Leonard Strong

Born: 1908-08-12

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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Shane

as Ernie Wright
Released: 1953-04-23

A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler...

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Blood on the Sun

as Hijikata
Released: 1945-04-26

Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world...

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Back to Bataan

as Gen. Homma
Released: 1945-05-30

An Army colonel leads a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese in the Philippines.

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The Keys of the Kingdom

as Mr. Chia
Released: 1944-12-15

A young priest, Father Chisholm is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the...

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Cult of the Cobra

as Daru
Released: 1955-03-30

While stationed in Asia, six American G.I.'s witness the secret ritual of Lamians (worshipers of...

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The Naked Jungle

as Kutina
Released: 1954-03-03

The Leiningen South American cocoa plantation is threatened by a 2-mile-wide, 20-mile-long...

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Escape from Zahrain

as Ambulance Driver
Released: 1962-05-23

Yul Brynner plays political leader Sharif who is sprung from a police van on his way to a firing...

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Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

as Fortune Teller (uncredited)
Released: 1955-08-18

A widowed doctor of both Chinese and European descent falls in love with a married American...

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Backfire

as Lee Quong (uncredited)
Released: 1950-01-26

When he's discharged from a military hospital, ex-GI Bob Corey goes on a search for his army...

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Scared Stiff

as Shorty
Released: 1953-04-27

A nightclub singer and his partner escape mobsters by fleeing to Cuba with a beautiful heiress,...

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Destination Gobi

as Wali-Akhun
Released: 1953-03-20

A group of US Navy weathermen taking measurements in the Gobi desert in World War II are forced...

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Bombardier

as Japanese Officer
Released: 1943-05-14

A documentary/drama about the training of bombardiers during WWII. Major Chick Davis proves to...

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Backlash

as Willis, Caretaker
Released: 1947-03-01

In a series of flashbacks, shows that attorney John Morland has given a lift to a hitchhiker who...

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The Atomic City

as Donald Clark
Released: 1952-05-01

Spies hold the son of a nuclear physicist (Gene Barry) hostage in exchange for the Los Alamos...

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Bengal Brigade

as Mahindra
Released: 1954-11-06

Year 1856, British India. Capt. Jeffrey Claybourne is severely punished after disobeying an...

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Underground Agent

as Count Akiri
Released: 1942-12-03

In this espionage caper, a government spy must keep enemy agents from spying upon a defense...

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Jet Attack

as Maj. Wan
Released: 1958-02-15

A Soviet nurse helps a U.S. pilot, his buddies and a scientist escape from North Korea. ...

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Behind the Rising Sun

as Tama's Father
Released: 1943-08-01

A Japanese publisher urges his American-educated son to side with the Axis.

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First Yank into Tokyo

as Maj. Nogira
Released: 1945-09-05

A U.S. pilot undergoes plastic surgery and drops into Japan to get a captive scientist's (Marc...

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Hell's Half Acre

as Ippy
Released: 1954-06-01

A woman travels to Hawaii to find out if a man in prison there is actually her missing husband.

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Dangerous Millions

as Bandit Chieftain
Released: 1946-11-27

Eight strangers meet in Shanghai to stake claims to the fortune of a late shipping magnate, then...

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Jewels of Brandenburg

as Marcel Grandet
Released: 1947-05-02

A former secret agent is sent to retrieve a priceless collection of stolen jewels from a Lisbon...

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Prisoner of War

as Col. Kim Doo Yi
Released: 1954-05-04

American soldiers, captured by North Korean's, are periodically brainwashed into giving up their...

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Cargo to Capetown

as Singh
Released: 1950-04-01

A sailor and his captain fight over a beautiful girl.

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Sword of the Avenger

as Ming Tang
Released: 1948-06-02

Roberto Balagtas is falsely arrested for treason and sent to prison where he is tortured. He...

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The Twilight Zone

as The Hitch-Hiker
First aired: 1959-10-02

A series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science...

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Get Smart

as The Claw
First aired: 1965-09-18

Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created...

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Peter Gunn

as King Felix
First aired: 1958-09-22

Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series. Filmed in a film noir atmosphere and...

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One Step Beyond

as Conductor
First aired: 1959-01-20

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The...

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77 Sunset Strip

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-10-10

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this...

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The Lone Wolf

as Ti Ling
First aired: 1954-04-09

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The Lone Wolf

as Shalmar
First aired: 1954-04-09

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The Alaskans

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-04

The Alaskans is a 1959-1960 ABC/Warner Brothers western television series set during the late...

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Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Manuel
First aired: 1955-10-02

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

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Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Luiz
First aired: 1955-10-02

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

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Dangerous Assignment

as uncredited
First aired: 1952-01-01

A U.S. government agent travels the world on undercover missions in this 1950s series. Star...

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The Islanders

as General Kumari
First aired: 1960-10-02

The Islanders is an American adventure television series which aired on ABC from 1960 to 1961,...

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Dr. Fu Manchu

as uncredited
First aired: 1956-09-03

The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu is a syndicated American television series that aired in 1956....

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Terry and the Pirates

as uncredited
First aired: 1952-11-25

Terry and the Pirates is a short-lived American adventure series based on Milton Caniff's...

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The Wonderful World of Disney

as Zanaga Martinez
First aired: 1954-10-27

Walt Disney Productions has produced an anthology television series under several different...

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