Edwin Sylvester Luke (July 23, 1911 – January 18, 1986) was a Chinese American character actor who had a career in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. He played Charlie Chan's Number Four Son, Eddie Chan, in the 1945 feature "The Jade Mask", starring Sydney Toler. He was the son of first generation Chinese American Lee Luke (born in San Francisco in 1880) and the younger brother of actor Keye Luke.[1][2] He was one of three Chinese Americans - the first cohort - to receive Bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Washington in 1936. While a student there, he played on the championship team in the Northwest Chinese Basketball Tournament. Subsequently, he was the first Chinese American member of the International Typographical Union (Los Angeles #174) in 1941. In addition to acting, he also worked for The Hollywood Reporter as a typographer, writer, editor and later forged a successful career as a social worker for Los Angeles County.[3] In the 2012 award winning short film "Keye Luke", by Taiwanese-American Director Timothy Tau, Edwin Luke was portrayed by actor Archie Kao.
Edwin Luke | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edwin Sylvester Luke July 23, 1911 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | January 18, 1986 (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of Washington |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, journalist, typographer, social worker |
| Spouse | Sun Lin “Lennie” Wong (1914–1986) |
| Relatives | Keye Luke (brother) |
Filmography edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | The Jade Mask | Eddie Chan | |
| 1945 | Secret Agent X-9 | Japanese Sailor | Serial, Uncredited |
| 1945 | First Yank Into Tokyo | Ling Wan | Uncredited |
| 1947 | Singapore | Clerk | Uncredited |
| 1953 | Forbidden | Chinese Clerk | Uncredited |
| 1954 | The Shanghai Story | Police Officer | Uncredited |
| 1955 | Blood Alley | Feng's #2 Nephew | Uncredited |
| 1956 | The King and I | Messenger | Uncredited |
| 1957 | The Seventh Sin | Houseboy | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Live Fast, Die Young | Phillip | Uncredited, (final film role) |
References edit
- ^ Dixon, Hugh (7 May 1945). "Monday Wash". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
- ^ California, Jenny Cho and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern (2013). Chinese in Hollywood. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738599731.
- ^ "With Islanders on the Mainland". The Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 27 Apr 1942. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
- Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files (2022), "Dorothy S. Luke Lee: Born in Seattle". https://chineseexclusionfiles.com/2022/08/21/dorothy-s-luke-dee-born-in-seattle/
- Franks, Joel (2016). Asian-American Sports: A Century of Sport, Community and Culture. Jefferson, NC: Macfarland and Co.
- Luke, Allan (2018). R. Hammer; D. Kellner (eds.). "Another Ethnic Autobiography? Childhood and the cultural economy of looking". Media/Cultural Studies: Critical Approaches. New York: Peter Lang: 285–300.
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