Media History Digital Library (1944)

J{ny&JjuJui ARTIST, actor, mu¬ sician, Keye Luke, who plays Lionel Barrymore's Oriental assistant medico in the Dr. Gil¬ lespie pictures, is the sum total of many talents. As an actor he is one of the most sought after players in the screen capital. As an artist, he has won international fame with his exquisite black and white drawings. In the Oriental vein, their delicate traceries are reminiscent of the renowned pen and ink drawings of Aubrey Beardsley. Keye is the only member of his family born in China; his brothers and sisters having been all born in this country. Keye's parents were in China on a pleasure and business visit when he was born in Canton, but when he was three months old they returned to San Francisco, where Keye's father conducted an Oriental art store. It was as a child, wandering about among the art objects in his father's store, that Keye was inspired to draw, patterning his work after the designs of ancient craftsmen repre¬ sented in the porcelains, carvings, statues and other art pieces in the shop. Plans had been made to send Keye to Yale, but his father's untimely death changed these plans. They moved to Seattle, where Keye entered the University of Washington, study¬ ing architecture and design. He also studied music under Alexander Mirsky. Soon the young Chinese student discovered that his talent had a value, and he branched out as a commercial artist, drawing illustra¬ tions for advertisements. Presently he was handling the accounts of a number of Seattle theaters. West Coast Theaters, noticing his work, prevailed upon him to come to Los Angeles. He drew advertising for Grauman's Chinese and other important theaters in the West Coast chain. He was engaged by RKO studios as an advertising artist, and then it was that fate pulled one of its pranks on Keye. A Chinese player speaking perfect English was needed for a role in a picture. Keye was signed for the part. He has been acting ever since. He illustrates in his spare time. Among other works he drew the illustrations for a deluxe edition of "Marco Polo," and his drawings in the Oriental vein have been exhibited in London and many American cities. Keye Luke, despite his Chinese heritage, is as American as ham and eggs. His English is as perfect as his Cantonese and Mandarin dialects, or his French and Spanish. He has all his life lived in the American manner. He plays a good game of baseball, which he enjoys; is a skillful boxer, having studied under experts, and recently began taking tap lessons from Joe Hickey, dance director, as well as a Chinese version of the rumba, to dance at army camp shows and possibly in a musical film. He also sings well. Xavier Cugat is one of Keye's close friends, and the rumba king is having his drummers teach the Chinese actor the intricate beats of the Conga drum as an aid to his newly created rumba routine. His fondest ambition is to return to China, after the war, to learn the secret of the ancient craftsmen who decorated and colored the rare ceramics of the Ming Dynasty. For years he has pondered this problem, remembering the art objects in his father's store, and has sev¬ eral theories regarding special earths and pigments which may have been used in the coloring and glazing. Recently he has been experimenting with a hormonious blend of Western and Chinese pictorial technique in some new paintings. Recently he was honored by being flie in¬ spiration of the first Chinese fan club in America. A group of Chinese-American girls in Columbus, Ohio, organized it, proclaimng Keye their favorite Chinese actor. Keye lives in a hillside home in North Holly¬ wood, likes to experiment in gardening, dab¬ bles a little at photography, is an avid reader. He and Lionel Barrymore like to test each others' knowledge of Coleridge poetry. He recently taught Barrymore how to write the Chinese alphabet. LIFELINES Born Keye Luke, Canton, China, June 18. Educated University of Washington; work¬ ed as commercial artist and illustrator. Pictures: Played Charlie Chan's eldest son in the Charlie Chan series with War¬ ner Oland; appeared in The Painted Veil, 1934; Oil For the Lamps of China, 1935; The Good Earth, 1937; International Settle¬ ment, 1938; North of Shanghai, 1939; The Green Hornet, Invisible Agent, A Yank on the Burma Road, Spy Ship, Across the Pa¬ cific, Tragedy at Midnight, 1942; Dr. Gil¬ lespie's New Assistant, Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case, Andy Hardy's Blonde Trou¬ ble, The Falcon's Brother, 1943; Three Men in White, 1944. [89]