page_title: Simon Oakland
section_title: Moving to films and television
hierarchical_section_title: Simon Oakland / Moving to films and television
caption_attribution_description: English: Death certificate of U.S. actor Simon Oakland (1915-1983)
context_page_description: Simon Oakland 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, West Side Story, The Sand Pebbles, Bullitt, The Hunting Party and Chato's Land.
context_section_description: In 1955 Oakland made his film debut, though uncredited, as an Indiana state trooper in The Desperate Hours.  He next appeared in two films released in 1958:  as the character Mavrayek in The Brothers Karamazov and then in the role of Edward Montgomery in I Want to Live!   The character Montgomery was a real-life journalist, who had reported on the California murder trial and 1955 execution of Barbara Graham, played by Susan Hayward in the film.  Oakland's portrayal of the journalist as a "tough, but compassionate" personality resulted in the actor's often being typecast in his subsequent roles in both films and on television.
  Simon Oakland's notable performance in I Want to Live! led to his playing a long series of tough-guy types, usually in positions of authority, most notably in Psycho, in which he plays the psychiatrist who explains Norman Bates's multiple personality disorder. He also appeared in 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 also appeared in the syndicated crime drama, Decoy, starring Beverly Garland. Oakland appeared once each on the CBS western, Dundee and the Culhane and in another syndicated crime drama series, Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield. Oakland played the regular role of General Thomas Moore on NBC's Baa Baa Black Sheep, starring Robert Conrad. He also 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'd previously played the same character in the two made-for-television movies that served as the pilot for the series.)
  Oakland was the familiar voice-over for the tag line "When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be There Overnight" heard at the end of each television commercial for the long-running Federal Express advertising campaign, created by the New York advertising agency Ally & Gargano.
  He also played the role of a Sony dealer for an ad campaign of ten national radio commercials, written and directed by Peter Hoffman, for the New York office of the global advertising agency McCann-Erickson when they had the Sony account.
caption: Death certificate of Simon Oakland
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