Strobel is one-armed as the result of a car accident he sustained when he was a teenager. He appeared in the Twin Peaks series as well as Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and had roles in the films Shadow Play, Megaville and Ricochet River (starring Kate Hudson) and in the plays Romeo and Juliet, Oklahoma and Richard III. He also appeared in the television movie Child of Darkness, Child of Light. As of 2005 he is retired and living in Portland, Oregon..
In 2015, he appeared in a video supporting David Lynch following his departure from the Twin Peaks revival slated for 2016, along with numerous other Twin Peaks cast members. David Lynch later returned to the revival. Strobel reprised his role as MIKE when the new series aired on Showtime in 2017.
