He played Abel Roznovski in the miniseries Kane and Abel, based on Jeffrey Archer's book. He won an Emmy Award 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. His other noted television miniseries credits include starring roles in Rich Man, Poor Man, its sequel Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, and Masada. Strauss plays Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. in the 1977 TV movie Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy. In 1973, he portrayed Stephen Linder, the eight-year younger boyfriend to Mary in the Mary Tyler Moore Show fourth-season episode, "Angels in the Snow".