Simon Oakland

Simon Oakland (August 28, 1915 – August 29, 1983) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.[1]

Simon Oakland
Oakland as Inspector Spooner in Toma (1973)
Born
Simon Weiss

(1915-08-28)August 28, 1915
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 29, 1983(1983-08-29) (aged 68)
Cathedral City, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1951–1983
Spouse
Lois Lorraine Porta
​
​
(m. 1943)​
Children1

During his career, Oakland performed primarily on television, appearing in over 130 series and made-for-television movies between 1951 and 1983. His most notable big-screen roles were in Psycho (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Bullitt (1968), The Hunting Party (1971), and Chato's Land (1972).

Early life and career

Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York,[2] the eldest of the three sons of immigrant Jewish parents, Jacob Weiss and Ethel Oaklander, born in Romania and the Russian Empire respectively.[3][4] His father was a plasterer and builder.[5] While he later claimed in media interviews to have been born in 1922[5][6] (a date repeated in his New York Times obituary),[1][7] Social Security and vital records indicate he was born Simon Weiss in 1915; his stage name was derived from his mother's maiden name, Oaklander.[8][9][10][Note 1]

He began his performing career as a musician (he was a violinist,[12] an avocation he pursued during his entire career as an actor). Oakland 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.

Film and television

In 1955, Oakland made his film debut, albeit uncredited, as an Indiana state trooper in The Desperate Hours. He next appeared in two films released in 1958: as Mavrayek in The Brothers Karamazov and as journalist Edward Montgomery in I Want to Live! 

Oakland's notable performance in I Want to Live! led to his playing a long series of bullying and dislikable tough-guys, either as authority figures or villains or an admixture of both. He appeared in Psycho as the psychiatrist who, at the end of the film, explains Norman Bates's multiple personality disorder. He appeared in the films West Side Story, The Sand Pebbles, and Bullitt.

He made two guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason, both times as the murder victim. He appeared in the syndicated crime drama, Decoy, starring Beverly Garland. Oakland appeared once on the CBS Western Dundee and the Culhane and once on the series Sheriff of Cochise. He was also a regular, in a comedic supporting role, as General Thomas Moore, on NBC's Baa Baa Black Sheep, starring Robert Conrad. He appeared in two episodes of the original The Twilight Zone TV series and in The Outer Limits as the alien birdman in "Second Chance". In 1974 and 1975, he was a series regular on Kolchak: The Night Stalker, playing newspaper editor Tony Vincenzo. (He had previously played the same character in the two made-for-television movies that served as the pilot for the series.)

During the 1970s, Oakland appeared in multiple episodes of The Rockford Files, three times as blustery private detective Vern St. Cloud, a nemesis/ antagonist for Jim Rockford.

Death certificate of Simon Oakland

Personal life

Oakland was married to Lois Lorraine Porta.[6][13] The couple had one daughter, Barbara.[1]

Death

Oakland continued working up to the year of his death. His last credited acting appearance was in the episode "Living and Presumed Dead" on the CBS television series Tucker's Witch. That episode aired three months before Oakland's death from colon cancer in Cathedral City, California, on August 29, 1983, the day after his 68th birthday.

TV and filmography

Notes
  1. Some primary sources suggest his birth name may have been Isidor Weiss.[4][11] One source reported that his "real name" was Si Oaklander,[5] but this is contradicted by the weight of evidence.

References
  1. "Simon Oakland, 61, Actor who starred in 3 TV series, dies". New York Times. September 1, 1983. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  2. "Villain on the screen really is a nice guy". The Morning Record. December 9, 1967. p. 3. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. "Death Notices: Weiss, Ethel". The Miami News. October 9, 1974 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "United States Census, 1930". Family Search. Retrieved June 3, 2016. Isidor Weiss in household of Jacob Weiss, Brooklyn (registration required)
  5. Wilson, Earl (May 14, 1977). "People Recognise His Face But Not Oakland's Name". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 11A. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  6. Blank, Edward L. (January 3, 1972). "Simon Oakland: 'Face is Familiar - What's his name?'". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 39. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  7. "Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  8. "California Death Index, 1940-1997". Ancestry.com. Retrieved September 28, 2019. Duplicate entries under surname Weiss and Oakland with same Social Security number.
  9. "California Death Index, 1940-1997". Ancestry.com. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  10. "U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014". Ancestry.com. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  11. "New York, New York, Births, 1910-1965". Ancestry.com. New York City Department of Health. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  12. Thompson, Ruth (October 28, 1968). "More Than 800 Programs for Simon Oakland". The Gettysburg Times. No. TV Magazine. p. 1. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  13. "Funeral Services & Memorials: Lois Lorraine Oakland, 84". Santa Fe New Mexican. New Mexico. April 9, 2003. p. 12 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
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