Simon Oakland

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