Known for Acting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Simon Oakland (August 28, 1915 – August 29, 1983) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television. 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). On television, he was a regular on the cult classic horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975), and the military drama Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976-1978). Early life and career Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest of the three sons of immigrant Jewish parents, Jacob Weiss and Ethel Oaklander, born in Romania and the Russian Empire respectively. His father was a plasterer and builder. While he later claimed in media interviews to have been born in 1922 (a date repeated in his New York Times obituary), 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. Film and television In 1955, Oakland made his film debut, albeit uncredited, as an Indiana state trooper in The Desperate Hours. He 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 tough-guys, either as authority figures or villains or a mix 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 as murder victims on CBS's Perry Mason. 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 (“The Rip Van Winkle Caper” and “The Thirty-Fathom Grave”) 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 two made-for-television movies. Personal life Oakland was married to Lois Lorraine Porta. The couple had one daughter, Barbara. 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. CLR
Born
August 28, 1915
Died
August 29, 1983 (age 68)
Birthplace
New York City, New York, USA
Filmography
38 films, 78 shows


Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy
1977 · 1h 40m
country: United States
The story of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's older brother Joseph, who undertakes a dangerous mission during World War II.


The Flying Misfits
1976 · 1h 33m
country: Unknown
The dramatized World War II adventures of US Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington and his Marine Attack Squadron 214, AKA The Black Sheep Squadron. The film also acted as the pilot for the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep. Former U.S. Marine pilot Greg "Pappy" Boyington is flying with the American Volunteer Group (the Flying Tigers) in China. After Pearl Harbor brings America into World War II, Greg leaves the AVG to rejoin the Marine Corps. He refuses to be relegated to a desk job and, against all military protocol, forms his own fighter squadron from a group of misfits and disciplinary cases.


Crackle of Death
1976 · 1h 32m
country: Unknown
The first of two Kolchak: The Night Stalker compilation TV films. It combines two episodes of the Kolchak TV series, Firefall (about the ghost of an arsonist that tries to take over a renowned conductor's body as his doppelgänger) and The Energy Eater (about a Native American bear-spirit haunting a newly built hospital) and adds new narration by Darren McGavin.


Demon and the Mummy
1976 · 1h 30m
country: Unknown
The second of two Kolchak: The Night Stalker compilation TV films. It combines two episodes of the Kolchak TV series, Demon In Lace (about a succubus who murders young men to maintain her immortality) and Legacy of Terror (about an Aztec cult that seeks to resurrect their god by murdering physically perfect people) and adds new narration by Darren McGavin.


Please Call It Murder
1975 · 1h 13m
country: United States
The wife of an executive finds her husband shot to death and destroys his suicide note in order to claim his insurance.


Key West
1973 · 1h 40m
country: Unknown
A former CIA agent and his friend, operating a charter boat service in Florida, find themselves the target of an eccentric millionaire with a score to settle.


Happy Mother's Day, Love George
1973 · 1h 30m
country: United States
An adopted teen runs away to what he believes to be his birth town and mother, in the hopes of putting together the missing pieces of his identity. He arrives during a wave of disappearances and murders, only to encounter New England aloofness and some very eccentric relatives.


Emperor of the North
1973 · 1h 58m
country: United States
Hobos encounter a sadistic railway conductor that will not let anyone "ride the rails" for free.


Toma
1973 · 1h 30m
country: United States
This TV-pilot, later made into a TV-series, is about a cop in Newark, New Jersey, who defies his superiors to try to bring down the head of a Mafia numbers racket.


The Night Strangler
1973 · 1h 30m
country: United States
After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?


Chato's Land
1972 · 1h 40m
country: United Kingdom
In 1870s New Mexico, a half-breed kills a bigoted sheriff in self-defense but the posse that eventually hunts him finds itself in dangerous territory.


The Night Stalker
1972 · 1h 14m
country: United States
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.


Crosscurrent
1971 · 1h 36m
country: United States
Two San Francisco detectives investigating a murder committed on one of the city's famous cable cars discover that the victim was the son of a shipping tycoon. The trail leads to a drug dealer, a shady physician and a nervous police captain


The Hunting Party
1971 · 1h 51m
country: United Kingdom
A ruthless rancher, and his gang, use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his wife.


Scandalous John
1971 · 1h 53m
country: United States
A crotchety old ranch owner fights to be able to live his life the way he wants to, and not the way other people--and the law--tell him he has to.


On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
1970 · 2h 9m
country: United States
Daisy Gamble, an unusual woman who hears phones before they ring, and does wonders with her flowers, wants to quit smoking to please her fiancé, Warren. She goes to a doctor of hypnosis to do it. But once she's under, her doctor finds out that she can regress into past lives and different personalities, and he finds himself falling in love with one of them.


Bullitt
1968 · 1h 53m
country: United States
Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.


Chubasco
1968 · 1h 40m
country: United States
A wild beach boy takes a job on a tuna fishing boat.


Alexander The Great
1968 · 1h
country: United States
An historical film that follows the life of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king that united all ancient Greek tribes and led them against the vast Persian Empire. Alexander conquered most of the then-known world and created a Greek empire that spanned all the way from the Balkans to India.


Tony Rome
1967 · 1h 50m
country: United States
Tony Rome, a tough Miami PI living on a houseboat, is hired by a local millionaire to find jewelry stolen from his daughter, and in the process has several encounters with local hoods as well as the Miami Beach PD.


The Sand Pebbles
1966 · 3h 16m
country: United States
Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat USS San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and cynical nature soon clash with the 'rice-bowl' system which runs the ship and the uneasy symbiosis between Chinese and foreigner on the river. Hostility towards the gunboat's presence reaches a climax when the boat must crash through a river-boom and rescue missionaries upriver at China Light Mission.


The Plainsman
1966 · 1h 32m
country: United States
Calamity Jane tries to help Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock stop an Indian war.


The Satan Bug
1965 · 1h 54m
country: United States
A US government germ warfare lab has had an accident. The first theory is that one of the germs has been released and killed several scientists. The big fear is that a more virulent strain, named The Satan Bug because all life can be killed off by it should it escape, may have been stolen.


Ready for the People
1964 · 57m
country: Unknown
In a barroom fight over Connie Zelenko, Eddie Dickinson is badly wounded and Connie's boyfriend is killed. Witnesses claim Dickinson is the killer, but he maintains his innocence despite public prosecutor Murray Brock's advice that he plead guilty and take a life-imprisonment sentence rather than risk capital punishment. When Connie comes out of hiding, she confirms the other witnesses' stories, but Brock believes Dickinson is innocent. Dickinson sticks to his story at his trial but receives the death sentence. In the death house, Dickinson continues to maintain his innocence, but after the execution of the sentence, Brock receives a letter from Dickinson confessing to the murder.


The Raiders
1963 · 1h 15m
country: United States
Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane help a Texas rancher against the railroad.


Wall of Noise
1963 · 1h 52m
country: United States
The lives and loves behind the scenes at the racetrack are detailed in this thoroughbred soap opera. An ambitious young trainer, Joel Tarrant (Ty Hardin), enters into an illicit affair with the stable owner's wealthy wife, hot-to-trot Laura Rubio (Suzanne Pleshette), in the hope that someday he'll have enough dough to buy his own horses and stable.


Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man
1962 · 2h 25m
country: United States
Young and restless Nick Adams, the only son of a domineering mother and a weak but noble doctor father, leaves his rural Michigan home to embark on an eventful cross-country journey. He is touched and affected by his encounters with a punch-drunk ex-boxer, a sympathetic telegrapher, and an alcoholic advanceman for a burlesque show. After failing to get a job as reporter in New York, he enlists in the Italian army during World War I as an ambulance driver. His camaraderie with fellow soldiers and a romance with a nurse he meets after being wounded propel him to manhood.


Third of a Man
1962 · 1h 22m
country: United States
A prominent man in a small U.S. town, tries to forget his brother in a mental home, but the director of the hospital sets about his rehabilitation.


Follow That Dream
1962 · 1h 49m
country: United States
When the Kwimper family car runs out of fuel on a new Florida highway and an officious state supervisor tries to run them off, Pop digs in his heels and decides to do a little homesteading. He, his son Toby and their 'adopted' children—Holly, Ariadne, and the twins—start their own little community along a strip of the roadside.


West Side Story
1961 · 2h 33m
country: United States
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.


Murder, Inc.
1960 · 1h 43m
country: United States
Chronicles the rise and fall of the organised crime syndicate known as Murder, Incorporated, focusing on powerful boss Lepke and violent hit man Reles.


Psycho
1960 · 1h 49m
country: United States
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.


Who Was That Lady?
1960 · 1h 55m
country: United States
In order to get back into the good graces with his wife with whom he has had a misunderstanding, a young chemistry professor concocts a wild story that he is an undercover FBI agent. To help him with his story he enlists the aid of a friend who is a TV writer. The wife swallows the story and the film's climax takes place in the sub-basements of the Empire State Building. The professor and his friend, believing themselves prisoners on an enemy submarine, patriotically try to scuttle the vessel and succeed only in rocking the building.


The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
1960 · 1h 41m
country: United States
Jack Diamond and his sickly brother arrive in prohibition New York as jewelry thieves. After a spell in jail, the coldly ambitious Diamond hits on the idea of stealing from thieves himself and sets about getting close to gangster boss Arnold Rothstein to move in on his booze, girls, gambling, and drugs operations.


I Want to Live!
1958 · 2h
country: United States
Brazen perpetual offender Barbara Graham tries to go straight but she finds herself implicated in a murder and sent to death row.


The Brothers Karamazov
1958 · 2h 25m
country: United States
Ryevsk, Russia, 1870. Tensions abound in the Karamazov family. Fyodor is a wealthy libertine who holds his purse strings tightly. His four grown sons include Dmitri, the eldest, an elegant officer, always broke and at odds with his father, betrothed to Katya, herself lovely and rich. The other brothers include a sterile aesthete, a factotum who is a bastard, and a monk. Family tensions erupt when Dmitri falls in love with one of his father's mistresses, the coquette Grushenka. Two brothers see Dmitri's jealousy of their father as an opportunity to inherit sooner. Acts of violence lead to the story's conclusion: trials of honor, conscience, forgiveness, and redemption.


The Desperate Hours
1955 · 1h 52m
country: United States
Escaped convicts terrorize a suburban family they're holding hostage.


Red Light
1949 · 1h 23m
country: United States
Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess. He pays fellow prisoner Rocky, who gets out a week before Nick, to murder Jess... who, dying, tells revenge-minded Johnny that he'd written a clue "in the Bible." Frustrated, Johnny obsessively searches for the missing Gideon Bible from Jess's hotel room.