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Leonard Strong

Leonard Clarence Strong (born 12 August 1908, Salt Lake City, Utah - d. 23 January 1980, Glendale, California was a prolific American character actor specialising in playing Asian roles. Beginning with Little Tokyo, U.S.A in 1942, Strong played a gamut of roles as Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Thais, etc. in films such as Dragon Seed (1944),Up in Arms (1944), Jack London (1943), Salute to the Marines (1943), Behind the Rising Sun (1943), Night Plane from Chungking (1943), Bombardier (1943),Underground Agent (1942), and Manila Calling (1942). He played the Thai interpreter in both Anna and the King of Siam and its musical remake The King and I. Strong also appeared in the movie Shane (1953) as homesteader Ernie Wright. Strong achieved some pop culture notoriety for his role on television as "The Claw" on Get Smart. He appeared in a season-five episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) "The Cure" written by horror writer Robert Bloch. Set deep in an Amazon jungle, Strong plays Luiz, a loyal native who speaks broken English and saves his employer, an oil explorer, from the attempted murder of his supposedly mentally ill and unfaithful wife. Something gets lost in the translation when his employer wants Strong to take her to a psychiatrist 200 miles down river, and he takes her instead to a native headshrinker. The denouement comes when Strong returns alone to the shock of his employer. He says, "I do what you tell me. I take her to my people. The best headshrinkers in the world". Then, pulling his employer's wife's now shrunken head out of a bag, he says, "Best job in the world." Another notable television role was his haunting and mostly silent portrayal of the title character in the original Twilight Zone episode, "The Hitch-Hiker", which is often listed as one of the ten best episodes of the series. With his thumb extended, seeking a ride, and asking "Going my way?", Strong is seen in one of the half-dozen, seconds-long scenes used at the start of every one of the 30 DVDs in the CBS DVD five-season collection, "The Twilight Zone, The Definitive Edition."


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Born:
Aug 12, 1908 In Salt Lake City - Utah - USA
Movie/TV Credits:
26
First Appeared:
In the movie Underground Agent 1942-12-03
Latest Project:
Movie Escape from Zahrain 1962-05-23
Known For
Poster of The Twilight Zone
Poster of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Poster of Scared Stiff
Poster of The Keys of the Kingdom
Filmography
Movie Escape from Zahrain Ambulance Driver 1962-05-23
Series The Islanders Unknown 1960-10-02
Series The Twilight Zone The Hitch-Hiker 1959-10-02
Series The Alaskans Unknown 1959-10-04
Movie Jet Attack Maj. Wan 1958-02-15
Movie Cult of the Cobra Daru 1955-03-30
Series Alfred Hitchcock Presents Unknown 1955-10-02
Movie Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing Fortune Teller (uncredited) 1955-08-18
Movie Prisoner of War Col. Kim Doo Yi 1954-05-04
Movie Hell's Half Acre Ippy 1954-06-01
Movie Bengal Brigade Mahindra 1954-11-06
Movie Destination Gobi Wali-Akhun 1953-03-20
Movie Shane Ernie Wright 1953-04-23
Movie Scared Stiff Shorty 1953-04-27
Movie The Atomic City Donald Clark 1952-05-01
Movie Backfire Lee Quong (uncredited) 1950-01-26
Movie Cargo to Capetown Singh 1950-04-01
Movie Sword of the Avenger Ming Tang 1948-06-02
Movie Backlash Willis, Caretaker 1947-03-01
Movie Blood on the Sun Hijikata 1945-04-26
Movie First Yank into Tokyo Maj. Nogira 1945-09-05
Movie Back to Bataan Gen. Homma 1945-05-30
Movie The Keys of the Kingdom Mr. Chia 1944-12-15
Movie Bombardier Japanese Officer 1943-05-14
Movie Behind the Rising Sun Tama's Father 1943-08-01
Movie Underground Agent Count Akiri 1942-12-03
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