Austin J. 'Ozzie' Yue was born on the 12th August 1947 in Liverpool. His father, Jack, was president of a masonic lodge within the Liverpool Chinese community, responsible for aiding positive integration and specific needs of a separate culture. He was also a restaurateur and court translator besides being a point of contact between Liverpool's Chinese and English communities. Ozzie went to junior schools in the Wirral and to Skerry's School in Rodney Street, Liverpool before attending the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys as a contemporary of Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Although he was junior to them he has admitted that he did 'flick pieces of paper' at McCartney during art classes. After a spell as an apprentice electrician, he then joined 'The Hideaways as guitarist - ( see more about this here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2016/01/mersey-beat-hideaways.html and http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2019/06/pool-of-sound-supercharge.html the Hideaways ).
In the late 1970s he played with Liverpool band 'Joker', and now has his own RnB group playing locally, 'Yue Who'.
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| In Coronation Street with Mike Baldwin |
He had also branched out into acting after having appeared in various local stage productions in his teens, such as 'The King and I' and 'South Pacific' at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. However his acting took a back seat during his musical career until the 1980s, when he began to be cast in British films and on television, beginning with 'Stayground' (1983). As in his teens, he was usually offered stereotypical Chinese roles such as waiters and minor villains 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' " He appeared as an extra in many TV programmes including for Granada Television where he played the role of Mr Ho in the 'Cyril's Singing' episode of the 'Coronation Street' spin-off 'The Brothers Mcgregor (1986). His next substantial role was in 7 episodes of the TV series 'Harry' (1993-95) and then in 14 episodes of 'All Quiet on the Preston Front' when he played Mr Wang, owner of the local Chinese restaurant. He played substantial roles in other programmes such as Agatha Christie’s 'Poirot' (1990), 'Father Ted' (1998), 'Lovejoy' (1992), 'Silent Witness' (2004) and as a Taxi Driver in the BBC comedy-drama 'Being Eileen' (2013) as well as films such as 'Nuns on the Run' (1990) as Ernie Wong and 'Lara Croft:Tomb Raider' (2001), as an aged Buddhist Monk.
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| In 'Shore to Shore' |
In 2006 Ozzie broadened out into theatre, starring as Kensuke in Michael Morpurgo's, 'Kensuke's Kingdom', adapted by Stuart Paterson, across the country before ending 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'.
Britain’s Chinese community is the longest standing in Europe and the touring production of 'From Shore to Shore' showcased the cream of their acting talent. 'From Shore to Shore' by Mary Cooper and MW Sun tells the untold stories of of three Chinese immigrants living in the UK, and the journey that led them to move to the UK. Led by Ozzie, the seven strong cast visited Chinese restaurants around the country to tell the story of three very different people, Cheung Wing, Mei Lan and Yi Di, who come to these shores from the other side of the world to build lives for themselves. It was directed by Yellow Earth founder and former Artistic Director David K S Tse who came to this country as a child. The Birmingham Repertory Theatre, using multi-rolling and minimalist staging, switched between narratives, and saw the real struggles that all three went through, while also finding out more about life in China and Hong Kong. As the elderly Cheung Wing, Ozzie gives an impressive, calm and steady central focus, around which everything else seems to revolve. Stage Magazine had this to say, "Ozzie Yue is a brilliant storyteller, with a fantastic, crisp voice. His presence and command of the stage, combined with his welcoming, gentle tone, made his performance captivating. Alongside a wonderful cast, there were strong performances all round, and every actor worked the space masterfully."
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/12/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians_29.html
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