Career
Beginning with Little Tokyo, United States.A in 1942, Strong played a gamut of roles as Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Thais, et cetera 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. He appeared in a season-five episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) "The Cure" written by horror writer Robert Bloch.
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 medical
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 Columbia Broadcasting System Digital Video Disc five-season collection, "The Twilight Zone, The Definitive Edition.".