Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland |
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Simon Oakland (28 August 1915 - 29 August 1983) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He was born in Brooklyn, New York City.
Early career
Oakland 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 unti the 1940's.
Moving to films and television
Oakland made his film debut as the "tough, but compassionate" journalist who speaks up for Susan Hayward's Barbara Grahame in I Want to Live! in 1958. Oakland would wind up playing this type often over the course of 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, West Side Story, and as the cantankerous Antonio Vincenzo (Kolchak's boss) in the science fiction television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. A gifted actor, he often accepted roles that were inferior to his acting ability and often played on type rather than talent. He was highly respected by his co-workers as an actor; he died of cancer, one day after his 68th birthday (29 August 1983), in Cathedral City, California.
Filmography
- Murder Inc. (1960)
- Psycho (1960)
- Who Was That Lady? (1960)
- Twilight Zone (the original series, hosted by Rod Serling).
- The Outer Limits (1964)
- The Sand Pebbles (1966)
- Bullitt (1968)
- The Night Stalker (1972)
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1972)
- The Night Strangler (1973)
- Emperor of the North (1973)
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)
- Baa Baa Black Sheep (1977-1978)
- Hawaii Five-O
- Rockford Files
- Quincy, M.E.