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Keye Luke (Chinese: 陸錫麟, Cantonese: Luk Sek Lam, Pinyin: Lù Xīlín; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema. Luke was born in Guangzhou, China to a father who owned an art shop, but grew up in Seattle. He was part of the Luke family, a relative of Wing Luke, namesake of Seattle's Wing Luke Asian American Museum. He had four siblings who all migrated to California... MORE

Keye Luke (Chinese: 陸錫麟, Cantonese: Luk Sek Lam, Pinyin: Lù Xīlín; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema. Luke was born in Guangzhou, China to a father who owned an art shop, but grew up in Seattle. He was part of the Luke family, a relative of Wing Luke, namesake of Seattle's Wing Luke Asian American Museum. He had four siblings who all migrated to California during the Depression. His younger brother Edwin Luke also became an actor in the Charlie Chan series. Luke became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944 - in a moment fictionally recreated in Lisa See's novel "Shanghai Girls". Before becoming an actor he was a local artist in Seattle and, later, Hollywood, working on several of the murals inside Grauman's Chinese Theater. He did some of the original artwork for the 1933 King Kong pressbook. Luke also painted the casino's mural in The Shanghai Gesture. He published a limited edition set of pen and ink drawings of "The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam" in LESS