He won an Emmy Award[6] for his role on the 1979 made-for-television movie The Jericho Mile, and he starred in a television remake of the classic 1946 film Angel on My Shoulder in 1980.

Strauss starred in the films Soldier Blue (1970) and Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), and has appeared in several others.

Strauss starred as an abused husband in the television movie Men Don't Tell, alongside Judith Light.

In 2005, he played the U.S. President in the thriller XXX: State of the Union alongside Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson, Scott Speedman and Willem Dafoe.

Strauss runs a successful citrus production business[9] and is on the advisory board of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.