Victor Sen Yung
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
Perry Mason
Mickey Fong
Perry Mason
Sheng
Bonanza
Hop Sing (uncredited)
Bonanza
Hop Sing
The Rifleman
Hawaii Five-O
Dr. Leo Kuh
Get Smart
Get Smart
Abe Fu Yung
The Wild Wild West
Baron Kyosai
Police Woman
Ah Choy
Thriller
Bartender
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Mister Ed
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Servant
Night Gallery
Joseph the Butler
The F.B.I.
Mayor Eto
The F.B.I.
Joseph Sakanishi
The F.B.I.
Mr. Kwong
The Sniper
Tom
Adventures of Superman
Harry Wong
Lost Angel
Chinese Man (uncredited)
The Jack Benny Program
Chinese cafeteria employee
The Letter
Ong Chi Seng
The Hunters
Korean farmer
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Sam
Hawaiian Eye
Al
Blood Alley
Cpl. Wang
How the West Was Won
Hospital Attendant
She Demons
Sammy Ching
Here's Lucy
Headwaiter
Here's Lucy
Murphy
The Flame
Chang
Hong Kong
Mr. Howe (uncredited)
The Trap
Jimmy Chan
Soldier of Fortune
Goldie - Hotel Waiter (uncredited)
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
Jimmy Chan
The Hawaiians
Chun Fat (uncredited)
Navy Log
Isis
Mr. Chen
Charlie Chan in Reno
Jimmy Chan
A Flea in Her Ear
Oke Saki
20,000 Men a Year
Harold Chong
Intrigue
Western Union Clerk (uncredited)
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Magan
China
Lin Wei
Red Light
Vincent (uncredited)
The Rawhide Years
Chang - Steward (uncredited)
Dangerous Money
Jimmy Chan
Jump Into Hell
Lt. Thatch
The Sickle or the Cross
Major
The Movie Orgy
Self (archive footage)
Broken Arrow
Ling Tang
Flower Drum Song
Frankie Wing
Peking Express
Chinese Captain (uncredited)
G.I. War Brides
Waiter (uncredited)
The Chinese Ring
Tommy Chan
The Breaking Point
Mr. Sing
87th Precinct
Charlie, 1st Tattoo Parlor Owner
Hong Kong
Yang
Winged Victory
Lee (uncredited)
Valley of Fire
Ching Moon
Docks of New Orleans
Tommy Chan
Half Past Midnight
Sam
Cripple Creek
Postal Clerk (uncredited)
They Met in Bombay
Gin Ling (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in Honolulu
James Chan
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Dr. Wing Chin-Ni
Moontide
Jimmy Takeo
Charlie Chan in Panama
Jimmy Chan
The Lone Wolf
Jack Wong
The Left Hand of God
John Wong
Chinatown at Midnight
Hotel Proprietor
Terry and the Pirates
The Red Pony
Mr. Sing / Carni man / Mr. Green
The Mad Martindales
Jefferson Gow
The Shanghai Chest
Tommy Chan
Yancy Derringer
Hon Lee
Forbidden
Allan Chung
Jubilee Trail
Mickey - Chinese Man (uncredited)
Barbary Coast
Soong
Flight to Hong Kong
Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
The Good Earth
Peasant (uncredited)
Port of Hell
Detonation Ship Radioman
The Crimson Key
Wing - Houseboy
The Paul Lynde Show
Thank You, Mr. Moto
Onlooker with Street Acrobats / Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Key to the City
MC at the Blue Duck (uncredited)
Betrayal from the East
Omaya
Oh, You Beautiful Doll
Houseboy
China Smith
Dr. Fu Manchu
Broadcaster (uncredited)
Dead Men Tell
Jimmy Chan
The Blue Gardenia
Blue Gardenia Waiter (uncredited)
The Groom Wore Spurs
Ignacio
Grounds for Marriage
Oscar, Chris' Valet
The Golden Eye
Tommy Chan (as Victor Sen Young)
Double or Nothing
Minor Role (uncredited)
Castle in the Desert
Jimmy Chan
Charlie Chan in Rio
Jimmy Chan
Dragon by the Tail
Dr. Wing Chin-Ni
Escape to Paradise
Mickey
The Shanghai Story
Sun Lee
Captain Midnight
And Baby Makes Three
Lem Kee
Kung Fu
Old Mandarin
Kung Fu
Master Ling (uncredited)
Kung Fu
Chu
Kung Fu
Farmer
To the Ends of the Earth
Chinese Pilot (uncredited)
The Killer Elite
Wei Chi
The Feathered Serpent
Tommy Chan
A Ticket to Tomahawk
Long Time
Woman on the Run
Sammy Chung
Target Hong Kong
Johnny Wing (uncredited)
Accused of Murder
Hank - Bayliss' Houseboy (uncredited)
Tuna Clipper
Oriental Dock Worker
Shadows Over Shanghai
Wang
Men in War
North Korean Sniper Prisoner
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
Jimmy Chan
Shadows Over Chinatown
Jimmy Chan
The Saga of Hemp Brown
Chang
Jet Attack
Capt. Chon
Across the Pacific
Joe Totsuiko
The Man with Bogart's Face
Mr. Wing
International Settlement
Bellboy / Onlooker in Street
Confessions of an Opium Eater
Wing Young
The Family Nobody Wanted
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
Chuen
Murder Over New York
Jimmy Chan
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture
Rogues' Regiment
Rickshaw Boy (uncredited)
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise
Jimmy Chan
Web of Danger
Sam
Night Plane from Chungking
Captain Po
A Yank on the Burma Road
Wing
Manila Calling
Armando
The Law and the Lady
Chinese Manager (uncredited)
Torchy Blane in Chinatown
Chinese Entertainer with Sword
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance
Soldier
Barricade
Undetermined Role
State Department: File 649
Johnny Han
Secret Agent of Japan
Fu Yen
Little Tokyo, U.S.A.
Trader Tom of the China Seas
Wang
Dangerous Millions
Lin Chow
Secrets of Monte Carlo
Chinese Clerk (uncredited)
The Mike Douglas Show
Self