The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his portrayal of the Chinese-American detective in 22 films made between 1938 and 1946.

Before becoming Chan, Toler played supporting roles in 50 motion pictures, and was a highly regarded comic actor on the Broadway stage.

His success in leading roles at the Lee Avenue Academy in Brooklyn brought an invitation to join the company of Julia Marlowe.

He began a prolific career as a playwright, writing The Belle of Richmond, The Dancing Master, The House on the Sands, and more than 70 other plays.

[1] He played supporting roles in films for various studios, including White Shoulders (1931), Tom Brown of Culver (1932), Blonde Venus (1932), The Phantom President (1932), Speak Easily (1932),The World Changes (1933), Spitfire (1934), Operator 13 (1934), The Call of the Wild (1935), Three Godfathers (1936), The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), Double Wedding (1937), The Mysterious Rider (1938), and Law of the Pampas (1939).

It isn't an imitation Warner Oland characterization that Toler delivers, but it is a thoroughly satisfying, neatly shaded Charlie Chan.

"[15] Motion Picture Herald: "[The preview was] attended by top-ranking executives, the most sought-after reviewers and commentators, and invited guests... quite a few of these strangers to Chan went into ecstasies.

Toler's Chan, rather than merely mimicking the character that Oland had portrayed, had a somewhat sharper edge that was well suited for the rapid changes of the times, both political and cultural.

The wartime collapse of the international film market may have been a factor, but the main reason was that Fox was curtailing virtually all of its low-budget series.

Sidney Toler returned to the ranks of freelance character actors, and worked in three feature films and a serial.

Fox declined, having already dropped the series, but Toler sold the idea to Monogram Pictures, a lower-budget film studio.

Philip N. Krasne, a Hollywood lawyer who invested in film productions, partnered with James S. Burkett to produce the Monogram Chans.

In fairness to Monogram, the new Toler films continued to please exhibitors and moviegoers, with The Chinese Cat, The Shanghai Cobra, and Dark Alibi often cited as favorites by fans.

Cast changes were again made: Sen Yung left Hollywood to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, ultimately earning the rank of captain.

Mantan Moreland played the ever-present and popular Birmingham Brown, who brought comedy relief (and African American audiences) to the series.

Monogram's Charlie Chan films were profitable and successful; they boasted tricky screenplays with many surprise culprits and murder devices, and frequent appearances by "name" character actors.