Charlie Chan

Inspector Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police Department was created by Earl Derr Biggers and featured in a series of mystery novels in the 1920s and 1930s. The success of the novels led to movies, comic books, and radio and television shows.

According to Wikipedia, Biggers was moved to conceive the character of a Chinese detective on the side of law and justice to counter some of the pernicious stereotypes of the Chinese of the time (some of which persist to this day) as malevolent and inscrutable, as illustrated by the notion of the "yellow peril" and the fictional character of "Fu Manchu." The character itself was inspired in part by a real-life Hawaiian police detective of Chinese descent, Apana Chang, who compiled an impressive record of clearing cases, as today's parlance goes, in the first part of the Twentieth Century.

Chan is a loving family man, father of a large brood, given to mouthing quotations (often of dubious provenance) of what "Confucius say." In movies and broadcast shows, he is usually accompanied by one of his sons, who provides comic relief, plus the occasional insight. His opponents tend to underestimate him, but, ultimately, through his powers of observation, his patient pursuit of truth, and his knowledge of human nature, he lays the bad guy by the heels.

To learn more, visit The Charlie Chan Family Home fan site.

Series description provided by Frank Bell.