After graduating from the college of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree majoring in Animal Husbandry, Sen Yung went to work for a chemical company. It was while he was working for this company, that he decided to audition for a movie role at the film studio that he made deliveries to. His first film appearance was an uncredited role in the film The Good Earth (1937).

In 1938, he was cast in the role of Jimmy Chan, the number two son of the Chinese detective Charlie Chan. The film Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938) was the first of 19 movies he would make in the Charlie Chan series. In these films he was billed as Sen Yung. These films gave Victor, the on-the-job training he needed to in order to gain experience as an actor. Sen Yung was able to achieve semi-stardom through this role.

During World War Two, due to the lack of Japanese actors, Sen Yung, began specialising in film roles that had him cast as Japanese men who were cultured, conformed and always villianous in such films as Across the Pacific (1942).

He made about 70 films during his lifetime. These included The Letter (1940), The Left Hand of God (1955), and She Demons (1958). His last film role was in The Man with Bogart's Face (1980). He was sometimes credited as Sen Young or Victor Sen Young (Americanised). He also appeared in the Republic serial Trader Tom of the China Seas (1954).

In the 1960s, he showed his versatility by appearing on both stage and screen in the musical The Flower Drum Song. During this time he also appeared on the television show Bachelor Father for one season (1961-62) as Charlie Fong, cousin to houseboy Peter.

Television guest appearances included shows such as I Spy, Death Valley Days, Get Smart, Here's Lucy and Kung Fu. However, his most famous television role was that of Hop Sing, an immigrant Chinese cook and housekeeper to the Cartwrights in Bonanza.

The character of Hop Sing has come to be regarded by many people as the fifth man on the Ponderosa but the fact was that Sen Yung only appeared in approximately 69 out of the 430 episodes that were made. At a dinner given in his honour in 1977, Victor talked about his role in Bonanza...

"I've been all over the country selling a book and everyone thinks I worked on every show and that I am a millionaire. The truth is that I appeared in about 20 percent of the shows over 14 years, and that was not enough to sustain myself. You do all kinds of things. When someone needs a cook I can cook."

One of these episodes, was A Lonely Man. This season 13 episode centred on Hop Sing and his love for a caucasian woman. It was the only time, that he was featured exclusively.

Some writers have described Sen Yung's portrayal of Hop Sing as one of the worst examples of Asians on television, while others have describe it as a good comedic role.

Sen Yung was also a talented Catonese cook and in 1974 wrote the best-selling "Great Wok Cookbook". He eventually had over 300 film and television roles to his credit.

Victor Sen Yung died on 9 November, 1980 aged 65 in relative poverty. The cause of death was accidental asphyxiation due to a gas leak in the tenament apartment where he lived in North Hollywood. He was cremated at Forest Lawn, Glendale and it was reported that Pernell Roberts did the eulogy at his funeral.

Sources:
TV Tome
Internet Movie Database
Yahoo! Movies
The Sen Yung Page
Victor Sen Yung
Movie Gallery