
Victor Sen Yung
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1915-10-18
Day of Death
1980-11-01 (65 years old)
Place of Birth
San Francisco, California, USA
Victor Sen Yung
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 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.
Known For
Acting
(1980)
The Man with Bogart's Face
as Mr. Wing
(1975)
The Killer Elite
as Wei Chi
(1973)
The Red Pony
as Mr. Sing / Carni man / Mr. Green
(1972)
(1970)
The Hawaiians
as Chun Fat (uncredited)
(1968)
A Flea in Her Ear
as Oke Saki
(1968)
The Movie Orgy
as Self (archive footage)
(1962)
Confessions of an Opium Eater
as Wing Young
(1961)
Flower Drum Song
as Frankie Wing
(1961)
Dragon by the Tail
as Dr. Wing Chin-Ni
(1958)
The Saga of Hemp Brown
as Chang
(1958)
She Demons
as Sammy Ching
(1958)
The Hunters
as Korean farmer
(1958)
Jet Attack
as Capt. Chon
(1957)
Men in War
as North Korean Sniper Prisoner
(1956)
Flight to Hong Kong
as Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
(1956)
Accused of Murder
as Hank - Bayliss' Houseboy (uncredited)
(1956)
The Rawhide Years
as Chang - Steward (uncredited)
(1956)
(1955)
The Left Hand of God
as John Wong
(1955)
Blood Alley
as Cpl. Wang
(1955)
Soldier of Fortune
as Goldie - Hotel Waiter (uncredited)
(1955)
Jump Into Hell
as Lt. Thatch
(1954)
The Shanghai Story
as Sun Lee
(1954)
Jubilee Trail
as Mickey - Chinese Man (uncredited)
(1954)
Trader Tom of the China Seas
as Wang
(1954)
Port of Hell
as Detonation Ship Radioman
(1953)
The Blue Gardenia
as Blue Gardenia Waiter (uncredited)
(1953)
Target Hong Kong
as Johnny Wing (uncredited)
(1953)
Forbidden
as Allan Chung
(1952)
The Sniper
as Tom
(1952)
Hong Kong
as Mr. Howe (uncredited)
(1952)
Cripple Creek
as Postal Clerk (uncredited)
(1951)
The Groom Wore Spurs
as Ignacio
(1951)
Grounds for Marriage
as Oscar, Chris' Valet
(1951)
Peking Express
as Chinese Captain (uncredited)
(1951)
Valley of Fire
as Ching Moon
(1951)
The Law and the Lady
as Chinese Manager (uncredited)
(1951)
Secrets of Monte Carlo
as Chinese Clerk (uncredited)
(1950)
The Breaking Point
as Mr. Sing
(1950)
Woman on the Run
as Sammy Chung
(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)
Tuna Clipper
as Oriental Dock Worker
(1949)
State Department: File 649
as Johnny Han
(1949)
Red Light
as Vincent (uncredited)
(1949)
Chinatown at Midnight
as Hotel Proprietor
(1949)
(1949)
The Sickle or the Cross
as Major
(1949)
Oh, You Beautiful Doll
as Houseboy
(1948)
Rogues' Regiment
as Rickshaw Boy (uncredited)
(1948)
The Feathered Serpent
as Tommy Chan
(1948)
Half Past Midnight
as Sam
(1948)
The Golden Eye
as Tommy Chan (as Victor Sen Young)
(1948)
The Shanghai Chest
as Tommy Chan
(1948)
To the Ends of the Earth
as Chinese Pilot (uncredited)
(1948)
Docks of New Orleans
as Tommy Chan
(1947)
Web of Danger
as Sam
(1947)
Intrigue
as Western Union Clerk (uncredited)
(1947)
The Chinese Ring
as Tommy Chan
(1947)
The Flame
as Chang
(1947)
The Crimson Key
as Wing - Houseboy
(1946)
Dangerous Money
as Jimmy Chan
(1946)
Dangerous Millions
as Lin Chow
(1946)
Shadows Over Chinatown
as Jimmy Chan
(1946)
G.I. War Brides
as Waiter (uncredited)
(1946)
The Trap
as Jimmy Chan
(1945)
Betrayal from the East
as Omaya
(1944)
Winged Victory
as Lee (uncredited)
(1943)
Night Plane from Chungking
as Captain Po
(1943)
China
as Lin Wei
(1943)
Lost Angel
as Chinese Man (uncredited)
(1942)
Across the Pacific
as Joe Totsuiko
(1942)
The Mad Martindales
as Jefferson Gow
(1942)
Castle in the Desert
as Jimmy Chan
(1942)
Secret Agent of Japan
as Fu Yen
(1942)
Manila Calling
as Armando
(1942)
A Yank on the Burma Road
as Wing
(1942)
Moontide
as Jimmy Takeo
(1942)
(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)
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
as Jimmy Chan
(1940)
Murder Over New York
as Jimmy Chan
(1940)
The Letter
as Ong Chi Seng
(1940)
Charlie Chan in Panama
as Jimmy Chan
(1940)
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise
as Jimmy Chan
(1939)
Torchy Blane in Chinatown
as Chinese Entertainer with Sword
(1939)
Barricade
as Undetermined Role
(1939)
(1939)
20,000 Men a Year
as Harold Chong
(1939)
Charlie Chan in Reno
as Jimmy Chan
(1939)
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
as Jimmy Chan
(1938)
International Settlement
as Bellboy / Onlooker in Street
(1938)
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance
as Soldier
(1938)
Charlie Chan in Honolulu
as James Chan
(1938)
Shadows Over Shanghai
as Wang
(1937)
Thank You, Mr. Moto
as Onlooker with Street Acrobats / Elevator Operator (uncredited)
(1937)
The Good Earth
as Peasant (uncredited)
(1937)
Double or Nothing
as Minor Role (uncredited)