Victor Sen Yung

Acting • Born 1915-10-18 – Died 1980-11-01

Acting1San Francisco, California, USA

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.

Filmography

149 credits

The Movie Orgy

Movie • 1968

Self (archive footage)

Chinatown at Midnight

Movie • 1949

Hotel Proprietor

Flower Drum Song

Movie • 1961

Frankie Wing

Charlie Chan at Treasure Island

Movie • 1939

Jimmy Chan

Charlie Chan in Reno

Movie • 1939

Jimmy Chan

Charlie Chan in Honolulu

Movie • 1938

James Chan

Forbidden

Movie • 1953

Allan Chung

Woman on the Run

Movie • 1950

Sammy Chung

Castle in the Desert

Movie • 1942

Jimmy Chan

Moontide

Movie • 1942

Jimmy Takeo

Betrayal from the East

Movie • 1945

Omaya

She Demons

Movie • 1958

Sammy Ching

The Left Hand of God

Movie • 1955

John Wong

The Breaking Point

Movie • 1950

Mr. Sing

Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise

Movie • 1940

Jimmy Chan

Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum

Movie • 1940

Jimmy Chan

Charlie Chan in Panama

Movie • 1940

Jimmy Chan

Murder Over New York

Movie • 1940

Jimmy Chan

Charlie Chan in Rio

Movie • 1941

Jimmy Chan

Dead Men Tell

Movie • 1941

Jimmy Chan

Dangerous Money

Movie • 1946

Jimmy Chan

Shadows Over Chinatown

Movie • 1946

Jimmy Chan

The Trap

Movie • 1946

Jimmy Chan

The Hunters

Movie • 1958

Korean farmer

The Flame

Movie • 1947

Chang

Jet Attack

Movie • 1958

Capt. Chon

The Letter

Movie • 1940

Ong Chi Seng

Across the Pacific

Movie • 1942

Joe Totsuiko

Docks of New Orleans

Movie • 1948

Tommy Chan

The Chinese Ring

Movie • 1947

Tommy Chan

The Shanghai Chest

Movie • 1948

Tommy Chan

The Feathered Serpent

Movie • 1948

Tommy Chan

The Golden Eye

Movie • 1948

Tommy Chan (as Victor Sen Young)

A Yank on the Burma Road

Movie • 1942

Wing

China

Movie • 1943

Lin Wei

The Shanghai Story

Movie • 1954

Sun Lee

Tuna Clipper

Movie • 1949

Oriental Dock Worker

Night Plane from Chungking

Movie • 1943

Captain Po

Shadows Over Shanghai

Movie • 1938

Wang

The Crimson Key

Movie • 1947

Wing - Houseboy

Mr. Moto Takes a Chance

Movie • 1938

Soldier

The Sickle or the Cross

Movie • 1949

Major

Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon

Movie • 1972

Chuen

The Killer Elite

Movie • 1975

Wei Chi

Web of Danger

Movie • 1947

Sam

Secret Agent of Japan

Movie • 1942

Fu Yen

Escape to Paradise

Movie • 1939

The Good Earth

Movie • 1937

Peasant (uncredited)

Lost Angel

Movie • 1943

Chinese Man (uncredited)

To the Ends of the Earth

Movie • 1948

Chinese Pilot (uncredited)

Target Hong Kong

Movie • 1953

Johnny Wing (uncredited)

Peking Express

Movie • 1951

Chinese Captain (uncredited)

Accused of Murder

Movie • 1956

Hank - Bayliss' Houseboy (uncredited)

Winged Victory

Movie • 1944

Lee (uncredited)

Key to the City

Movie • 1950

MC at the Blue Duck (uncredited)

Manila Calling

Movie • 1942

Armando

Cripple Creek

Movie • 1952

Postal Clerk (uncredited)

The Hawaiians

Movie • 1970

Chun Fat (uncredited)

The Rawhide Years

Movie • 1956

Chang - Steward (uncredited)

The Blue Gardenia

Movie • 1953

Blue Gardenia Waiter (uncredited)

Soldier of Fortune

Movie • 1955

Goldie - Hotel Waiter (uncredited)

Double or Nothing

Movie • 1937

Minor Role (uncredited)

Jubilee Trail

Movie • 1954

Mickey - Chinese Man (uncredited)

Rogues' Regiment

Movie • 1948

Rickshaw Boy (uncredited)

Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture

Movie • 1949

Thank You, Mr. Moto

Movie • 1937

Onlooker with Street Acrobats / Elevator Operator (uncredited)

Little Tokyo, U.S.A.

Movie • 1942

Intrigue

Movie • 1947

Western Union Clerk (uncredited)

The Man with Bogart's Face

Movie • 1980

Mr. Wing

Flight to Hong Kong

Movie • 1956

Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited)

Valley of Fire

Movie • 1951

Ching Moon

Secrets of Monte Carlo

Movie • 1951

Chinese Clerk (uncredited)

Confessions of an Opium Eater

Movie • 1962

Wing Young

Grounds for Marriage

Movie • 1951

Oscar, Chris' Valet

Hong Kong

Movie • 1952

Mr. Howe (uncredited)

The Red Pony

Movie • 1973

Mr. Sing / Carni man / Mr. Green

The Saga of Hemp Brown

Movie • 1958

Chang

The Law and the Lady

Movie • 1951

Chinese Manager (uncredited)

Jump Into Hell

Movie • 1955

Lt. Thatch

And Baby Makes Three

Movie • 1949

Lem Kee

G.I. War Brides

Movie • 1946

Waiter (uncredited)

International Settlement

Movie • 1938

Bellboy / Onlooker in Street

Torchy Blane in Chinatown

Movie • 1939

Chinese Entertainer with Sword

The Sniper

Movie • 1952

Tom

The Groom Wore Spurs

Movie • 1951

Ignacio

Barricade

Movie • 1939

Undetermined Role

20,000 Men a Year

Movie • 1939

Harold Chong

Red Light

Movie • 1949

Vincent (uncredited)

A Ticket to Tomahawk

Movie • 1950

Long Time

Men in War

Movie • 1957

North Korean Sniper Prisoner

The Mad Martindales

Movie • 1942

Jefferson Gow

Port of Hell

Movie • 1954

Detonation Ship Radioman

They Met in Bombay

Movie • 1941

Gin Ling (uncredited)

Half Past Midnight

Movie • 1948

Sam

Oh, You Beautiful Doll

Movie • 1949

Houseboy

State Department: File 649

Movie • 1949

Johnny Han

Trader Tom of the China Seas

Movie • 1954

Wang

Dangerous Millions

Movie • 1946

Lin Chow

A Flea in Her Ear

Movie • 1968

Oke Saki

Blood Alley

Movie • 1955

Cpl. Wang

Dragon by the Tail

Movie • 1961

Dr. Wing Chin-Ni

The Family Nobody Wanted

Movie • 1956

Mister Ed

TV • 1961

Here's Lucy

TV • 1968

Headwaiter

Kung Fu

TV • 1972

Old Mandarin

The F.B.I.

TV • 1965

Mayor Eto

Hawaii Five-O

TV • 1968

Dr. Leo Kuh

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

TV • 1964

Perry Mason

TV • 1957

Mickey Fong

Night Gallery

TV • 1970

Joseph the Butler

Hawaiian Eye

TV • 1959

Mickey

TV • 1964

Get Smart

TV • 1965

Yamasaki

The Wild Wild West

TV • 1965

Baron Kyosai

China Smith

TV • 1952

Thriller

TV • 1960

Bartender

Yancy Derringer

TV • 1958

Hon Lee

Richard Diamond, Private Detective

TV • 1957

Magan

Adventures of Superman

TV • 1952

Harry Wong

The Paul Lynde Show

TV • 1972

Navy Log

TV • 1955

The Rifleman

TV • 1958

Terry and the Pirates

TV • 1952

Dr. Fu Manchu

TV • 1956

Broadcaster (uncredited)

Captain Midnight

TV • 1954

The Barbara Stanwyck Show

TV • 1960

Dr. Wing Chin-Ni

Isis

TV • 1975

Mr. Chen

The Jack Benny Program

TV • 1950

Chinese cafeteria employee

Get Smart

TV • 1965

Abe Fu Yung

Hong Kong

TV • 1960

Yang

Here's Lucy

TV • 1968

Murphy

The Mike Douglas Show

TV • 1961

Self

Bonanza

TV • 1959

Hop Sing

Perry Mason

TV • 1957

Sheng