Actors - Simon Oakland

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	Actors - Simon Oakland

Simon Oakland (28 August 1915 - 29 August 1983) began his career as a violinist (a vocation he would enjoy his entire career as an actor), and began acting 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.

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, a type he would often repeat for the remainder of his career.

He went go on to play a long series of tough guy types, usually on the right side of the law, most notably in Psycho, West Side Story and as Antonio Vincenzo in 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 an actor, he died of cancer, one day after his 68th birthday.

Filmography

Murder Inc.
(1960)
The Sand Pebbles
(1966)
Black Sheep Squadron

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