Sidney Toler

Sidney Toler
Toler in 1930
Born	Hooper G. Toler Jr. (1874-04-28)April 28, 1874 Warrensburg, Missouri, U.S.
Died	February 12, 1947(1947-02-12) (aged 72) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Burial place	Highland Cemetery, Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Occupations	Actor playwright theatre director
Years active	1903–1947
Spouses	Vivian Marston ​ (m. 1906⁠–⁠1943)​ Vera Tattersall Orkow ​ ​ (m. 1943⁠–⁠1947)​

Sidney Toler (born Hooper G. Toler Jr., April 28, 1874 – February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his portrayal of the Chinese-American detective in 22 films made between 1938 and 1946. Before becoming Chan, Toler played supporting roles in 50 motion pictures, and was a highly regarded comic actor on the Broadway stage.^[1]

Early life and career

Sidney Toler in 1920

Hooper G. Toler Jr., who was called Sidney Toler from childhood, was born April 28, 1874, in Warrensburg, Missouri.^[2][1][3] The Toler family moved to Anthony, Kansas in the 1880s, then to Wichita, Kansas.^[4] He showed an early interest in the theater, acting in an amateur production of Tom Sawyer at the age of seven.^[1] He left the University of Kansas and became a professional actor in 1892, playing the heavy in a performance of a melodrama called The Master Man in Kansas City.^[1][5][6] In 1894, he joined the Corse Payton company and toured for four years. His success in leading roles at the Lee Avenue Academy in Brooklyn brought an invitation to join the company of Julia Marlowe. He toured with her for two years, playing the Duke of Buckingham in When Knighthood Was in Flower.^[1][7]

In Brooklyn, Toler played leads with the Columbia Theatre Stock Company and sang baritone with the Orpheum Theatre's operatic stock company. In 1903, he made his Broadway debut in the musical comedy, The Office Boy.^[1][8]

Over the next nine years, Toler had his own theatre companies in Portland, Maine, and Halifax, Nova Scotia—at one point having 12 stock companies on the road. He began a prolific career as a playwright, writing The Belle of Richmond, The Dancing Master, The House on the Sands, and more than 70 other plays. One particular success was a war play called The Man They Left Behind, which was presented by 67 companies in a period of three months and by 18 different companies in a single week.^[1][7]

In 1921, Paramount Pictures released two films based on Toler's plays: The Bait, adapted from The Tiger Lady,^[9] and A Heart to Let, based on Agatha's Aunt, which Toler adapted from a novel by Harriet Lummis Smith.^[10] Three of his plays reached Broadway: Golden Days (1921), which starred Helen Hayes, The Exile (1923), and Ritzy (1930).^[1][8]

Toler earned fame as an actor on the Broadway stage, working for David Belasco for 14 years.^[1] He was best known for his comedy roles,^[11] from the detective-butler in On the Hiring Line (1919)—a performance that The New York Times called "one of the comedy high spots of the week"^[7]—to Cool Kelly the iceman in It's a Wise Child (1929–30).^[1]

In 1929, Toler made his first film, Madame X,^[12] and in 1931, after the Boston run of It's a Wise Child, he moved to Hollywood.^[1] He played supporting roles in films for various studios, including White Shoulders (1931), Tom Brown of Culver (1932), Blonde Venus (1932), The Phantom President (1932), Speak Easily (1932),The World Changes (1933), Spitfire (1934), Operator 13 (1934), The Call of the Wild (1935), Three Godfathers (1936), The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), Double Wedding (1937), The Mysterious Rider (1938), and Law of the Pampas (1939).^[12]

Charlie Chan series

Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan in Dangerous Money (1946)

Since 1931 Twentieth Century-Fox had been producing very successful detective mysteries featuring the Oriental sleuth Charlie Chan. They became vehicles for character actor Warner Oland, who starred in these pictures until his death on August 6, 1938. The studio then began the search for a new Charlie Chan. Thirty-four actors were tested before the studio decided on Toler. Twentieth Century-Fox announced its choice on October 16, 1938,^[13] and filming began October 24 on Charlie Chan in Honolulu, which had been originally scripted for Warner Oland and Keye Luke.

Toler's interpretation of the Chinese detective in Charlie Chan in Honolulu was very well received. Box Office Digest: "Charlie Chan is in safe hands. Charlie will go marching on to cheerful tunes in the person of Sidney Toler. It isn't an imitation Warner Oland characterization that Toler delivers, but it is a thoroughly satisfying, neatly shaded Charlie Chan."^[14] Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin: "As for Toler, he does a superlative job. He has sensibly formulated his own characterization, a lighter, more affable and less formal Charlie Chan. We think audiences will accept him."^[15] Motion Picture Herald: "[The preview was] attended by top-ranking executives, the most sought-after reviewers and commentators, and invited guests... quite a few of these strangers to Chan went into ecstasies."^[16]

Besides Toler, another change was made in the series. Replacing Keye Luke as Chan's Number One Son, Lee, was Sen Yung as Number Two Son, Jimmy. Toler's Chan, rather than merely mimicking the character that Oland had portrayed, had a somewhat sharper edge that was well suited for the rapid changes of the times, both political and cultural. When needed, Charlie Chan now displayed overt sarcasm, usually toward his son Jimmy.

Through four years and 11 films, Toler played Charlie Chan for Twentieth Century-Fox. In 1942, though, following the completion of Castle in the Desert, Fox concluded the series. The wartime collapse of the international film market may have been a factor, but the main reason was that Fox was curtailing virtually all of its low-budget series. Fox's other "B" series — Jane Withers, Michael Shayne, and The Cisco Kid — also ended that year.^[17] Only Laurel and Hardy remained in Fox's "B" unit, until it shut down at the end of 1944.

With Fox no longer producing Chan films, Toler bought the screen rights to the Charlie Chan character from Eleanor Biggers Cole, the widow of Chan's creator, Earl Derr Biggers. Toler had hoped that if he could find someone to produce new Charlie Chan films, starring himself, Fox would distribute them. Fox declined, having already dropped the series, but Toler sold the idea to Monogram Pictures, a lower-budget film studio. Philip N. Krasne, a Hollywood lawyer who invested in film productions, partnered with James S. Burkett to produce the Monogram Chans.

With the release of Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944), the effects of a more limited budget were apparent. Production values were no match for those of Fox; Monogram's budgets were typically about 40% of what Fox's had been. In fairness to Monogram, the new Toler films continued to please exhibitors and moviegoers, with The Chinese Cat, The Shanghai Cobra, and Dark Alibi often cited as favorites by fans. Cast changes were again made: Sen Yung left Hollywood to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, ultimately earning the rank of captain. Yung's Number Two Son Jimmy was replaced by Benson Fong as Number Three Son Tommy (and once by Number Four Son Eddie -- Edwin Luke, real-life brother of Number One Son Keye Luke). Mantan Moreland played the ever-present and popular Birmingham Brown, who brought comedy relief (and African American audiences) to the series. Monogram's Charlie Chan films were profitable and successful; they boasted tricky screenplays with many surprise culprits and murder devices, and frequent appearances by "name" character actors.

Later years

After 1943 Sidney Toler was playing Charlie Chan exclusively, except for a single instance in 1945. The Fred Allen comedy It's in the Bag! cast Toler as a plainclothes detective who speaks without prepositions -- like Charlie Chan.

By the end of 1946, age and illness were affecting Toler. Diagnosed with cancer, the 72-year-old Toler was so ill during the filming of Dangerous Money (1946) and Shadows Over Chinatown (1946) that he could hardly walk. Monogram hired Toler's original foil, "Number Two Son" Sen Yung (now billed as Victor Sen Young) for Toler's last three films, quite probably to ease the burden on Toler; the comic byplay of Young and Moreland relieved Toler of much of the action. According to Mantan Moreland, Toler gallantly refused to leave the series: "Mr. Toler couldn't stand for very long and had to rest a lot. I told him he should be in a hospital. And he said to me, 'Manny, if I quit the picture I'll put all these people out of work.'"^[18] Toler mustered enough strength to complete his last film, The Trap. The film was scripted and staged with Toler's fragile physical condition in mind: Toler's scenes are limited, and he doesn't make his entrance until 16 minutes into the picture. The Trap was filmed in July and August of 1946, and released in November that same year. Toler's Monogram output matched his Fox output: 11 films for each studio.

Personal life

Sidney Toler and Viva Tattersall in Jamaica 1943

On August 29, 1906, Toler married actress Vivian Marston (born Josephine Gasper) of Boston, Massachusetts.^[19][20][21] She died in Hollywood on October 7, 1943, after an illness of seven months.^[22] Four weeks later, he married sculptor Vera Tattersall Orkow,^[23] a British-born actress credited as Viva Tattersall when Toler and she performed together and co-wrote the plays Dress Parade (1929) and Ritzy (1930).^[24][25] Their marriage lasted until Toler's death.

Sidney Toler died on February 12, 1947, at his home in Los Angeles from intestinal cancer.^[1] He is buried at Highland Cemetery, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA. Monogram continued the Charlie Chan series with actor Roland Winters, who appeared in six Chan features.

Filmography

Poster for The Scarlet Clue (1945)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1929	Madame X	Merivel	[12]
1929	The Gay Nineties; or, The Unfaithful Husband		Vitaphone Varieties release 811[26]: 37
1929	In the Nick of Time		Vitaphone Varieties release 897–898[26]: 45
1930	The Devil's Parade		Vitaphone Varieties release 992[26]: 52
1931	White Shoulders	William Sothern	[12]
1931	Strictly Dishonorable	Mulligan	[12]
1932	Strangers in Love	Detective McPhail	[12]
1932	Radio Patrol	Tom Koegh	[12]
1932	Is My Face Red?	Tony Mugatti	[12]
1932	Tom Brown of Culver	Major Wharton	[12]
1932	Speak Easily	Stage director	[12]
1932	Blondie of the Follies	Pete	[12]
1932	Blonde Venus	Detective Wilson	[12]
1932	The Phantom President	Aikenhead	[12]
1932	Over the Counter	Mr. Drake	Short film[27]
1932	He Learned About Women	Wilson	[12]
1933	The Billion Dollar Scandal	Carter B. Moore	[12]
1933	King of the Jungle	Neil Forbes	[12]
1933	The Narrow Corner		[12]
1933	The Way to Love	Pierre	[12]
1933	The World Changes	Hodgens	[12]
1934	Massacre	Thomas Shanks	[12]
1934	Dark Hazard	John Bright	[12]
1934	Spitfire	Jim Sawyer	[12]
1934	Registered Nurse	Frankie Sylvestrie	[12]
1934	The Trumpet Blows	Pepe Sancho	[12]
1934	Upperworld	Moran	[12]
1934	Operator 13	Major Allan Pinkerton	[12]
1934	Here Comes the Groom	Lieutenant Detective Weaver	[12]
1935	Romance in Manhattan	Police sergeant	[12]
1935	The Daring Young Man	Warden Palmer	[12]
1935	Champagne for Breakfast	Judge	[12]
1935	Orchids to You	Nick Corsini	[12]
1935	The Call of the Wild	Joe Groggins	[12]
1935	This Is the Life	Professor Lafcadio F. Breckenridge	[12]
1936	Three Godfathers	Professor Snape	[12]
1936	Give Us This Night	1st Carabiniere	[12]
1936	The Gorgeous Hussy	Daniel Webster	[12]
1936	Our Relations	Ship's captain	[12]
1936	The Longest Night	Captain Holt	[12]
1937	That Certain Woman	Detective Neely	[12]
1937	Double Wedding	Keogh	[12]
1938	Gold Is Where You Find It	Harrison McCooey	[12]
1938	Wide Open Faces	Sheriff	[12]
1938	One Wild Night	Lawton	[12]
1938	The Mysterious Rider	Frosty Kilburn	[12]
1938	If I Were King	Robin Turgis	[12]
1938	Up the River	Jeffrey Mitchell	[12]
1938	Charlie Chan in Honolulu	Charlie Chan	[12]
1939	Disbarred	G. L. "Mardy" Mardeen	[12]
1939	King of Chinatown	Dr. Chang Ling	[12]
1939	The Kid from Kokomo	Judge Bronson	[12]
1939	Charlie Chan in Reno	Charlie Chan	[12]
1939	Heritage of the Desert	Nosey	[12]
1939	Charlie Chan at Treasure Island	Charlie Chan	[12]
1939	Law of the Pampas	Fernando Ramiriez	[12]
1939	City in Darkness	Charlie Chan	[12]
1940	Charlie Chan in Panama	Charlie Chan	[12]
1940	Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise	Charlie Chan	[12]
1940	Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum	Charlie Chan	[12]
1940	Murder Over New York	Charlie Chan	[12]
1941	Dead Men Tell	Charlie Chan	[12]
1941	Charlie Chan in Rio	Charlie Chan	[12]
1942	Castle in the Desert	Charlie Chan	[12]
1942	A Night to Remember	Inspector Hankins	[12]
1943	The Adventures of Smilin' Jack	General Kai Ling	Serial[27]
1943	Isle of Forgotten Sins	Krogan	[12]
1943	White Savage	Wong	[12]
1944	Charlie Chan in the Secret Service	Charlie Chan	[12]
1944	The Chinese Cat	Charlie Chan	[12]
1944	Black Magic	Charlie Chan	[12]
1945	The Jade Mask	Charlie Chan	[12]
1945	It's in the Bag!	Detective Sully	[12]
1945	The Scarlet Clue	Charlie Chan	[12]
1945	The Shanghai Cobra	Charlie Chan	[12]
1946	The Red Dragon	Charlie Chan	[12]
1946	Dark Alibi	Charlie Chan	[12]
1946	Shadows Over Chinatown	Charlie Chan	[12]
1946	Dangerous Money	Charlie Chan	[12]
1946	The Trap	Charlie Chan	(final film role)[12]

References

1. "Sidney Toler Dies. Film Charlie Chan. Veteran Stage, Screen Star Played Chinese Detective Since 1939. Had Been Playwright". The New York Times. February 13, 1947. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
2. Sidney Toler. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database online]. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
3. Sidney Toler. Ancestry.com, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 [database online]. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2005. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
4. Sidney Toler; Kansas Historical Society
5. Katz, Ephraim (1998). Klein, Fred; Nolen, Ronald Dean (eds.). The Film Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 1362–1363. ISBN 0-06-273492-X.
6. Hanaford, Harry Prescott; Hines, Dixie, eds. (1914). Who's who in Music and Drama. New York: H. P. Hanaford. p. 303. OCLC 21786350. Hooper G. Toler.
7. "Who's Who on the Stage". The New York Times. November 2, 1919. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
8. League, The Broadway. "Sidney Toler – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
9. "The Bait". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
10. "A Heart to Let". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
11. Toler, Sidney (May 1930). "There's an Urge in Acting". Theatre Magazine. p. 36.
12. "Sidney Toler". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 5, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
13. Motion Picture Daily, "Sidney Toler Gets Charlie Chan Role," Oct. 17, 1938, p. 1.
14. Box Office Digest, Dec. 20, 1938, p. 7.
15. Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, Dec. 31, 1938, p. 7.
16. Motion Picture Herald, Dec. 24, 1938, p. 41.
17. MacGillivray, Scott. Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward. Second edition: New York: iUniverse, 2009 ISBN 978-1440172397; first edition: Lanham, Maryland: Vestal Press, 1998.
18. Mantan Moreland to author James L. Neibaur, 1971 interview.
19. Josephine Gaspar. Ancestry.com, New York, New York, Marriage Index 1866–1937 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
20. Briscoe, John (1908). The Actors' Birthday Book. New York: Moffat, Yard and Company. p. 54.
21. Hooper G. Toler Jr. Ancestry.com, U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907–1918 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
22. "Mrs. Sidney Toler". The New York Times. October 9, 1943. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
23. "Sidney Toler of Screen Weds". The New York Times. November 12, 1943. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
24. "Gossip of the Rialto". The New York Times. January 19, 1930. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
25. League, The Broadway. "Viva Tattersall – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
26. Liebman, Roy (2003). Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0786446971.
27. "Sidney Toler". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.

External links

• Sidney Toler at IMDb
• Sidney Toler at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sidney Toler at Find a Grave