In
the light of the recent deaths of Davy Jones and Richard
Dawson---two actors I adore as much as I adore Simon---my thoughts have
admittedly been elsewhere as of late.
But they still, nevertheless, come back to Simon while bringing these
new thoughts with them. Among those
thoughts is the disappointment that while Davy and Richard did have a chance to
work with each other, they didn’t have a chance to work with Simon.
I
have been wondering lately about what a collaboration between Simon and Davy or
Simon and Richard would’ve been like.
The most likely possibility would’ve been Simon making a guest
appearance on The Monkees and Hogan’s Heroes---two shows that did air
around the time that Simon made multiple guest appearances on several shows. The thing is, however, that the shows in
question are both comedies. Simon has
proven himself to be quite the comedic actor, but as I mentioned in an earlier
entry, Simon’s brand of humor was a wonderful, understated kind of humor that
is rarely seen. Would his brand of humor
even fit?
I
think, for Hogan’s Heroes, the answer
is yes. Understated humor fits very well
into the show; Ivan Dixon, who played the role of Kinch (and had worked with Simon more than once)
was often one of the sources of it.
Simon could’ve easily played a transient officer trying to get some
secret in and out of Stalag 13. There
would’ve been plenty of opportunities for Simon’s understated brand of humor,
whether rolling his eyes at the antics of Newkirk, LeBeau, and Carter, or
making a few deadpan cracks at the heavy flow of traffic in and out of the
tunnels beneath the stalag.
For
The Monkees, however… well, it’s a
long shot. Understated humor isn’t
exactly the show’s credo; the show ran on utter madcap nonsense---quite a
contrast to Simon’s brand of humor. And
yet, I have every bit of confidence that Simon would’ve made it work
somehow. If he had been on The Monkees, I imagine that Simon
would’ve played the ultimate straight man opposite the Monkees---vainly trying
to keep some semblance of sanity as the four crazy musicians turned everything
upside-down.
Even though neither
of these collaborations came to pass, I can still vividly picture what they
would be like. That is the mark of
Simon’s prowess as an actor---that it is possible to picture how he would
handle and take on a role. And there’s
also the knowledge that he would’ve succeeded, no matter what the role or
situation. There’ll only ever be one
Simon Oakland---just like there’ll only ever be one Davy Jones or one Richard
Dawson. But one of each of them is all
we really need when each of their talents were meant to be one-of-a-kind.
~Crystal Rose
