Ric Young

Ric Young (born 1944) is a British character actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Zhang Lee in the TV series Alias, and as the henchman Kao Kan in the Steven Spielberg film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Young was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1944 as Wing-Wah Yung. He trained as an actor first at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and then moved to Los Angeles to study method acting under Shelley Winters and Lee Strasberg.

Actor

Originally, Young at 12 year old was taking part in radio sketches in Kuala Lumpur. He came to Britain in 1958 and got a break in London. An introduction to Mike Todd led to a small part in film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958). After he went to Italy and stayed on in Rome for five months to appear in Italian movie and television. Back to Britain he performed under name Eric Young appearing in TV shows in the 1960s and '70s such as The Saint, The Avengers, Blake's 7, The Tomorrow People, Somerset Maugham Hour, The Champions, Danger Man, The Chinese Puzzle, Are You Being Served? and Room Service.

Young has since appeared in many memorable roles, often as a villain. Some of the best-known are as Kao Kan in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, as Bruce Lee's father in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), as Mao Tse-tung in Nixon (1995), as General Chang Jing Wu in Seven Years in Tibet (1997), as Mr. Kwai in The Transporter (2002) and as Henry Lee in The Corruptor (1999).

Young's prominent television roles include a recurring role as Dr. Zhang Lee on the TV series Alias (2001–04). He is among the performers who can lay claim performing in both the original versions of the TV series The Saint (in 1964) and Hawaii Five-O (in 1976) and their updated versions Return of the Saint (in 1978) and Hawaii Five-O (in 2010).

Producer

Young has produced two projects, Paranormal Whactivity, and the short, Oy Vey!.

Young currently teaches acting alongside his other projects.