| Ozzie Yue | |
| Birth Name: | Austin J. Yue |
| Birth Date: | 1947 8, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Liverpool, England |
Austin J. "Ozzie" Yue (born 12 August 1947) is a British actor and musician of Chinese heritage. On television, he appeared in Father Ted (1998), All Quiet on the Preston Front (1994–1997) and Harry (1995). His films include (2001), Syriana (2005), and Nuns on the Run (1990).
In the 1960s, Yue was guitarist with Merseybeat group the Hideaways and later for the 1970s group Supercharge. He now has own band Yue Who. In 2008, he starred in the title role of Kensuke's Kingdom, a theatre production that toured the UK.
Yue was born in Liverpool. His father, Jack, was a restaurateur, court translator and point of contact between Liverpool's Chinese and English communities.[1] Yue 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.[1]
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.[1] 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. They did however have a number 1 single in Australia in 1976. In the late 1970s he played with Liverpool band "Joker".[2] Today Yue has his own RnB group playing locally, "Yue Who".[3]
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, 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. In March/April 2015 he returned to the Liverpool stage playing the roles of Snug and Mustardseed in the Everyman Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.[4]
In 2013, he played "Taxi Driver" in the BBC comedy-drama Being Eileen.[5]