Chester Gan

Chester Gan (1908-1959) was an American character actor of Chinese descent who worked in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Chester Bue Gan
Born	(1908-07-04)July 4, 1908[citation needed] Grass Valley, California, U.S.
Died	June 29, 1959(1959-06-29) (aged 50) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1932–1959
Spouse	Mei Heong Lee

Biography

Chester Gan was born in Grass Valley, California, to Wing Hong Gan and Wong Shee. He went to China for a university education, where he developed an interest in acting.^[1] Upon his return to the United States, he headed to Los Angeles, where he worked as an engineer.^[1]

In 1932, Gan's acting career in Hollywood began as a Chinese guard in Secrets of the French Police. Gan played almost a hundred roles, typically portraying Asian stereotypes, from the Chinese cook or waiter to the Japanese enemy soldier. (He once joked that as an actor, he was responsible for hundreds of on-screen deaths.) He also worked as an interpreter and a consultant on Chinese culture and customs on Hollywood films like The Good Earth.^[2][3]

Aside from his acting career, owned a slipper store and a restaurant in Los Angeles's Chinatown neighborhood.^[4] World War II put a pause on his career as an actor, as he joined the navy.^[5][6] He died in San Francisco—where he operated a photography business—in 1959 after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife, his four children, and his father.^[7]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1931	Prestige	Soldier in Indo-China	Uncredited
1932	War Correspondent	Bandit	Uncredited
1932	Secrets of the French Police	Chinese Guard	Uncredited
1933	The World Gone Mad	Alpha Delta - Houston's Servant	Uncredited
1933	Meet the Baron	Chinese Man	Uncredited
1934	Lazy River	Sam Kee's Henchman	Uncredited
1934	Monte Carlo Nights	Larry's Valet	Uncredited
1934	The Red Rider	Wing	Serial, Uncredited
1934	Fighting Through	Wong
1934	Tailspin Tommy	Flapjack - the Cook	Serial, Ch. 1, Uncredited
1934	The Mysterious Mr. Wong	Tung's Secret Service Agent	Uncredited
1935	The Case of the Curious Bride	Ping - Perry's Servant at Party	Uncredited
1935	Vagabond Lady	Japanese Fisherman	Uncredited
1935	Shadows of the Orient	Chinaman at Canton House	Uncredited
1935	China Seas	Rickshaw Boy	Uncredited
1935	Wanderer of the Wasteland	Ling
1935	The Bishop Misbehaves	Chinese Man Smoking	Uncredited
1935	Stormy	Chinaman	Uncredited
1935	Moonlight on the Prairie	Chinese Cook	Uncredited
1935	East of Java	Crewman	Uncredited
1935	Last of the Pagans	Chinese Cook	Uncredited
1936	The Adventures of Frank Merriwell	Lumber Camp Cook	Serial, Uncredited
1936	Drift Fence	Clarence	Uncredited
1936	Klondike Annie	Ship's Cook	Uncredited
1936	Sutter's Gold	Charlie - Chinese Waiter	Uncredited
1936	Small Town Girl	Wing	Uncredited
1936	The Country Beyond	Chinese Cook	Uncredited
1936	San Francisco	Jowl Lee	Uncredited
1936	Sea Spoilers	Oil
1936	Ace Drummond	Kai-Chek	Serial
1936	Mad Holiday	Vendor	Uncredited
1936	Hideaway Girl	Chinese cook
1936	Arizona Mahoney	Chinese Man at Sing-a-Long	Uncredited
1936	Crack-Up	House Boy	Uncredited
1936	Stowaway	Chinese Merchant	Uncredited
1936	After the Thin Man	Chinese Waiter	Uncredited
1937	The Mighty Treve	Chang
1937	The Good Earth	Teahouse Singer	Uncredited, (credited as Chester Gann)
1937	China Passage	Rooftop Marauder	Uncredited
1937	Slave Ship	Crew Member	Uncredited
1937	Wild West Days	Wong, 1st Cook	Serial, (Ch's. 4-5)
1937	West of Shanghai	Kung Nui
1937	Mannequin	Chinese Waiter	Uncredited
1937	Thank You, Mr. Moto	Wing	Uncredited
1937	Wells Fargo	Chinese Workman	Uncredited
1938	Love Is a Headache	Louie, Peter's Butler	Uncredited
1938	International Settlement	Green Dragon Proprietor	Uncredited
1938	Gold Is Where You Find It	Wong - McCooey's Servant	Uncredited
1938	Air Devils	Hotel Waiter	Uncredited
1938	Speed to Burn	Chung	Uncredited
1938	The Mexicali Kid	Mo Cort - Chinese Cook
1938	Too Hot to Handle	Chinese Sergeant	Uncredited
1938	Shadows Over Shanghai	Lun Sat Li
1939	North of Shanghai	Policeman 'C'
1939	Blackwell's Island	Wong, Prison Laundryman	Uncredited
1939	Nancy Drew... Reporter	Waiter	Uncredited
1939	The Mystery of Mr. Wong	Sing, the Butler
1939	King of Chinatown	Mr. Foo
1939	Torchy Runs for Mayor	Ling - Ward's Assistant	Uncredited
1939	No Place to Go	Cheng	Uncredited
1939	Barricade	Mongol Bandit Leader	Uncredited
1939	Westbound Stage	Charlie
1940	My Little Chickadee	Chinese Train Passenger	Uncredited
1940	'Til We Meet Again	Hong Kong Policeman	Uncredited
1940	Pals of the Silver Sage	Ling
1940	The Carson City Kid	Wong Lee
1940	Victory	Wang
1941	Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery	Henchman	Uncredited
1941	Man-Made Monster	Wong
1941	Singapore Woman	Waiter at Crow's Nest	Uncredited
1941	The Get-Away	Sam
1941	They Met in Bombay	Woo Tau Woo	Uncredited
1941	Rawhide Rangers	Sing Lo - the Cook
1941	Passage from Hong Kong	Chung
1941	The Maltese Falcon	Bit Part	Uncredited
1941	Burma Convoy	Keela
1942	All Through the Night	Gloves' Rescuer at Nazi Meeting	Uncredited
1942	A Yank on the Burma Road	Doctor	Uncredited
1942	To the Shores of Tripoli	Chinese Man Watching Parade	Uncredited
1942	Moontide	Henry Hirota	[8]
1942	The Tuttles of Tahiti	Emily's servant	Uncredited
1942	Escape from Hong Kong	Tamoto
1942	Submarine Raider	Yoshiwara	Uncredited
1942	Busses Roar	Yamanito
1942	Across the Pacific	Captain Higoto
1942	Flying Tigers	Mike the Mechanic
1942	Heart of the Golden West	Chinese Cook	Uncredited
1942	China Girl	Japanese Officer	Uncredited
1943	The Amazing Mrs. Holliday	Young Farmer	Uncredited
1943	China	Japanese General	[9]
1943	Crash Dive	Lee Wong	Uncredited
1943	Salute to the Marines	Japanese Officer	Uncredited
1959	Blood Alley	Ferry Boat Captain	Uncredited

References

1. "Chinese Comic in New Role at the Cameo". The Bristol Herald Courier. 30 Jun 1940. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
2. "Gan Chinese Teacher". Chattanooga Daily Times. 24 Dec 1935. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
3. "Gelatin Gleanings". The Baltimore Sun. 15 Mar 1936. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
4. "Gan Just Kidding When He's Killing". The Pittsburgh Press. 15 Apr 1941. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
5. "Buck Private Almost Becomes Japanese General". The Dispatch. 6 Feb 1943. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
6. Naval Aviation News. Chief of Naval Operations and Naval Air Systems Command, Navy Department. 1956.
7. "Chester Gan, Filmland Character Actor, Dies Here". The San Francisco Examiner. 30 Jun 1959. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
8. Crowther, Bosley (April 30, 1942). "Review1 -- No Title". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
9. "China (1943)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 16, 2018.

External links

• Chester Gan at IMDb
• Chester Gan at the TCM Movie Database
• Chester Gan at Rotten Tomatoes
• Asian-American Cinema Part II the 1930s at Amoeba.com (with images)