Victor Sen Yung

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: Acting
Birthday: 1915-10-18
Place of Birth: San Francisco, California, USA
Also Known As: Victor Cheung Young, Sen Yew Cheung, Sen Yung, Sen Young, Victor Sen Young, Victor Young

Movies List of Victor Sen Yung

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The Movie Orgy

1968 Movie
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Chinatown at Midnight

1949 Movie
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Flower Drum Song

1961 Movie
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Charlie Chan in Reno

1939 Movie
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Forbidden

1953 Movie
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Woman on the Run

1950 Movie
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Castle in the Desert

1942 Movie
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Moontide

1942 Movie
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She Demons

1958 Movie
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The Left Hand of God

1955 Movie
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The Breaking Point

1950 Movie
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Murder Over New York

1940 Movie
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Charlie Chan in Rio

1941 Movie
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Dead Men Tell

1941 Movie
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Dangerous Money

1946 Movie
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The Trap

1946 Movie
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The Hunters

1958 Movie
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The Flame

1947 Movie
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Jet Attack

1958 Movie
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The Letter

1940 Movie
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Across the Pacific

1942 Movie
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Docks of New Orleans

1948 Movie
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The Chinese Ring

1947 Movie
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Shanghai Chest

1948 Movie
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The Feathered Serpent

1948 Movie
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Horrible Horror

1986 Movie
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The Golden Eye

1948 Movie
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China

1943 Movie
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The Shanghai Story

1954 Movie
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Tuna Clipper

1949 Movie
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Shadows Over Shanghai

1938 Movie
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The Crimson Key

1947 Movie
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The Killer Elite

1975 Movie
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Web of Danger

1947 Movie
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Secret Agent of Japan

1942 Movie
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Escape to Paradise

1939 Movie
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The Good Earth

1937 Movie
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Thank You, Mr. Moto

1937 Movie
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Cripple Creek

1952 Movie
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The Hawaiians

1970 Movie
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The Rawhide Years

1956 Movie
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Valley of Fire

1951 Movie
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The Red Pony

1973 Movie
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And Baby Makes Three

1949 Movie
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Jubilee Trail

1954 Movie
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Double or Nothing

1937 Movie
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Little Tokyo, U.S.A.

1942 Movie
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Rogues' Regiment

1948 Movie
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G.I. War Brides

1946 Movie
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Grounds for Marriage

1951 Movie
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Accused of Murder

1956 Movie
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Intrigue

1947 Movie
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Hong Kong

1952 Movie
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The Law and the Lady

1951 Movie
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Lost Angel

1943 Movie
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Target Hong Kong

1953 Movie
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Peking Express

1951 Movie
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Key to the City

1950 Movie
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Flight to Hong Kong

1956 Movie
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Manila Calling

1942 Movie
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The Blue Gardenia

1953 Movie
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Soldier of Fortune

1955 Movie
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Winged Victory

1944 Movie
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Jump Into Hell

1955 Movie
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The Sniper

1952 Movie
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The Groom Wore Spurs

1951 Movie
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Barricade

1939 Movie
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20,000 Men a Year

1939 Movie
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Red Light

1949 Movie
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A Ticket to Tomahawk

1950 Movie
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Men in War

1957 Movie
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The Mad Martindales

1942 Movie
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Port of Hell

1954 Movie
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They Met in Bombay

1941 Movie
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Half Past Midnight

1948 Movie
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Dangerous Millions

1946 Movie
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A Flea In Her Ear

1968 Movie
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Blood Alley

1955 Movie