Harlan J. Strauss is a full-time professional actor working in film and TV, based out of New York City and Washington, DC. He has trained at the Stella Adler Studio, studying with Ron Burrus, Sam Schacht, and Bill Hopkins, among others. Also, he has worked often with independent film Director Bill Hopkins on various studio projects. Harlan for several years continues to work as an actor with advanced directing students at New York's School for the Visual Arts.
Harlan is known for his edgy and creative portrayals of his characters, who on the surface appear very traditional, but under the surface...just wild! He is considered to be a character actor, who is especially appropriate for roles like CEO, senior government official, doctor, suburbanite, professor, among other types.
Harlan is currently (July 2011) in two web-series: "Empire" and "Sherry's Kitchen." He recently completed "The Conductor" for Kipany Films, which was commissioned for the National Museum of Hip-Hop. Award-winning Spanish Director Ruben Latre directed Harlan, who starred in this short film. Also, recently he completed High Score Massacre - a very 'horrorific' extreme comedy, where he starred as a bumbling character: something between Homer Simpson and Archie Bunker.
Prior to his entry into the acting world Harlan worked at The Pentagon, where he served as a Senior Foreign Affairs and National Security Adviser to the last eight Secretaries of Defense (through Secretary Gates); and there he excelled as an expert and leader in the areas of European policy, East-West affairs, and proliferation/counterproliferation matters. In this position of high responsibility, he negotiated more than 20 international treaties for the US Government, and began several unique and highly transparent anti-terrorism/ WMD initiatives. He developed and implemented international programs with budgets of approximately $25 million per year.
Harlan graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and later earned a doctorate at the University of Oregon. Harlan is a member of SAG, AFTRA, and Equity. He is married to Rima - a non-Chinese Mandarin-speaking cabaret singer in New York's Chinatown. His hobbies include house renovation, antiquing, art collecting, national politics, Indian cooking, exotic travel and creating maelstroms of endless nonsense - or so it might seem.
