Editing Keye Luke (section)

==Acting career==
Luke made his film debut for [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] in ''[[The Painted Veil (1934 film)|The Painted Veil]]'' (1934), and played his first major role, as [[Charlie Chan]]'s eldest son, Lee Chan (called "Number One Son" by his father) in ''[[Charlie Chan in Paris]]'' (1935). He became a regular in the series where Lee alternately helped and distracted his father in each of his murder cases. Lee is culturally American and was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 100-metre swimming in ''[[Charlie Chan at the Olympics]]'' (1937). 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]]'' (1938), 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 (fictional detective)|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 (literary character)#Film series|The Falcon]]'' series and ''[[Mexican Spitfire]]''. Luke also worked at [[Universal Pictures]], where he played the valet/chauffeur [[Kato (The Green Hornet)|Kato]], the title character's sidekick in its ''[[The Green Hornet#Film serials|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 Dastagir|Sabu]] in the serial ''[[Lost City of the Jungle]]'' (1946).

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 (1948 film)|The Feathered Serpent]]'' (1948), along with "Number Two Son" Tommy Chan ([[Victor Sen Yung]]) in their only appearance together, and ''[[Sky Dragon]]'' (1949). 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 (1969 film)|The Chairman]]'' (1969) starring Gregory Peck. He [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbed]] the voice of the evil Mr. Han (played by [[Shih Kien]]) in ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' (1973) 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 (1990 film)|Alice]]'' (1990).

Luke also worked extensively in television, making numerous guest appearances, including four on ''[[The F.B.I. (TV series)|The F.B.I.]]'' and seven TV movies. He was a regular cast member in two short lived [[sitcoms]], ''[[Anna and the King (TV series)|Anna and the King]]'' (1972) starring [[Yul Brynner]] and ''[[Sidekicks (TV series)|Sidekicks]]'' (TV 1986–87). He appeared as Lin Fong (a jade merchant) in an episode of ''[[Dragnet (1967 TV series)|Dragnet 1967]]''.

In 1972, he played the voice of Charlie Chan, in the [[animated television series]] ''[[The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan]]'' (1972-73), becoming the first actor of Chinese descent to play the role. He voiced other animated characters including Brak in ''[[Space Ghost (TV series)|Space Ghost]]'' (1966-68) and Zoltar/The Great Spirit/Colonel Cronus in ''[[Battle of the Planets]]'' (1978-80).

Luke played Master Po in the television series ''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)|Kung Fu]]'' (1972–1975). 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<ref name =Okuda/> of the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' entitled "[[Whom Gods Destroy (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Whom Gods Destroy]]<ref>''[[The Star Trek Encyclopedia]]'' by [[Michael Okuda]] and [[Denise Okuda]], Pocket Books, 1999 edition, p. 89 & p. 714</ref> (1969),<ref name =Okuda>''[[The Star Trek Encyclopedia]]'' by [[Michael Okuda]] and [[Denise Okuda]], Pocket Books, 1999 edition, p. 696,</ref> and was originally cast as Doctor [[Noonien Soong]] in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[Brothers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Brothers]]"; [[Brent Spiner]] ultimately took over the role<ref>https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/brent-spiner-star-trek-the-next-generation-reboot-book-interview</ref> after Luke became ill.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

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."