Simon Oakland

Simon Oakland (August 28, 1915 – August 29, 1983) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.

Early life and career

Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician (he was a violinist, a vocation he would enjoy his entire career as an actor). He began his acting career in the late 1940s. He enjoyed a series of Broadway hits, including Light Up the Sky, The Shrike and Inherit the Wind, and theater was one of his lasting passions. He was a concert violinist until the 1940s.

Moving to films and television

Oakland made his film debut as the "tough, but compassionate" journalist who speaks up for Susan Hayward's Barbara Graham in I Want to Live! in 1958. Oakland would wind up playing this type often over the course of his career.

He went on to play a long series of tough guy types, usually on the right side of the law (or in positions of authority), most notably in Psycho (in which he plays the psychiatrist who explains the behavior of Norman Bates), West Side Story, Captain Bennett in Bullitt, and as the cantankerous Antonio Vincenzo (Kolchak's boss) in the science fiction television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Simon Oakland died of cancer, one day after his 68th birthday (29 August 1983), in Cathedral City, California.

Filmography

• Sheriff of Cochise as Charlie Moon in "Question of Honor" (1956)
• I Want to Live (1958)
• Have Gun - Will Travel as Sancho Fernandez in "The Statue of San Sebastian", Season 1, Episode 39 (1958)
• Perry Mason (1960) two episodes
• Murder Inc. (1960)
• Psycho (1960)
• Who Was That Lady? (1960)
• West Side Story (1961)
• The Twilight Zone (the original series, hosted by Rod Serling).
• Bonanza
• Follow That Dream (1962)
• The Untouchables (1962-1963)
• The Outer Limits (1964)
• The Reporter (1964) in series finale "Vote for Murder"
• Mr. Broadway (1964) in episode "Try to Find a Spy" with Barbara Feldon
• Get Smart (1965)
• The Sand Pebbles (1966)
• Tony Rome (1967)
• Bullitt (1968)
• Chubasco (1968)
• On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
• The Night Stalker (1972)
• The Night Strangler (1973)
• Emperor of the North (1973)
• Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)
• Baa Baa Black Sheep (1977-1978)
• David Cassidy - Man Undercover (1978-1979)
• Hawaii Five-O
• The Rockford Files as Vern St. Cloud in 4 episodes over 3 seasons (1977-1979)
• Quincy, M.E.
• Tucker's Witch (one of his last roles)

External links

• Simon Oakland at the Internet Movie Database
• Simon Oakland at the Internet Broadway Database
• Simon Oakland at the Internet off-Broadway Database
• Simon Oakland at Find a Grave