Leonard Strong (actor)
Introduction '''Leonard Clarence Strong''' (August 12, 1908 –  January 23, 1980) was an American character actor specializing in playing Asian roles.
Biography 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). 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'', 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 Strong to continuously correct him.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 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." He died in Glendale, California.
Selected filmography  Year Title Role Notes1942 ''Little Tokyo, U.S.A.''  Fujiama 1942 ''Manila Calling''  Japanese Officer  Uncredited1942 ''Underground Agent''  Count Akiri 1943 ''Bombardier''  Japanese Officer 1943 ''Night Plane from Chungking''  Lieutenant Karuma  Uncredited1943 ''Behind the Rising Sun''  Tama's Father 1943 ''Salute to the Marines''  Karitu  Uncredited1943 ''Jack London''  Captain Tanaka 1944 ''Up in Arms''  Japanese Interrogator in Cave  Uncredited1944 ''Dragon Seed''  Japanese Official  Uncredited1944 ''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  Uncredited1946 ''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  Uncredited1949 ''Malaya''  Half-witted Malay  Uncredited1950 ''Backfire''  Lee Quong  Uncredited1950 ''Cargo to Capetown''  Singh 1952 ''Carbine Williams''  Robak  Uncredited1952 ''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  Uncredited1956 ''The King and I''  Interpreter  Uncredited1956 ''The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu''  Professor Hugh Yan 1957 ''This Could Be the Night''  Mr. Bernbaum  Uncredited1958 ''Jet Attack''  Maj. Wan (North Korean) 1959 ''The Big Fisherman''  Zebedee, Father of James & John  Uncredited1962 ''Escape from Zahrain''  Ambulance Driver
References
External links ** Latter Day Saints in film website