Jimmy O. Yang is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and writer. As an actor, he is best known for starring as Jian-Yang in the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley, as Dr. Chan Kaifang in the Netflix comedy series Space Force, and as Josh Lin in the Netflix romantic comedy film Love Hard. He’s fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese & Shanghainese.
Jimmy O. Yang was born on June 11, 1987, in Hong Kong as Man-Sing Au-Yeung. His parents’ origins are in Shanghai, but they eventually settled in Hong Kong, where he spent the first thirteen years of his life. In 2000, when Yang was 13, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Los Angeles, California. His aunt and grandmother were already living in the US; his parents joined them primarily to allow Yang and his brother, Roy, access to better schools. He was a student at John Burroughs Middle School, where he was in eighth grade.
After graduating from Beverly Hills High, Yang enrolled at UC San Diego, where he studied economics and received his bachelor’s degree in 2009. After finishing his undergraduate degree, Yang took an internship at the Beverly Hills office of the consulting firm Smith Barney. He had been unhappy at work and had declined a chance to come back. He moved back to San Diego and supported himself by selling used automobiles and working as a disc jockey at a strip joint. He met Sean Kelly, who ran The Comedy Palace and would later become his mentor and business partner in forming Storage Hunters, by giving away his stand-up comedy acts for free.
When Yang got back to L.A., he immediately got a job at Central Casting. After a friend suggested it, he started taking acting lessons and eventually signed with the Vesta Talent Agency. He made his television debut on the CBS series 2 Broke Girls in 2012. Yang had his big break when he made his first appearance as a stand-up comic on The Arsenio Hall Show. Yang also played the role of Tang-See in the sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and appeared in an episode of Criminal Minds. His breakthrough role came in 2014 on the HBO comedy series “Silicon Valley,” in which he was initially signed in a guest role and was later promoted to series regular. He played Jian-Yang, a tenant of an innovation incubator run by entrepreneur Erlich Bachman, played by T.J. Miller.
Yang is also the author of How to American: An Immigrant’s Guide to Disappointing Your Parents, a book where he shares his story. His work in the 2017 film Patriots Day earned him an All-Def Award. He was also nominated for an OFTA award for Best Ensemble in 2019. In 2018, he was featured in the romantic comedy film Crazy Rich Asians. He is also a famous YouTuber and has more than a million followers. He has a net worth of $5 million.