. In 1986 Luke appeared in season two of The Golden Girls as Sophia's love interest. He played two separate roles in the sitcom Night Court, first as a defendant and later as Mac Robinson's grandfather-in-law.
Luke played Governor Donald Cory in episode 71 of the original Star Trek entitled "Whom Gods Destroy, and was originally cast as Doctor Noonien Soong in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Brothers"; Brent Spiner ultimately took over the role after Luke became ill.
In the Fractured Fairy Tales episode "The Enchanted Fly," one of the rewards offered to the man who would rescue and marry the princess is "an autographed picture of Keye Luke."

Honors

He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Asian/Pacific American Artists in 1986. For his contribution to show business, Luke was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on the sidewalk in front of 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

Death

Luke died of a stroke on January 12, 1991, at the age of 86. He is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.

Legacy

Writer and filmmaker Timothy Tau wrote, directed and produced a short film about Keye Luke's earlier life and work, entitled Keye Luke, which premiered at the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival as a Visual Communications Armed with a Camera Fellowship film. The film was also the Closing Night choice of the inaugural 2013 Seattle Asian American Film Festival. Feodor Chin starred as Keye Luke. Archie Kao starred as Edwin Luke, Keye Luke's brother. Kelvin Han Yee starred as Lee Luke, Keye Luke's father.

Filmography

Film

  • The Painted Veil as Shay Key Fong
  • Charlie Chan in Paris as Lee Chan
  • The Casino Murder Case as Taki - Casino Pageboy
  • Eight Bells as Interpreter
  • Murder in the Fleet as Consul's Secretary
  • Oil for the Lamps of China as Chinese soldier
  • Mad Love as Dr. Wong
  • Shanghai as Chinese Ambassador's son
  • Here's to Romance as Saito
  • Charlie Chan in Shanghai as Lee Chan
  • King of Burlesque Wong
  • Anything Goes as Ching
  • Charlie Chan at the Circus as Lee Chan
  • Charlie Chan at the Race Track as Lee Chan
  • Charlie Chan at the Opera as Lee Chan
  • Between Two Women as Dr. Lee
  • The Good Earth as Elder son
  • Charlie Chan at the Olympics as Lee Chan
  • Charlie Chan on Broadway as Lee Chan
  • Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo as Lee Chan
  • International Settlement as Dr. Wong
  • Mr. Moto's Gamble as Lee Chan
  • North of Shanghai as Jimmy Riley
  • Disputed Passage as Andrew Abbott
  • Sued for Libel as Chang Howe
  • Barricade as Ling - Cady's secretary
  • The Green Hornet as Kato
  • Wildcat Bus as Tai
  • Phantom of Chinatown as James Lee Wong
  • Comrade X as World Press Attendee with Glasses
  • No, No, Nanette as Sung, Oriental Cafe Manager
  • The Green Hornet Strikes Again! as Kato
  • Footlight Fever as Chinese Restaurant Waiter
  • The Gang's All Here as George Lee
  • They Met in Bombay as Mr. Toy
  • Bowery Blitzkrieg as Clancy
  • Passage from Hong Kong as Charlie, Chinese Waiter
  • Let's Go Collegiate as Buck Wing
  • Burma Convoy as Lin Taiyen
  • No Hands on the Clock as Severino
  • North to the Klondike as K. Wellington Wong
  • Mr. and Mrs. North as Kumi
  • A Yank on the Burma Road as Kim How
  • A Tragedy at Midnight as Ah Foo
  • Spy Ship as Koshimo Haru
  • Submarine Raider as Tesei
  • Invisible Agent as Surgeon
  • Somewhere I'll Find You as Thomas Chang
  • Across the Pacific as Steamship Office Clerk
  • Mexican Spitfire's Elephant as Lao Lee - Chinese Magician
  • The Falcon's Brother as Jerry - Gay's Houseboy
  • Destination Unknown as Secretary
  • Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant as Dr. Lee Wong Howe
  • Journey for Margaret as Japanese Statesman
  • The Adventures of Smilin' Jack as Capt. Wing
  • Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case as Dr. Lee Wong Howe
  • Salute to the Marines as Flashy Logaz
  • Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble as Dr. Lee Wong Howe
  • Three Men in White as Dr. Lee Wong Howe
  • Dragon Seed
  • Between Two Women as Dr. Lee Wong Howe
  • Secret Agent X-9 as Ah Fong
  • First Yank into Tokyo as Haan Soo
  • How Doooo You Do!!! as Chinese Detective
  • Tokyo Rose as Charlie Otani
  • Lost City of the Jungle as Tal Shan
  • Dark Delusion as Dr. Lee Wong Howe
  • Sleep, My Love as Jimmie Lin
  • Waterfront at Midnight as Loy
  • The Feathered Serpent as Lee Chan
  • Sky Dragon as Lee Chan
  • Manhandled as Chinese Laundry Owner
  • Young Man with a Horn as Ramundo the Houseboy
  • Macao
  • The Congregation
  • Hong Kong as Taxicab Driver
  • Fair Wind to Java as Pidada
  • South Sea Woman as Japanese Deck Officer
  • World for Ransom as Wong
  • Hell's Half Acre as Police Chief Dan
  • The Bamboo Prison as Comrade-Instructor Li Ching
  • Godzilla Raids Again as Shoichi Tsukioka
  • Love is a Many-Splendored Thing as Lee Foo
  • Around the World in 80 Days as old man at Yokohama travel office
  • Rodan as Narrator
  • Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst as Capt. Kuo Tai
  • Gigantis the Fire Monster as VA for Shoichi Tsukioka
  • Nobody's Perfect as Gondai-San
  • Project X as Sen Chiu
  • The Chairman as Prof. Soong Li
  • Noon Sunday as Colonel Oong
  • The Hawaiians as Foo Sen
  • Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood as Cook in kitchen
  • The Amsterdam Kill as Chung Wei
  • Just You and Me, Kid as Dr. Device
  • Wonders of China at Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center as philosopher Li Bai
  • Gremlins as Grandfather
  • A Fine Mess as Ishimine
  • Dead Heat as Mr. Thule
  • The Mighty Quinn as Dr. Raj
  • Gremlins 2: The New Batch as Mr. Wing
  • Alice as Dr. Yang