Her parents had both migrated to British Guiana as indentured laborers to work on a sugar cane plantation after the abolition of slavery.

She enrolled on a four-year teaching course at the Royal Academy of Dancing, but quit after a year and joined the cast of Teahouse of the August Moon.

Other acting roles included parts in Dixon of Dock Green, Armchair Theatre, Ghost Squad, The Saint, The Main Chance and Marco Polo.

[5] Chan also performed a spoken interlude in Mandarin Chinese on the recording of the 1967 psychedelic song Kites by the British band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, which reached number 9 on music charts in the United Kingdom in late 1967.

[7] In the series, Chan is depicted having a brief sexual relationship with Antony Armstrong-Jones before his marriage to Princess Margaret.