Ozzie Yue (born Austin J. Yue in 1947) is an English actor, guitarist and singer. He is most noted for his roles in television programmes such as Father Ted, All Quiet on the Preston Front and Coronation Street as well as for roles in films such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Syriana and Nuns On The Run. In the 1960s Yue was guitarist with Merseybeat group The Hideaways and later for the 1970s group Supercharge; today he has his own band, "Yue Hoo", and has recently starred in the title role in Kensuke's Kingdom, a theatre production which has toured the UK.
Yue's father, Jack, was well-known in Liverpool as a restaurateur, Court translator and point of contact between Liverpool's Chinese and English communities. Ozzie went to junior schools in the Wirral and Skerry's School in Rodney Street, Liverpool. He then attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys as a contemporary of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, although junior to them. Yue has admitted that he did "flick pieces of paper" at McCartney during art classes.
After a spell as an apprentice electrician, Yue joined The Hideaways as guitarist during the Merseybeat era; he played at The Cavern Club more often than The Beatles. In the 1970s, he joined funk, soul & RnB group Supercharge, which achieved some reputation and local success, but failed to make an impression on the UK charts. Today Yue has his own RnB group playing locally, "Yue Hoo".
In his teens, Yue appeared in productions such as The King and I and South Pacific at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. However, acting took a back seat during his musical career until the 1980s, when he began to be cast in British film and television, usually in stereotypical Chinese roles such as waiters and minor villains. He was initially offered work by Granada TV as an extra, and of this he says,
I was one of very few oriental-looking actors at that time. A London agent saw my photograph in casting and said 'you don't do any more extras work from now on'.
From the early 1990s onwards, Yue has appeared in numerous productions and in 2006 branched out into theatre, starring in Kensuke's Kingdom across the country and finally at London's Bloomsbury Theatre.
