Victor Sen Yung
1915-10-18 ( 109 years old ) in San Francisco, California, USA

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.

Movies

The Man with Bogart's Face 1980-10-03
The Killer Elite 1975-12-19
The Red Pony 1973-03-17
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon 1972-02-22
The Hawaiians 1970-06-17
A Flea in Her Ear 1968-11-27
The Movie Orgy 1968-01-01
Confessions of an Opium Eater 1962-06-20
Flower Drum Song 1961-11-09
The Saga of Hemp Brown 1958-10-01
The Hunters 1958-09-01
Jet Attack 1958-02-15
She Demons 1958-01-03
Men in War 1957-05-03
Accused of Murder 1956-12-21
Flight to Hong Kong 1956-10-08
The Rawhide Years 1956-07-01
Blood Alley 1955-10-01
The Left Hand of God 1955-09-02
Soldier of Fortune 1955-05-24
Jump Into Hell 1955-04-01
Port of Hell 1954-12-05
The Shanghai Story 1954-09-01
Jubilee Trail 1954-05-15
Trader Tom of the China Seas 1954-01-06
Forbidden 1953-12-02
The Blue Gardenia 1953-03-20
Target Hong Kong 1953-02-06
Cripple Creek 1952-06-30
The Sniper 1952-05-09
Hong Kong 1952-04-18
Valley of Fire 1951-11-20
Peking Express 1951-08-01
The Law and the Lady 1951-07-20
Secrets of Monte Carlo 1951-06-20
The Groom Wore Spurs 1951-03-13
Grounds for Marriage 1951-01-12
Woman on the Run 1950-11-10
The Breaking Point 1950-10-06
A Ticket to Tomahawk 1950-05-19
Key to the City 1950-02-02
And Baby Makes Three 1949-12-02
Chinatown at Midnight 1949-11-17
Oh, You Beautiful Doll 1949-11-11
Red Light 1949-09-30
The Sickle or the Cross 1949-07-01
Tuna Clipper 1949-04-11
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture 1949-03-02
State Department: File 649 1949-02-11
Rogues' Regiment 1948-12-28
The Feathered Serpent 1948-12-19
The Golden Eye 1948-08-29
The Shanghai Chest 1948-07-11
Docks of New Orleans 1948-03-21
Half Past Midnight 1948-03-01
To the Ends of the Earth 1948-02-07
The Chinese Ring 1947-12-06
Intrigue 1947-12-06
The Flame 1947-11-24
The Crimson Key 1947-07-02
Web of Danger 1947-06-10
The Trap 1946-11-30
Dangerous Millions 1946-11-27
Dangerous Money 1946-10-12
G.I. War Brides 1946-08-12
Shadows Over Chinatown 1946-06-27
Betrayal from the East 1945-04-24
Winged Victory 1944-12-22
Lost Angel 1943-12-23
Night Plane from Chungking 1943-05-31
China 1943-04-21
Manila Calling 1942-10-16
Across the Pacific 1942-09-04
Little Tokyo, U.S.A. 1942-07-08
Moontide 1942-05-29
The Mad Martindales 1942-05-15
Secret Agent of Japan 1942-04-03
Castle in the Desert 1942-02-02
A Yank on the Burma Road 1942-01-29
Charlie Chan in Rio 1941-09-05
They Met in Bombay 1941-06-27
Dead Men Tell 1941-03-28
Murder Over New York 1940-12-13
The Letter 1940-11-21
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum 1940-09-06
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise 1940-05-02
Charlie Chan in Panama 1940-03-01
Escape to Paradise 1939-12-22
Barricade 1939-12-08
20,000 Men a Year 1939-10-26
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island 1939-08-31
Charlie Chan in Reno 1939-06-16
Torchy Blane in Chinatown 1939-02-02
Charlie Chan in Honolulu 1938-12-30
Shadows Over Shanghai 1938-10-14
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance 1938-06-11
International Settlement 1938-02-04
Thank You, Mr. Moto 1937-12-24
Double or Nothing 1937-09-17
The Good Earth 1937-06-02

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