Luke Chan
Luke Chan was a Canadian character actor and designer who worked in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a prominent figure in the development of Los Angeles's Chinatown neighborhood. Biography. Chan was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to parents of Chinese origin. His father, Chan Yu Tan, was a minister and his mother was a doctor. Chan graduated from Columbia University, and later married Mary Alice Van Vleet in 1936; she died several years later. He was known for his intellectual manner, and he struck up an enduring friendship with actress Elissa Landi . Like a lot of Chinese actors during this period, he often played Japanese roles. Chan opened the Chinese Junk Cafe in Los Angeles's Chinatown in the late 1930s. He and fellow actor Johnson Sing spent time designing a large replica of a Chinese pirate ship that adorned the restaurant at 733 N. Main St. (The building later burned down in a fire.) Chan also served as president of the neighborhood's China City Merchants' Association and as Chinatown's unofficial mayor, and helped design the look of the area.