Victor Sen Yung
101 movies · 35 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Oct 18, 1915
- Died
- Nov 1, 1980 (age 65)
- Place of birth
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Also known as
- Victor Cheung Young · Sen Yew Cheung · Sen Yung · Sen Young
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.
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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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Victor Sen Yung: movies and TV shows
Acting (136)
- 1980 The Man with Bogart's Face
as Mr. Wing
- 1977
- 1975 The Killer Elite
as Wei Chi
- 1975
- 1975
- 1974
- 1973 The Red Pony
as Mr. Sing / Carni man / Mr. Green
- 1972
- 1972
- 1972
- 1970
- 1970 The Hawaiians
as Chun Fat (uncredited)
- 1969
- 1968 A Flea in Her Ear
as Oke Saki
- 1968
- 1965
- 1965
- 1965
- 1964
- 1964
- 1964
- 1962 Confessions of an Opium Eater
as Wing Young
- 1961 Flower Drum Song
as Frankie Wing
- 1961
- 1961 Dragon by the Tail
as Dr. Wing Chin-Ni
- 1961
- 1960
- 1960
- 1960
- 1959
- 1959
- 1958
- 1958
- 1958 The Saga of Hemp Brown
as Chang
- 1958 The Hunters
as Korean farmer
- 1958 Jet Attack
as Capt. Chon
- 1958 She Demons
as Sammy Ching
- 1957
- 1957
- 1957 Men in War
as North Korean Sniper Prisoner
- 1956 Accused of Murder
as Hank - Bayliss' Houseboy (uncredited)
- 1956
- 1956 Flight to Hong Kong
as Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
- 1956
- 1956
- 1956 The Rawhide Years
as Chang - Steward (uncredited)
- 1955 Blood Alley
as Cpl. Wang
- 1955
- 1955 The Left Hand of God
as John Wong
- 1955 Soldier of Fortune
as Goldie - Hotel Waiter (uncredited)
- 1955 Jump Into Hell
as Lt. Thatch
- 1954 Port of Hell
as Detonation Ship Radioman
- 1954
- 1954 The Shanghai Story
as Sun Lee
- 1954 Jubilee Trail
as Mickey - Chinese Man (uncredited)
- 1954
- 1954 Trader Tom of the China Seas
as Wang
- 1953 Forbidden
as Allan Chung
- 1953 The Blue Gardenia
as Blue Gardenia Waiter (uncredited)
- 1953 Target Hong Kong
as Johnny Wing (uncredited)
- 1952
- 1952
- 1952 Cripple Creek
as Postal Clerk (uncredited)
- 1952 The Sniper
as Tom
- 1952 Hong Kong
as Mr. Howe (uncredited)
- 1952
- 1951 Valley of Fire
as Ching Moon
- 1951 Peking Express
as Chinese Captain (uncredited)
- 1951 The Law and the Lady
as Chinese Manager (uncredited)
- 1951 Secrets of Monte Carlo
as Chinese Clerk (uncredited)
- 1951 The Groom Wore Spurs
as Ignacio
- 1951 Grounds for Marriage
as Oscar, Chris' Valet
- 1950 Woman on the Run
as Sammy Chung
- 1950
- 1950 The Breaking Point
as Mr. Sing
- 1950 A Ticket to Tomahawk
as Long Time
- 1950 Key to the City
as MC at the Blue Duck (uncredited)
- 1949 And Baby Makes Three
as Lem Kee
- 1949 Chinatown at Midnight
as Hotel Proprietor
- 1949 Oh, You Beautiful Doll
as Houseboy
- 1949 Red Light
as Vincent (uncredited)
- 1949 The Sickle or the Cross
as Major
- 1949 Tuna Clipper
as Oriental Dock Worker
- 1949
- 1949 State Department: File 649
as Johnny Han
- 1948 Rogues' Regiment
as Rickshaw Boy (uncredited)
- 1948 The Feathered Serpent
as Tommy Chan
- 1948 The Golden Eye
as Tommy Chan (as Victor Sen Young)
- 1948 The Shanghai Chest
as Tommy Chan
- 1948 Docks of New Orleans
as Tommy Chan
- 1948 Half Past Midnight
as Sam
- 1948 To the Ends of the Earth
as Chinese Pilot (uncredited)
- 1947 The Chinese Ring
as Tommy Chan
- 1947 Intrigue
as Western Union Clerk (uncredited)
- 1947 The Flame
as Chang
- 1947 The Crimson Key
as Wing - Houseboy
- 1947 Web of Danger
as Sam
- 1946 The Trap
as Jimmy Chan
- 1946 Dangerous Millions
as Lin Chow
- 1946 Dangerous Money
as Jimmy Chan
- 1946 G.I. War Brides
as Waiter (uncredited)
- 1946 Shadows Over Chinatown
as Jimmy Chan
- 1945 Betrayal from the East
as Omaya
- 1944 Winged Victory
as Lee (uncredited)
- 1943 Lost Angel
as Chinese Man (uncredited)
- 1943 Night Plane from Chungking
as Captain Po
- 1943 China
as Lin Wei
- 1942 Manila Calling
as Armando
- 1942 Across the Pacific
as Joe Totsuiko
- 1942
- 1942 Moontide
as Jimmy Takeo
- 1942 The Mad Martindales
as Jefferson Gow
- 1942 Secret Agent of Japan
as Fu Yen
- 1942 Castle in the Desert
as Jimmy Chan
- 1942 A Yank on the Burma Road
as Wing
- 1941 Charlie Chan in Rio
as Jimmy Chan
- 1941 They Met in Bombay
as Gin Ling (uncredited)
- 1941 Dead Men Tell
as Jimmy Chan
- 1940 Murder Over New York
as Jimmy Chan
- 1940 The Letter
as Ong Chi Seng
- 1940 Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
as Jimmy Chan
- 1940 Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise
as Jimmy Chan
- 1940 Charlie Chan in Panama
as Jimmy Chan
- 1939
- 1939 Barricade
as Undetermined Role
- 1939 20,000 Men a Year
as Harold Chong
- 1939 Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
as Jimmy Chan
- 1939 Charlie Chan in Reno
as Jimmy Chan
- 1939 Torchy Blane in Chinatown
as Chinese Entertainer with Sword
- 1938 Charlie Chan in Honolulu
as James Chan
- 1938 Shadows Over Shanghai
as Wang
- 1938 Mr. Moto Takes a Chance
as Soldier
- 1938 International Settlement
as Bellboy / Onlooker in Street
- 1937 Thank You, Mr. Moto
as Onlooker with Street Acrobats / Elevator Operator (uncredited)
- 1937 Double or Nothing
as Minor Role (uncredited)
- 1937 The Good Earth
as Peasant (uncredited)
Talk shows and appearances (2)
- 1968
- 1961 The Mike Douglas Show
1 episode