Simon Oakland

Simon Oakland was an American actor born Simon Weiss on August 28, 1915, in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest of three sons of Jacob Weiss, a plasterer and builder who had emigrated from Romania, and Ethel Oaklander, who had emigrated from the Russian Empire. His stage name was derived from his mother's maiden name. Although Oakland later claimed in media interviews to have been born in 1922, a date that appeared in his New York Times obituary, Social Security and vital records confirm the 1915 birth year. He worked across stage, screen, and television throughout a career spanning several decades, accumulating more than 130 television appearances between 1951 and 1983.

Before establishing himself as an actor, Oakland pursued a career as a concert violinist, an instrument he continued to play throughout his life. He transitioned into acting in the late 1940s, and his Broadway career extended from 1948 to 1977. His stage credits included The Shadow, Emily, Angela, Have I Got a Girl for You!, and The Great Sebastians, as well as Light Up the Sky, Skipper Next to God, The Shrike, and Inherit the Wind. Theater remained one of his enduring commitments alongside his screen work.

Oakland made his film debut in 1955 in The Desperate Hours, appearing uncredited as an Indiana state trooper. In 1958 he took on two credited film roles: Mavrayek in The Brothers Karamazov and journalist Edward Montgomery in I Want to Live! His work in the latter film established a pattern of casting him as authority figures, villains, or characters combining both qualities. He appeared in Psycho in 1960 as the psychiatrist who explains Norman Bates's multiple personality disorder at the film's conclusion, and went on to appear in West Side Story in 1961, The Sand Pebbles in 1966, Bullitt in 1968, The Hunting Party in 1971, and Chato's Land in 1972.

On television, Oakland appeared in two episodes of the original Twilight Zone series, "The Rip Van Winkle Caper" and "The Thirty-Fathom Grave," as well as in The Outer Limits as the alien birdman in "Second Chance." He made two guest appearances as murder victims on CBS's Perry Mason, appeared in the syndicated crime drama Decoy starring Beverly Garland, and had single appearances on Dundee and the Culhane and Sheriff of Cochise. He also made five separate character appearances across eight seasons of Hawaii Five-O and recurred on The Rockford Files, playing blustery private detective Vern St. Cloud on multiple episodes.

Among his most prominent television roles was that of newspaper editor Tony Vincenzo on the horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, on which he was a series regular from 1974 to 1975. He had first played the same character in two preceding made-for-television movies. He also held a regular comedic supporting role as General Thomas Moore on NBC's military drama Baa Baa Black Sheep, starring Robert Conrad, which ran from 1976 to 1978.

Oakland was married to Lois Lorraine Porta, and the couple had one daughter, Barbara. He continued working until shortly before his death, with his final credited appearance being in the episode "Living and Presumed Dead" on the CBS series Tucker's Witch, which aired three months before he died. Oakland died of colon cancer in Cathedral City, California, on August 29, 1983, the day after his 68th birthday.