person

Leonard Strong

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Male

Birthday

1908-08-12

Place of Birth

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Leonard Strong

Biography

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."

Also Known For

poster

73

Shane

Apr 23, 1953

poster

59

Backfire

Jan 26, 1950

poster

64

Scared Stiff

Apr 27, 1953

poster

55

Hell's Half Acre

Jun 01, 1954

poster

60

Cult of the Cobra

Mar 30, 1955

poster

NA

Underground Agent

Dec 03, 1942

poster

59

Cargo to Capetown

Apr 01, 1950

poster

59

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Aug 18, 1955

poster

49

Backlash

Mar 01, 1947

poster

70

The Keys of the Kingdom

Dec 15, 1944

poster

61

Back to Bataan

May 30, 1945

poster

51

Jet Attack

Feb 15, 1958

poster

62

Escape from Zahrain

May 23, 1962

poster

39

Prisoner of War

May 04, 1954

poster

55

Bombardier

May 14, 1943

poster

54

First Yank into Tokyo

Sep 05, 1945

poster

64

The Naked Jungle

Mar 03, 1954

poster

80

Sword of the Avenger

Jun 02, 1948

poster

53

Bengal Brigade

Nov 06, 1954

poster

58

Blood on the Sun

Apr 26, 1945

poster

57

Destination Gobi

Mar 20, 1953

poster

52

The Atomic City

May 01, 1952

poster

50

Jewels of Brandenburg

May 02, 1947

poster

57

Behind the Rising Sun

Aug 01, 1943

poster

48

Dangerous Millions

Nov 27, 1946

poster

67

77 Sunset Strip

Oct 10, 1958

poster

80

The Islanders

Oct 02, 1960

poster

79

Get Smart

Sep 18, 1965

poster

84

The Twilight Zone

Oct 02, 1959

poster

77

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Oct 02, 1955

poster

65

Peter Gunn

Sep 22, 1958

poster

56

One Step Beyond

Jan 20, 1959

poster

55

The Alaskans

Oct 04, 1959

poster

45

Navy Log

Sep 20, 1955

poster

30

Terry and the Pirates

Nov 25, 1952

poster

50

Dr. Fu Manchu

Sep 03, 1956

poster

35

Dangerous Assignment

Jan 01, 1952

poster

77

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Oct 02, 1955

poster

78

The Wonderful World of Disney

Oct 27, 1954

poster

70

The Lone Wolf

Apr 09, 1954

poster

70

The Lone Wolf

Apr 09, 1954