Roland Winters Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Roland Winters (December 22, 1904 – October 22, 1989) was an American actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in six films. Born Roland Winternitz in Boston, Massachusetts on 22 December 1904, Winters was the son of Felix Winternitz, a violinist and composer who was teaching at New England Conservatory of Music. In his teens he began appearing in productions from local theater groups around Boston and made his Broadway debut in 1924 in "The Firebrand." In 1931 he became the sports announcer for the Braves and Red Sox games on the radio station WNAC. He had a few uncredited film roles in the... MORE

Roland Winters (December 22, 1904 – October 22, 1989) was an American actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in six films. Born Roland Winternitz in Boston, Massachusetts on 22 December 1904, Winters was the son of Felix Winternitz, a violinist and composer who was teaching at New England Conservatory of Music. In his teens he began appearing in productions from local theater groups around Boston and made his Broadway debut in 1924 in "The Firebrand." In 1931 he became the sports announcer for the Braves and Red Sox games on the radio station WNAC. He had a few uncredited film roles in the 1940s (including a brief appearance in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane in 1941), but continued to work in radio until 1947. Sidney Toler, who took over the Charlie Chan role from Warner Oland, bought the screen rights to the Chan character and brought the series to Monogram Pictures. Toler died in 1947, practically in harness; despite terminal illness, he kept going in the series as long as he could. Monogram decided on Roland Winters as Toler's replacement. At the age of 44 he was the youngest actor to tackle the role, and was actually several months younger than Keye Luke, who portrayed his "Number One LESS