x

Login

Remember me
Forget password ?

Or via social

x

sign up

person_profile-Leonard Strong

Leonard Strong Died at age: 71

Actor | Producer

Date of Birth:

Aug 12, 1908

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

Jan 23, 1980

Biography of

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."

Photos of

Leonard Strong

Photos ( 2 Photos

Filmography of

Leonard Strong

Found 25 Movies in total

Escape from Zahrain

Ambulance Driver ( Actor )

... 1962

Jet Attack

Maj. Wan ( Actor )

... 1958

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Fortune Teller (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1955

Cult of the Cobra

Daru ( Actor )

... 1955

Bengal Brigade

Mahindra ( Actor )

... 1954

Hell's Half Acre

Ippy ( Actor )

... 1954

Prisoner of War

Col. Kim Doo Yi ( Actor )

... 1954

The Naked Jungle

Kutina ( Actor )

... 1954

Scared Stiff

Shorty ( Actor )

... 1953

Shane

Ernie Wright ( Actor )

... 1953

Destination Gobi

Wali-Akhun ( Actor )

... 1953

The Atomic City

Donald Clark ( Actor )

... 1952

Cargo to Capetown

Singh ( Actor )

... 1950

Backfire

Lee Quong (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1950

Sword of the Avenger

Ming Tang ( Actor )

... 1948

Jewels of Brandenburg

Marcel Grandet ( Actor )

... 1947

Backlash

Willis, Caretaker ( Actor )

... 1947

Dangerous Millions

Bandit Chieftain ( Actor )

... 1946

First Yank into Tokyo

Maj. Nogira ( Actor )

... 1945

Back to Bataan

Gen. Homma ( Actor )

... 1945

Blood on the Sun

Hijikata ( Actor )

... 1945

The Keys of the Kingdom

Mr. Chia ( Actor )

... 1944

Behind the Rising Sun

Tama's Father ( Actor )

... 1943

Bombardier

Japanese Officer ( Actor )

... 1943

Underground Agent

Count Akiri ( Actor )

... 1942