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Victor Sen Yung
Acting
Biography
Victor Sen Young (born Victor Cheung Young or Sen Yew Cheung; October 18, 1915 – body discovered November 9, 1980) was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the Western series Bonanza. He was born in San Francisco, California to Gum Yung Sen and his first wife, both immigrants from China.
His mother died during the flu epidemic of 1919. His father placed Victor and his younger sister, Rosemary, in a children's shelter, and returned to his homeland to seek another wife. He returned in 1922 with his new wife, Lovi Shee, forming a household with his two children.
Sen Yung made his first significant acting debut in the 1938 fil…
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Victor Sen Young (born Victor Cheung Young or Sen Yew Cheung; October 18, 1915 – body discovered November 9, 1980) was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the Western series Bonanza. He was born in San Francisco, California to Gum Yung Sen and his first wife, both immigrants from China. His mother died during the flu epidemic of 1919. His father placed Victor and his younger sister, Rosemary, in a children's shelter, and returned to his homeland to seek another wife. He returned in 1922 with his new wife, Lovi Shee, forming a household with his two children. Sen Yung made his first significant acting debut in the 1938 film Charlie Chan in Honolulu, as the Chinese detective's "number two son", Jimmy Chan. Sen Yung played Jimmy Chan in 11 Charlie Chan films between 1938 and 1942. Moonlighting from the popular Chan series, Sen Yung won critical acclaim playing the nuanced role of Ong Chi Seng, a young attorney assisting Howard Joyce, in defending Leslie Crosbie, in The Letter. Like other Chinese-American actors, he was cast in Japanese parts during World War II, like his role as the treacherous Japanese-American Joe Totsuiko in the 1942 Humphrey Bogart film Across the Pacific. During World War II he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces just as his erstwhile co-star Sidney Toler was set to revive the dormant Charlie Chan series at Monogram Pictures. Sen Yung's military obligations forced him to decline rejoining the series immediately, but Monogram gave him a standing invitation to work there after his tour of duty. Sen Yung's military service included work in training films at the First Motion Picture Unit and a role in the Army Air Forces' play and film Winged Victory. In 1946 Sen Yung resumed his Hollywood career at Monogram, now billed as Victor Sen Young, and reunited with Sidney Toler. Toler's health was failing; Monogram was conserving Toler's waning energy, limiting his scenes and giving him long rest periods during filming. To relieve the burden on Toler, Monogram entrusted much of the action to Victor Sen Young; he and either Mantan Moreland or Willie Best shared much of the footage in Toler's final three films, Dangerous Money, Shadows Over Chinatown, and The Trap. The addition of Moreland as Chan's black chauffeur, Birmingham Brown, reflected the fact that by this time the Chan pictures had a significant following among black Americans, who liked a film series that for once did not feature a white hero. Moreland's popularity in the Chan pictures was so great that he was booked for a nationwide vaudeville tour. Following Toler's death in 1947, Victor Sen Young appeared in five of the remaining six Charlie Chan features. His character "Jimmy" was renamed "Tommy". Victor Sen Young continued to work in motion pictures and television in roles ranging from featured players (affable or earnest Asian characters) to bit roles (clerks, houseboys, waiters, etc.). Arguably even more than for his work in the Charlie Chan films, Victor Sen Yung is remembered as "Hop Sing," the irascible cook and general factotum on the iconic television series Bonanza, appearing in 107 episodes between 1959 and 1973. Sen Yung was also an accomplished and talented chef. He frequently appeared on cooking programs and authored The Great Wok Cookbook in 1974.
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BODY OF WORK
Victor Sen Yung's Filmography
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The Man with Bogart's Face
as Mr. Wing
The Killer Elite
as Wei Chi
The Red Pony
as Mr. Sing / Carni man / Mr. Green
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
as Chuen
The Hawaiians
as Chun Fat (uncredited)
A Flea in Her Ear
as Oke Saki
The Movie Orgy
as Self (archive footage)
Confessions of an Opium Eater
as Wing Young
Flower Drum Song
as Frankie Wing
Dragon by the Tail
as Dr. Wing Chin-Ni
The Saga of Hemp Brown
as Chang
The Hunters
as Korean farmer
Jet Attack
as Capt. Chon
She Demons
as Sammy Ching
Men in War
as North Korean Sniper Prisoner
Accused of Murder
as Hank - Bayliss' Houseboy (uncredited)
The Family Nobody Wanted
Flight to Hong Kong
as Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
The Rawhide Years
as Chang - Steward (uncredited)
Blood Alley
as Cpl. Wang
The Left Hand of God
as John Wong
Soldier of Fortune
as Goldie - Hotel Waiter (uncredited)
Jump Into Hell
as Lt. Thatch
Port of Hell
as Detonation Ship Radioman
The Shanghai Story
as Sun Lee
Jubilee Trail
as Mickey - Chinese Man (uncredited)
Trader Tom of the China Seas
as Wang
Forbidden
as Allan Chung
The Blue Gardenia
as Blue Gardenia Waiter (uncredited)
Target Hong Kong
as Johnny Wing (uncredited)
Cripple Creek
as Postal Clerk (uncredited)
The Sniper
as Tom
Hong Kong
as Mr. Howe (uncredited)
Valley of Fire
as Ching Moon
Peking Express
as Chinese Captain (uncredited)
The Law and the Lady
as Chinese Manager (uncredited)
Secrets of Monte Carlo
as Chinese Clerk (uncredited)
The Groom Wore Spurs
as Ignacio
Grounds for Marriage
as Oscar, Chris' Valet
Woman on the Run
as Sammy Chung
The Breaking Point
as Mr. Sing
A Ticket to Tomahawk
as Long Time
Key to the City
as MC at the Blue Duck (uncredited)
And Baby Makes Three
as Lem Kee
Chinatown at Midnight
as Hotel Proprietor
Oh, You Beautiful Doll
as Houseboy
Red Light
as Vincent (uncredited)
The Sickle or the Cross
as Major
Tuna Clipper
as Oriental Dock Worker
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture
State Department: File 649
as Johnny Han
Rogues' Regiment
as Rickshaw Boy (uncredited)
The Feathered Serpent
as Tommy Chan
The Golden Eye
as Tommy Chan (as Victor Sen Young)
The Shanghai Chest
as Tommy Chan
Docks of New Orleans
as Tommy Chan
Half Past Midnight
as Sam
To the Ends of the Earth
as Chinese Pilot (uncredited)
The Chinese Ring
as Tommy Chan
Intrigue
as Western Union Clerk (uncredited)
The Flame
as Chang
The Crimson Key
as Wing - Houseboy
Web of Danger
as Sam
The Trap
as Jimmy Chan
Dangerous Millions
as Lin Chow
Dangerous Money
as Jimmy Chan
G.I. War Brides
as Waiter (uncredited)
Shadows Over Chinatown
as Jimmy Chan
Betrayal from the East
as Omaya
Winged Victory
as Lee (uncredited)
Lost Angel
as Chinese Man (uncredited)
Night Plane from Chungking
as Captain Po
China
as Lin Wei
Manila Calling
as Armando
Across the Pacific
as Joe Totsuiko
Little Tokyo, U.S.A.
Moontide
as Jimmy Takeo
The Mad Martindales
as Jefferson Gow
Secret Agent of Japan
as Fu Yen
Castle in the Desert
as Jimmy Chan
A Yank on the Burma Road
as Wing
Charlie Chan in Rio
as Jimmy Chan
They Met in Bombay
as Gin Ling (uncredited)
Dead Men Tell
as Jimmy Chan
Murder Over New York
as Jimmy Chan
The Letter
as Ong Chi Seng
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
as Jimmy Chan
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise
as Jimmy Chan
Charlie Chan in Panama
as Jimmy Chan
Escape to Paradise
Barricade
as Undetermined Role
20,000 Men a Year
as Harold Chong
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
as Jimmy Chan
Charlie Chan in Reno
as Jimmy Chan
Torchy Blane in Chinatown
as Chinese Entertainer with Sword
Charlie Chan in Honolulu
as James Chan
Shadows Over Shanghai
as Wang
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance
as Soldier
International Settlement
as Bellboy / Onlooker in Street
Thank You, Mr. Moto
as Onlooker with Street Acrobats / Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Double or Nothing
as Minor Role (uncredited)
The Good Earth
as Peasant (uncredited)