Leonard Strong (actor)

Leonard Clarence Strong (August 12, 1908 – January 23, 1980) was an American character actor specializing in playing Asian roles.

Leonard Strong
Strong in Twilight Zone episode "The Hitch-Hiker" (1960)
Born	Leonard Clarence Strong (1908-08-12)August 12, 1908 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Died	January 23, 1980(1980-01-23) (aged 71) Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1942–1968
Spouse	Irene Richards ​ (m. 1935)​
Children	3

Biography

Strong was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1908. Beginning with Little Tokyo, U.S.A in 1942, he 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. He played Clem in The Lone Ranger episode (1/16) "Cannonball McKay" (1949). Strong also appeared in the movie Shane (1953) as homesteader Ernie Wright.

Strong, c. 1953

Strong achieved some pop culture notoriety for his role on television as "The Claw" on Get Smart, where Agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) is unable to understand Strong as he announces his evil nickname of “The Claw”; confused, Smart calls the villain “The Craw”, causing the bad guy to continually, and with increasing irritation, correct him. Strong appeared as "The Claw" in two episodes: "Diplomat's Daughter" (1965) and "The Amazing Harry Hoo" (1966). Additionally, he played the role of Lin Chan in "The Laser Blazer" (1968).

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 translation when his employer wants Strong to take her to a psychiatrist ("headshrinker") 200 miles down river, and, of course, he takes her instead to a very different kind of 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 stating "I believe you're 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".

Strong died in Glendale, California in 1980, aged 71.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1942	Little Tokyo, U.S.A.	Fujiama
1942	Manila Calling	Japanese Officer	Uncredited
1942	Underground Agent	Count Akiri
1943	Bombardier	Japanese Officer
1943	Night Plane from Chungking	Lieutenant Karuma	Uncredited
1943	Behind the Rising Sun	Tama's Father
1943	Salute to the Marines	Karitu	Uncredited
1943	Jack London	Captain Tanaka
1944	Up in Arms	Japanese Interrogator in Cave	Uncredited
1944	Dragon Seed	Japanese Official	Uncredited
1944	The Keys of the Kingdom	Mr. Chia
1945	Blood on the Sun	Hijikata
1945	Back to Bataan	Gen. Homma
1945	First Yank Into Tokyo	Major Nogira
1946	Anna and the King of Siam	Interpreter	Uncredited
1946	Dangerous Millions	Bandit Chieftain
1947	Backlash	The Stranger / Willis - the Caretaker
1948	Jewels of Brandenburg	Marcel Grandet
1948	Sword of the Avenger	Ming Tang
1949	We Were Strangers	Bombmaker	Uncredited
1949	Malaya	Half-witted Malay	Uncredited
1950	Backfire	Lee Quong	Uncredited
1950	Cargo to Capetown	Singh
1952	Carbine Williams	Robak	Uncredited
1952	The Atomic City	Donald Clark
1953	Destination Gobi	Wali-Akhun
1953	Shane	Ernie Wright
1953	Scared Stiff	Shorty
1954	Hell's Half Acre	Ippy
1954	The Naked Jungle	Kutina
1954	Prisoner of War	Col. Kim Doo Yi
1954	Bengal Brigade	Mahindra
1955	Cult of the Cobra	Daru
1955	Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing	Fortune Teller	Uncredited
1956	The King and I	Interpreter	Uncredited
1956	The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu	Professor Hugh Yan
1957	This Could Be the Night	Mr. Bernbaum	Uncredited
1958	Jet Attack	Maj. Wan (North Korean)
1959	The Big Fisherman	Zebedee, Father of James & John	Uncredited
1962	Escape from Zahrain	Ambulance Driver

External links

• Leonard Strong at IMDb 
• Latter Day Saints in film website