---
name: "David Yip"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-yip"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "4 June 1951"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 64
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-18T11:35:11.272004+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# David Yip

Actor. Born 4 June 1951 in Liverpool, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 4 June 1951, Liverpool, England, UK
- **Active:** 1985–1996
- **Also known as:** David Nicholas Yip, 叶西园
- **Average Fi1m score:** 64, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 46 (1), 1990s 81 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Yip, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1177291, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0948118/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/696

## Biography

David Nicholas Yip (born 4 June 1951) is a British actor and playwright. Born in Liverpool to a Chinese father from Canton and an English mother, he trained at East 15 Acting School, graduating in 1973.

He gained prominence as Detective Sergeant John Ho in the BBC series *The Chinese Detective* (1981–1982). His film roles include Wu Han in *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom* (1984), Chuck Lee in *A View to a Kill* (1985), and appearances in *Entrapment* (1999) and *Break* (2020). Television credits include *Fortitude* (2017–2018), *Pennyworth* (2019–2022), *Doctor Who* (1979) and *Midsomer Murders* (2021).

Yip wrote and starred in the play *Gold Mountain*. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Essex and Edge Hill University in 2022.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Hamlet* (1996), Fi1m 81, as Sailor One — [page](https://film.one/film/hamlet.md)
- *A View to a Kill* (1985), Fi1m 46, as Chuck Lee — [page](https://film.one/film/a-view-to-a-kill.md)

## Complete filmography (39)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Doctor Plague* (2026), Acting
- *Dream Hacker* (2025), as Wang Lei
- *Wolf King* (2025), series, as Hamwell (voice)
- *Return to Skaro* (2021), Acting
- *Break* (2020), as Vincent Qiang
- *Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler* (2019), series, as Zeya Khin
- *Porters* (2017), series, as Dalai Lama
- *Spirit Warriors* (2010), series, as Ding-Xiang
- *Act of Grace* (2008), as Kai
- *Liverpool Nativity* (2007), as Magi 2
- *Snakeboy and the Sandcastle* (2002), Acting
- *24* (2001), series, as President Wei — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/24.md)
- *My Kingdom* (2001), Acting
- *Arabian Nights* (2000), series, as Assad
- *Entrapment* (1999), as Chief of Police
- *Fast Food* (1998), as Mr. Fortune-cookie
- *Midsomer Murders* (1997), series, as Fergus Rooney
- *Hamlet* (1996), as Sailor One — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/hamlet.md)
- *Rich Deceiver* (1995), as Ricky Ramon
- *Bugs* (1995), series, Acting
- *Wild Justice* (1994), as Wong
- *Every Silver Lining* (1993), series, Acting
- *Murder on the Moon* (1989), as Chang
- *Making Out* (1989), series, Acting
- *Ping Pong* (1987), as Mike Wong
- *Casualty* (1986), series, as Jiang Guang
- *A View to a Kill* (1985), as Chuck Lee — Fi1m 46, [page](https://film.one/film/a-view-to-a-kill.md)
- *The Caucasian Chalk Circle* (1985), as Young Working Man/Simon
- *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom* (1984), as Wu Han
- *Brookside* (1982), series, as Michael Choi
- *The Chelsea Murders* (1981), as Denny
- *The Chinese Detective* (1981), series, as Detective Sergeant John Ho
- *The Mystery of the Disappearing Schoolgirls* (1980), as Quintus
- *Quatermass* (1979), series, as Frank Chen
- *The Quatermass Conclusion* (1979), as Frank Chen
- *Doctor Who: Destiny of the Daleks* (1979), as Veldan
- *The Professionals* (1977), series, as Editor
- *Doctor Who* (1963), series, as Veldan — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who.md)
- *Savages*, as Kumai

## Gallery

- ![David Yip](https://film.one/media/person/409500/gallery-f8662ee1994c.jpg) David Yip — The British Library, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/David_yip_2022_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Actor David Yip speaking about his background and the Chinese community in Liverpool at the British Library in November 2022 (2023)](https://film.one/media/person/409500/gallery-433b826bb119.jpg) Actor David Yip speaking about his background and the Chinese community in Liverpool at the British Library in November 2022 (2023) — The British Library, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/David_yip_2022_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Actor David Yip speaking about his background and the Chinese community in Liverpool at the British Library in November 2022 (2023)](https://film.one/media/person/409500/gallery-7822465f231e.jpg) Actor David Yip speaking about his background and the Chinese community in Liverpool at the British Library in November 2022 (2023) — The British Library, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/David_yip_2022_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![David Yip](https://film.one/media/person/409500/gallery-575c3f4ee415.jpg) David Yip — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-yip