Charlie Chan Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional character created by Earl Derr Biggers. Biggers loosely based Chan on Honolulu, Hawaii, detective Chang Apana, and conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes and villains like Fu Manchu. Chan is a detective for the Honolulu police, though many stories feature Chan traveling the world as he investigates mysteries and solves crimes. Chan first appeared in Biggers' novels, then was featured in a number of media. Over four dozen films featuring Charlie Chan were made, beginning in 1926. The character was first portrayed by East Asian
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan almost immediately, as it was deemed that the Asian cast's thick accents would be too confusing for young viewers to understand. With the new cast in place, old episodes were re-dubbed using the new voices. Prolific voice actor Keye Luke – who played Charlie's Number One Son in many of the Charlie Chan movie serials of the 1930s and 1940s – provided the voice for Mr. (Charlie) Chan, thus making him the first actor of Chinese ancestry to take the role; also thanks to Luke, Charlie now spoke whole sentences (as opposed to the original film series, in which he