Leonard Strong (actor)
American actor (1908–1980)
title: "Leonard Strong (actor)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["male-actors-from-utah", "american-male-television-actors", "american-male-film-actors", "1908-births", "1980-deaths", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American actor (1908–1980)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Strong_(actor)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actor (1908–1980) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Leonard Strong |
| image | Leonard Strong Twilight Zone 1960.jpg |
| caption | Strong in Twilight Zone episode |
| "The Hitch-Hiker" (1960) | |
| birth_name | Leonard Clarence Strong |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Glendale, California, U.S. |
| occupation | Actor |
| years_active | 1942–1968 |
| spouse | |
| children | 3 |
| :: |
| birth_place = Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Glendale, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1942–1968 | spouse = | children = 3
Leonard Clarence Strong (August 12, 1908 – January 23, 1980) was an American character actor specializing in playing Asian roles.
Career
Strong was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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). He appeared in the movie Shane (1953) as homesteader Ernie Wright. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Leonard_Strong_circa_1953.jpg" caption="Strong, {{circa}} 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). In "The Cure" (1960), a season-five episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents set deep in the Amazon jungle, Strong plays Luiz, a grimly faithful, deadly efficient native manservant, underestimated by all. Another notable television role was his haunting and mostly silent portrayal of the title character in the original Twilight Zone episode "The Hitch-Hiker", often listed as one of the ten best episodes of the series.
Death
Strong died in Glendale, California in 1980, aged 71.
Selected filmography
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| 1960 | The Twilight Zone | the Hitchhiker | S1E10 | |
| 1962 | Escape from Zahrain | Ambulance Driver | ||
| :: |
References
References
- Shaffer, Rosalind. (July 15, 1945). "Japanese Roles Go Hard With Hollywood Villains". Scrantonian Tribune.
- (April 19, 1954). "Actor Leonard Strong Of Highland Park To Appear In Latest Movie Wednesday". The Highland Park News-Herald.
- (June 25, 1945). "The New Pictures". TIME Magazine.
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