Keye Luke

Keye Luke (, Cantonese: Luk Shek-kee; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-American film and television actor, technical advisor and artist and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He was known for playing Lee Chan, the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, the original Kato in the 1939–1941 Green Hornet film serials, Brak in the 1960s Space Ghost cartoons, Master Po in the television series Kung Fu, and Mr. Wing in the Gremlins films. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed by RKO, Universal Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was one of the most prominent Asian actors of American cinema in the mid-20th century. Early life Luke was born in Guangzhou, China. His father, Lee Luke, was born in San Francisco in 1880, traveled to China several times where he married Keye's mother, Down Cook. Lee Luke established an art/import shop in Seattle Chinatown. Keye was raised in Seattle. They were part of the Luke family, relatives of Washington assistant attorney-general Wing Luke, for whom Seattle's Wing Luke Asian Museum was named. He had four siblings who all emigrated from Seattle to California during the Great Depression. His younger brother Edwin Luke also became an actor in the Charlie Chan series.