SIDNEY TOLER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Sidney Toler was born on April 28th, 1874 in Warrensburg, Missouri and from a very young age he developed an interest in acting.  At the age of seven he did his first amateur production in the stage play, "Tom Sawyer".  After completing High School and attending college he went on to pursue a career as a professional stage actor in Kansas City and also found work as a touring actor in 1890.   

He soon relocated to New York City and worked as a stage actor for about 30 years and even had the opportunity to co write and direct several plays such as, "Golden Days" (1921), "The Exile" (1923) and "Ritzy" (1930) among others.
 
It was not until 1929 that Toler had the chance to experience a different type of acting as a film actor when he debuted in, "Madame X" which lead to a number of other big screen appearances in such movies as, "Blonde Venus" (1932), "The Phantom President" (1932) and "Trigger" (1934).
 
His most well known role and greatest acting opportunity came in 1938 when he was cast by Twentieth Century Fox in the role of a new, Charlie Chan and his first episode as this character was in, "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" (1938).  He continued to portray this character in an additional eleven series until in 1942, Fox decided it was time to end the series. 

Toler was not yet ready to see this character be removed from the screen and therefore he was able to get a lower budget film studio, Monogram Pictures to in vest in the Charlie Chan films and in 1944, "Secret Service" was released, followed by the releases of "The Chinese Cat" and "The Shanghai Cobra".
 
Toler continued to work in the industry, however at the age of seventy two he was becoming very ill and was diagnosed with cancer.  Sidney did not let this diagnosis stop him from doing what he loved and he continued to work on the films, "Dangerous Money" (1946) followed by, "Shadows over Chinatown" (1946).  His final film role was, "The Trap" (1946) and one year later he surrendered to his illness.  

Sidney Toler married twice throughout his lifetime.  His first wife was Vivan and they were married from 1925 until she sadly passed away on 1943.  He then married his second wife, Viva Tattersall in 1943 and they remained together until he passed away on February 12th, 1947 in Beverly Hills, California from intestinal cancer.  He is interred at Highland Cemetery in Wichita, Kansas.
 
 

Filmography

1946 The Trap 
1946 Dangerous Money 
1946 Shadows Over Chinatown 
1946 Dark Alibi 
1945 The Red Dragon 
1945 The Shanghai Cobra  
1945 The Scarlet Clue 
1945 It's in the Bag! 
1945 The Jade Mask 
1944 Black Magic 
1944 Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat 
1944 Charlie Chan in the Secret Service 
1943 Isle of Forgotten Sins 
1943 White Savage 
1943 The Adventures of Smilin' Jack 
1942 A Night to Remember 
1942 Castle in the Desert 
1941 Charlie Chan in Rio 
1941 Dead Men Tell 
1940 Murder Over New York 
1940 Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum 
1940 Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise  
1940 Charlie Chan in Panama 
1939 Charlie Chan in City in Darkness 
1939 Law of the Pampas 
1939 Charlie Chan at Treasure Island 
1939 Heritage of the Desert 
1939 Charlie Chan in Reno 
1939 The Kid from Kokomo 
1939 King of Chinatown 
1939 Disbarred 
1938 Charlie Chan in Honolulu 
1938 Up the River 
1938 If I Were King 
1938 The Mysterious Rider 
1938 One Wild Night 
1938 Wide Open Faces 
1938 Gold Is Where You Find It 
1937 Double Wedding 
1937 That Certain Woman 
1936 Our Relations 
1936 The Longest Night 
1936 The Gorgeous Hussy 
1936 Give Us This Night 
1936 Three Godfathers 
1935 This Is the Life 
1935 Orchids to You 
1935 The Call of the Wild 
1935 The Daring Young Man 
1935 Champagne for Breakfast 
1935 Romance in Manhattan 
1934 Here Comes the Groom 
1934 Operator 13 
1934 Upperworld 
1934 The Trumpet Blows 
1934 Registered Nurse 
1934 Spitfire 
1934 Dark Hazard 
1934 Massacre 
1933 The World Changes 
1933 The Way to Love
1933 The Narrow Corner 
1933 King of the Jungle
1933 He Learned About Women 
1933 Billion Dollar Scandal 
1932 Over the Counter 
1932 The Phantom President 
1932 Blonde Venus 
1932 Blondie of the Follies 
1932 Union Wages
1932 Speak Easily 
1932 Tom Brown of Culver 
1932 Is My Face Red? 
1932 Radio Patrol
1932 Strangers in Love 
1931 Strictly Dishonorable 
1931 White Shoulders 
1930 The Devil's Parade 
1929 In the Nick of Time
1929 Madame X 
1929 The Gay Nineties; or The Unfaithful Husband