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.
The Movie Orgy
(Self (archive footage))
Chinatown at Midnight
(Hotel Proprietor)
Flower Drum Song
(Frankie Wing)
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
(Jimmy Chan)
Charlie Chan in Honolulu
(James Chan)
Charlie Chan in Reno
(Jimmy Chan)
Forbidden
(Allan Chung)
Woman on the Run
(Sammy Chung)
Castle in the Desert
(Jimmy Chan)
Moontide
(Jimmy Takeo)
Betrayal from the East
(Omaya)
She Demons
(Sammy Ching)
The Left Hand of God
(John Wong)
The Breaking Point
(Mr. Sing)
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise
(Jimmy Chan)
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
(Jimmy Chan (as Sen Yung))
Charlie Chan in Panama
(Jimmy Chan (as Sen Yung))
Murder Over New York
(Jimmy Chan)
Dead Men Tell
(Jimmy Chan)
Charlie Chan in Rio
(Jimmy Chan)
Shadows Over Chinatown
(Jimmy Chan)
Dangerous Money
(Jimmy Chan)
The Trap
(Jimmy Chan)
The Hunters
(Korean farmer)
The Flame
(Chang)
Jet Attack
(Capt. Chon)
The Letter
(Ong Chi Seng)
Across the Pacific
(Joe Totsuiko)
Docks of New Orleans
(Tommy Chan)
The Chinese Ring
(Tommy Chan)
Shanghai Chest
(Tommy Chan)
The Feathered Serpent
(Tommy Chan)
Horrible Horror
(Sammy Ching in 'She Demons')
The Golden Eye
(Tommy Chan (as Victor Sen Young))
A Yank on the Burma Road
(Wing (as Sen Yung))
China
(Lin Wei)
The Shanghai Story
(Sun Lee)
Tuna Clipper
(Oriental Dock Worker)
Night Plane from Chungking
(Captain Po)
Shadows Over Shanghai
(Wang)
The Crimson Key
(Wing - Houseboy)
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance
(Soldier)
The Sickle or the Cross
(Major)
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
(Chuen)
The Killer Elite
(Wei Chi)
Web of Danger
(Sam)
Secret Agent of Japan
(Fu Yen)
Escape to Paradise
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture
Thank You, Mr. Moto
(Onlooker with Street Acrobats / Elevator Operator (uncredited))
The Good Earth
(Peasant (uncredited))
Double or Nothing
(Minor Role (uncredited))
Little Tokyo, U.S.A.
Manila Calling
(Armando)
Lost Angel
(Chinese Man (uncredited))
Winged Victory
(Lee (uncredited))
Intrigue
(Western Union Clerk (uncredited))
To the Ends of the Earth
(Chinese Pilot (uncredited))
Rogues' Regiment
(Rickshaw Boy (uncredited))
Jubilee Trail
(Mickey - Chinese Man (uncredited))
The Blue Gardenia
(Blue Gardenia Waiter (uncredited))
Target Hong Kong
(Johnny Wing (uncredited))
Cripple Creek
(Postal Clerk (uncredited))
Hong Kong
(Mr. Howe (uncredited))
Valley of Fire
(Ching Moon)
The Law and the Lady
(Chinese Manager (uncredited))
Peking Express
(Chinese Captain (uncredited))
Secrets of Monte Carlo
(Chinese Clerk (uncredited))
Grounds for Marriage
(Oscar, Chris' Valet)
Key to the City
(MC at the Blue Duck (uncredited))
And Baby Makes Three
(Lem Kee)
Jump Into Hell
(Lt. Thatch)
The Man with Bogart's Face
(Mr. Wing)
The Red Pony
(Mr. Sing / Carni man / Mr. Green)
The Hawaiians
(Chun Fat (uncredited))
Confessions of an Opium Eater
(Wing Young)
The Saga of Hemp Brown
(Chang)
Accused of Murder
(Hank - Bayliss' Houseboy (uncredited))
Flight to Hong Kong
(Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited))
The Rawhide Years
(Chang - Steward (uncredited))
Soldier of Fortune
(Goldie - Hotel Waiter (uncredited))
G.I. War Brides
(Waiter (uncredited))
International Settlement
(Bellboy / Onlooker in Street)
Torchy Blane in Chinatown
(Chinese Entertainer with Sword)
The Sniper
(Tom)
The Groom Wore Spurs
(Ignacio)
20,000 Men a Year
(Harold Chong)
Barricade
(Undetermined Role)
Red Light
(Vincent)
A Ticket to Tomahawk
(Long Time)
Men in War
(North Korean Sniper Prisoner)
The Mad Martindales
(Jefferson Gow)
Port of Hell
(Detonation Ship Radioman)
They Met in Bombay
(Gin Ling (uncredited))
Half Past Midnight
(Sam)
Oh, You Beautiful Doll
(Houseboy)
State Department: File 649
(Johnny Han)
Trader Tom of the China Seas
(Wang)
Dangerous Millions
(Lin Chow)
A Flea in Her Ear
(Oke Saki)
Blood Alley
(Cpl. Wang)
Mister Ed
Here's Lucy
(Headwaiter)
Kung Fu
The F.B.I.
(Mayor Eto)
Hawaii Five-O
(Dr. Leo Kuh)
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Perry Mason
(Mickey Fong)
Night Gallery
(Joseph the Butler)
Hawaiian Eye
Mickey
Get Smart
China Smith
The Wild Wild West
(Baron Kyosai)
Thriller
(Bartender)
Yancy Derringer
(Hon Lee)
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
(Magan)
Adventures of Superman
(Harry Wong)
The Paul Lynde Show
Navy Log
The Rifleman
Terry and the Pirates
Dr. Fu Manchu
Captain Midnight
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
(Dr. Wing Chin-Ni)
Isis
(Mr. Chen)
The Jack Benny Program
(Chinese cafeteria employee)
Bonanza
(Hop Sing (uncredited))
Get Smart
(Abe Fu Yung)
Hong Kong
(Yang)
Here's Lucy
(Murphy)
The Mike Douglas Show
(Self)
Bonanza
(Hop Sing)
Perry Mason
(Sheng)
How the West Was Won
(Hospital Attendant)
Kung Fu
(Master Ling (uncredited))
Kung Fu
(Chu)
The F.B.I.
(Joseph Sakanishi)
Broken Arrow
(Ling Tang)
Barbary Coast
(Soong)
Kung Fu
(Chuen (archive footage) (uncredited))
87th Precinct
(Charlie, 1st Tattoo Parlor Owner)
The Lone Wolf
(Jack Wong)