Quick Facts
Biography
Layne Tom Jr. (June 19, 1927 – January 14, 2015) was an American actor. He holds the sole distinction of having played three different Charlie Chan sons: as Charlie Chan Jr. in Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937), as Tommy Chan in Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938), and in 1940's Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise as Willie Chan, Chan's number seven son.
He also appeared with child star Shirley Temple in Stowaway (1936) as an uncredited Chinese Boy in the Musical Band. He was credited as Mako with Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall, and C. Aubrey Smith in The Hurricane (1937), and as an uncredited extra in San Francisco (1936) with stars Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy.
After he got out of the Navy when World War II ended, he turned down a five-year movie contract with Monogram Pictures to go to college instead to become an architect. He only returned to show business to film two documentaries about Charlie Chan: Layne Tom, Jr: The Adventures of Charlie Chan, Jr. and Legacy of Charlie Chan as himself.
His daughter Kiana Tom is a television host, star of Kiana's Flex Appeal fitness series and one of the most widely recognized fitness experts in the world.