In Memoriam, 2014

Time and tide wait for no one, and, once again, the wheels of time have moved forward, bringing us 31 years since we lost an amazing and talented actor.  It’s sadly ironic that, two years ago, in 2012, I was composing a memorial post for Simon while still reeling from two additional celebrity deaths that year---Davy Jones and Richard Dawson, and now, in 2014, once again, two additional celebrity deaths are in my immediate consciousness.  Ladybug already spoke about James Garner, who Simon acted alongside in The Rockford Files; she’s already discussed that very eloquently.  The two recently passed I am referring to are Casey Kasem and Robin Williams, both of whom had prominent roles in my childhood---a sentiment which, I am sure, many others can relate to.  Both deaths led to a massive outpouring of love and support and tears from fans; everything from fanarts and fanfics of the characters they brought to life to just general appreciation posts filled the internet---exactly what Ladybug and I have been doing for Simon since we realized just how much he meant to both of us.

A celebrity’s passing can be jarring; if an actor’s role reaches you in a way that you never forget, of course, you’ll feel sad at losing them.  But what if they were gone before you even heard of them---before you were even born?  There’s no shock moment, save for the moment you check their biography and realize, “Oh… they’re gone.”

Ladybug and I had that moment with Simon of course, with each of us discovering this wonderful character actor, only to be followed with disappointment that he had passed before either of us had been born.  It is disappointing, no doubt about that---disappointing that we can’t send him fan mail to let him know that his “trick” (as he called it) of creating multifaceted characters worked, and that we can’t help but marvel at them all---from the despicable Mel Barnes, to the unearthly Empyrian, to the loveable Tony Vincenzo.

Those characters intrigued us, and made us feel things.  We wanted to see Mel Barnes get his comeuppance.  We wanted to believe Jim Nation was telling the truth, and we cheered when he proved his character.  And we wanted to see Tony’s reaction to Carl’s latest monster story.  And that certainly says something about an actor who is able to make people feel things even 31 years after his death.  I have no doubt in saying that Simon’s characters will continue to live on, just as Casey and Robin’s are sure to, as well.

That “Oh… they’re gone” feeling is a terrible one, no doubt.  But what helps in dealing with it is that while the actors are gone, their characters are not.  And when those characters live on---when they still find a way to reach us---it means that an actor has, in a sense, achieved immortality.  Even 31 years later, Simon’s trick of giving characters hidden depths is still working---Ladybug and I noticed, and it’s not even just us.  Just yesterday, TVLand aired “The Clarion” episode of Bonanza, the third of Simon’s guest appearances on that show (purely a coincidence that they happened to air it on Simon’s birthday, but a great coincidence, indeed), earlier this week, Encore Western aired the “Miguel’s Daughter” episode of Gunsmoke, and TCM always seems to have at least one of Simon’s movies listed in their “Upcoming Titles” if you go to his TCM profile---all of which serve as a testimony to the longevity of his many and varied characters.  They’re still relevant.  They still make us feel things.  And no matter how enamored I get with other fandoms and actors, and no matter how hard Patrick Troughton tries to run off with my heart, there’ll always be one heartstring that leads back to Simon’s hand, ready to give a little tug to remind me.

The wheels of time will continue to turn, but the name of Simon Oakland will never be forgotten.

~Crystal Rose

There and Back Again--a Fangirl's Tale, by Rose of Pollux

It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?  It’s been a year since our last post, and, goodness, do we apologize for that.  LuckyLadybug and I have been on several journeys through various fandoms within the last year.  My own path took me away from Simon for a while--specifically, first to 221 B Baker Street, and then to the TARDIS.  But here I am, back again.  There’s no way I could stay away.

One would wonder whether or not my forays into other fandoms would somehow dampen my ability to enjoy Simon and his characters.  The answer, of course, is a resounding no.  If anything, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who have allowed me to enjoy some of Simon’s roles even more than before.

How?  I’m glad you asked…

Let’s start with the example of Simon in Get Smart.  That was the first time I was ever introduced to Simon, and one of my favorite roles of his for that reason.  Some time ago, I had been rewatching that episode for nostalgia’s sake.  Nothing had ever been said about the final fate of Simon’s unnamed cowboy character--all we know is, according to Max, that he missed the truck of mattresses and fell five stories to the ground.  No possible way the poor Cowboy could survive a fall like that, right?  I assumed so… until I watched the finale of season 2 of BBC’s Sherlock.  If I learned anything from that episode, it’s that there’s every chance that the Cowboy could have survived his fall!  I’d like to think he did--that there’s a chance the story could continue…

Even more intriguing are the parallels between Simon’s Outer Limits appearance and Doctor Who; both Simon’s Empyrian character and the Doctor have the same basic modus operandi--try to stop an intergalactic cataclysm with the help of human companions.  On the surface, it seems that their methods of recruiting human companions are different; the Empyrian merely kidnaps them, while the Doctor invites them.  Intriguingly enough, though, if you look back at the First Doctor, before he mellowed out, he, like the Empyrian, kidnapped his first human companions in the very first episode of Doctor Who; even more intriguing is the fact that Simon’s episode of Outer Limits aired three and a half months after the first Doctor Who episode.

But, I digress.  Comparisons and parallels aside, the fact of the matter is that the one everlasting reason I keep coming back to Simon’s roles is because of how he breathed life into them--every well-chosen dialogue, every movement, every expression came together into creating unique characters each and every time.  No two of Simon’s characters are the same--not even the villains.  Even the villains who appeared on the same show were different; William Poole and Mel Barnes, despite being oneshot Bonanza characters, have notable differences.  You can feel some amount of sympathy for Poole (assuming you believe the idea that it was his girlfriend’s death that unhinged him), but Barnes gets no pity--nor deserves any.

Even the good guys have their differences.  Lieutenant Schrank and Tony Vincenzo are both men who are literally 500% done with the things (more specifically, the people) they have to put up with on a daily basis.  But while Schrank comes across as brash and biting, Tony is just a big teddy bear who’s way too nice for his own good.

Character actors play scores of roles in their careers; most of the time, their names are placed behind those of the starring roles, while, sometimes, they’re lucky enough to get a starring role.  Regardless of the role, their challenge is to make you remember them, whether they’re onscreen for just one scene or throughout the whole thing.  And Simon definitely succeeded; I never forgot that scheming Cowboy in the years between my first seeing him and then later discovering how wonderful Simon was.  And there won’t be a role of his that I’ll ever forget.

And that’s what will always keep me coming back.  It’s just a bit more obvious today, on what would’ve been his 98th birthday.

Happy Birthday, you wonderful man, you.

~Crystal Rose

Books and Their Covers: the Multifaceted Roles of Simon Oakland

When character are introduced, it’s usually very easy to see whether or not they will be an ally to the main character, or an antagonist---writers try to establish a character’s stance within the first five minutes of the first scene featuring them.  Nine times out of ten, that’s what the writers go for, and the ratio seems to be about the same for the many characters that Simon Oakland has played; the opening scene of the “Justice Deferred” episode of Bonanza, for example, shows you everything you need to know about Mel Barnes---the twist being that it takes a while for the other characters and the audience to realize that it was Mel Barnes and not his unfortunate lookalike Frank Scott.

However, sometimes, it is that remaining one character out of ten that is the most intriguing---the antagonist with the hidden depths, the antagonist with the surprisingly sympathetic backstory, or the antagonist who seems like an adversary while really being on the same side as the protagonist and respecting them.  Given Simon’s preferred acting method of trying to make all of his characters as multifaceted as possible, it is in roles like these that he shines even more brightly than usual.

Jim Nation from the “Overland Express” episode of Gunsmoke is a prime example.  His first scene features him shooting at Matt and Chester, clearly on the run from them, and, upon his surrender, Matt confirms that Nation is wanted for murder after killing a man in Dodge City---to which Nation insists that it was in self-defense.  At this point, neither Matt nor the audience knows whether or not to believe him, and they are left wondering again when, as they ride the stagecoach back, Nation insists that one of their fellow passengers is a wanted murder who is likely planning to hold up the stagecoach.  When this turns out to be true and the man demands that everyone surrenders, Matt counters Nation’s “I told you so” with a request for help---for Nation to pretend that he’s going to side with the murderer so that he can make his escape and avoid being put on trial for the murder he committed.  Even Nation is surprised by how much trust Matt is giving him.  Luckily for Matt and everyone, Nation is absolutely sincere and plays his part marvelously---the same man who, in the episode’s beginning had been shooting at the protagonist, ended up being the hero.  And even when Nation realizes that he has the chance to truly escape, he decides not to take it and willingly returns to Dodge with Matt to stand trial---after which Matt promises him that that Nation’s character is enough to convince him to testify on his behalf that he would only kill a man in self-defense.

Another example would be Simon’s portrayal of Sgt. Driscoll in the “No Sanctuary” episode of Medical Center.  Driscoll appears to be using rather callous methods to try to get an assault victim to identify her attacker, ignoring the doctor’s insistence that she is in no condition to talk about it, still in shock and trying to recover from a punctured lung.  Furthermore, he brings the suspect to the victim in the hopes that she will confirm that she knows him, yet only succeeds in nearly giving her a complete breakdown.  Without a positive identification, however, Driscoll has to let the suspect go, yet continues to tail him, only to be shot by the suspect once he figures it out.  Facing an operation performed by the same doctor he had been clashing with earlier, Driscoll eventually reveals to him that his late wife was killed during a similar assault incident---and that he had to let the perpetrator go because no one would identify him, explaining his furious zeal in pursuing this particular case he had been working on, giving a heart-wrenching and sympathetic side to an otherwise abrasive character.

Even Tony Vincenzo, one of Simon’s most famous roles, started out like this.  In the first Night Stalker movie, most of his scenes seem to suggest that his character is there to stand in Carl Kolchak’s way as he tries to save Las Vegas from a vampire.  It’s only in the final scene that Carl and Tony share that it becomes apparent that Tony really does respect Carl---something that becomes clearer in the second movie and then the series proper as Tony evolved from adversarial boss to concerned boss.  Tony still doesn’t believe in the monster stories that Carl uncovers and still refuses to publish the stories, but his genuine concern for his unlucky employee manifests itself in more obvious  ways, such as the numerous times Tony bails Carl out of jail or checking up on him if he hears him yell out in fear.  It eventually becomes clear that, rather than being a foe, Tony is one of the very few true friends that Carl has.

Characterization has always been one of Simon’s strong points as an actor.  And while it’s always fun to watch him play a straight-forward good guy, antagonist, or all-out villain, the true peak of his talents can be seen in the characters that keep you guessing---the books you can’t judge by their covers.

 

~Crystal Rose

Simon alongside other actors

I’ve been pondering on what my next topic should be. I at last decided that perhaps I would highlight some of my favorite performances Simon made alongside other actors I especially like and/or actors who were quite in the big time—as well as bemoaning the lack of interaction between them in some cases where they appear in the same production but had no scenes together.

As mentioned repeatedly by both of us but especially by Crystal Rose, there is Simon and Darren McGavin. It would be sacrilege not to bring up their amazing chemistry! Crystal speaks of it so well I doubt I could ever hope to do better, but I want to add my voice to how wonderful their time together is. The strength, or at least one of the strengths, of Kolchak: The Night Stalker is their characters’ interaction. There must have been a reason why Simon was called back to play Tony again and again after the initial Night Stalker movie, first in The Night Strangler sequel and then in the TV series proper. No one else could bring that character to life as incredibly as did Simon.

I also greatly enjoy seeing Simon appear alongside Steve Ihnat, in their guest-spot from The F.B.I. Steve was an amazing actor we lost even sooner then we lost Simon. I first became acquainted with him through his performance in The Outer Limits and from there began to deliberately seek out other things he appeared in. I was excited to discover that he and Simon had worked together! Their characters are close friends and their scene, described in detail in my post for The Maze episode, is a joy to watch. Steve and Simon have appeared together other times too, including in the rare series The Name of the Game. I wish I could locate that series, for that reason among others!

In The Outer Limits Simon has several scenes of interaction with Don Gordon. Aside from this episode, I have only seen Don in another venture of The Outer Limits and in the movie Bullitt, which also featured Simon. He is a good actor and I enjoy stumbling across him while watching things.

Bullitt brought Simon in contact with two very well-known actors: Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn. As the boss of Steve McQueen’s character, Simon portrays a gruff and serious police captain of the highest level of integrity. He trusts Frank Bullitt and tries to allow him the leeway he needs to bring the bad guys to justice. And he refuses to give Robert Vaughn’s character the time of the day when he’s tempted to play politics. Simon only has a handful of scenes in the film, but they’re very memorable. Simon was deliberately chosen for the role by the director, and it’s very easy to see why.

In West Side Story Simon has a scene where he interacts with both Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno. It’s one of my favorites, where we see his character Lieutenant Schrank doing a better job of keeping himself composed than he does when dealing with the teen gangs.

I wish there had been more of him interacting with his apparent police partner, Sergeant Krupke (played by William Bramley). Actually, he only addresses one or two lines to Krupke throughout the film and they have two silent scenes together. Interestingly enough, I think their first silent scene says more about both of them than it might have if they had spoken. It’s only a few seconds long, set during the Tonight Quintet sequence. Krupke is driving, looking for the gangs to try to stop the impending rumble. Schrank is going for a cigarette, agitated. Krupke gives him a worried glance. Their obvious concern shows how deeply they care about the kids and don’t want them to get hurt, a very different image than what they usually seem to project when they’re interacting with said kids. It takes really good actors to make a silent scene come off so well.

One of my earliest encounters with Simon is in Susan Hayward’s intense vehicle I Want to Live! Playing real-life reporter Ed Montgomery, he documents the arrest and trial of Barbara Graham. Although initially he believes her to be guilty of the murder she’s accused of committing, he comes to feel that she is instead innocent and works feverishly to undo the damage his previous stories caused.

He has many scenes with Susan Hayward. Their relationship is shown starting with the antagonistic and gradually developing. His sincere regret comes out very well later, although Barbara does not want to discuss it. By the end of the film she seems to have warmed up to him. She leaves him a last letter, which he reads in the final scene, after her execution. He then trudges back to his car, pulling out his hearing aid so as not to hear any of the busy sounds around him. It’s a very powerful and poignant scene.

Another favorite actor of mine appears in this film, but regrettably, he and Simon do not interact. At least, not that I recall. He is Wesley Lau, probably best remembered as Lieutenant Andy Anderson on Perry Mason. His role in I Want to Live! is small but important, as the deadbeat husband of Barbara Graham. I would have loved to have seen Wesley and Simon play off of each other.

They do both appear in the Gunsmoke episode Miguel’s Daughter, but I can’t remember the extent of their interaction. Wesley plays, I believe, one of the guys harassing Miguel’s daughter. I don’t know if he’s the one Miguel kills or if he’s the other one. I watched that episode before Wesley really meant anything to me. I need to watch it again.

And, according to IMDB.com, they also appear together in the TV movie Crosscurrent. I’ve been trying to get hold of that for some time. I have no idea if they actually have any scenes together in it or not. According to TCM.com, Crosscurrent was a failed TV series pilot that became a TV movie instead. Were it to have been a series, Simon would have been a regular as the police captain. What a shame it didn’t work out. Then again, if it had, perhaps we wouldn’t have Kolchak: The Night Stalker, as Crosscurrent was made around the same time.

When it comes to main Perry Mason actors, the only other one I can affirm as having interaction with Simon is Raymond Burr. Sadly, they did not interact in either of Simon’s Perry episodes, but on Ironside they did. In the Puzzlelock episode, which I believe Crystal has spoken of, Simon plays a former policeman who is a friend of Ironside’s. He is also the villain of the episode. We have since seen one of his other two Ironside appearances, Love Me in December, in which he plays a reporter. This character initially comes across as a slimeball, but in his last scene his strong reaction to the truth behind the crime suggests that he really is a good person. I don’t recall that he interacted with Ironside in that episode. His other appearance, Lesson in Terror, we have not found yet.

Richard Anderson, Lieutenant Drumm from Perry, played the bad guy in The Night Strangler. He did not interact with Simon. They both appear in an episode of Burt Reynolds’ series Dan August. I have no idea whether Simon interacts with either Richard or Burt in that episode.

I most lament over the fact that Simon never interacted with William Talman, my other most favorite actor right now. They had no scenes together in the one Perry episode in which they both appeared. But I like to think that they met off-screen, on the set. I wonder what they thought of each other.

~Lucky Ladybug

Tony Vincenzo: Editor and Friend

The role of Tony Vincenzo remains one of Simon Oakland’s most endearing and memorable roles.  On the surface, Tony seemed to be a rather easy man to read; all he wanted were facts---facts that could be verified.  Much to his chagrin, of course, it was all but impossible for Carl Kolchak to prove his unbelievable stories, leading to clashes between the editor and the reporter more than once.

In an old newspaper article from 1967, Simon was described as an actor who studies all aspects of a character before bringing him to life.  Though the article was referring to his villain characters, it’s obvious that Simon took the same approach before becoming Tony Vincenzo; there is so much more to Tony than the loud-voiced skeptic on the surface.

Though Tony’s role (and subsequent characterization) in the first Night Stalker movie was limited, it was clear even then that Tony respected the forever-unlucky reporter, particularly in their last scene together.  This is expanded upon even more in The Night Strangler; in the beginning of the movie, Tony happens upon a half-drunk Carl at a press bar in Seattle, and though his tone suggests that he very well knows that he’s setting himself up for another series of headaches in dealing with the reporter, Tony still walks over and says hello, and then helps him get a job with the paper he’s currently working for.  After the events of the first movie (and all of the clashes they had been through), Tony had every opportunity to just ignore Carl and leave, yet that was the one thing he did not do.  No employer would willingly seek to hire a former employee who gave him so much trouble; this is our first hint at the unspoken friendship between Carl and Tony that we see more hints of in the series.

The series, though lasting only twenty episodes, gave us even more depth to Tony’s character.  We get more confirmations about his unspoken friendship with Carl, but we also see another side to him: his genuine concern for Carl.  Tony is screaming with worry at him in “The Trevi Collection” (despite, ironically, saying that he can’t afford to worry about him), immediately checks up on Carl after he lets out a yell of fright in “The Spanish Moss Murders” (leaving a party in his office, I might add), insists that he take a rest in his office after Carl collapses from exhaustion in “Firefall,” and even keeps a vigil over Carl in the end scene of “The Energy Eater” after the reporter’s latest misadventure leaves him frostbitten and unconscious, among other examples.

Simon’s portrayal of Tony also shows us something else.  If there is the right kind of evidence, Tony will be far less likely to dismiss Carl’s story.  We see this in “Primal Scream,” where Carl gets convincing photographs of the monster ape he’s trying to chase down.  Rather than telling him to get off the case as he usually does, Tony instead encouraged him to keep following the story (much to Carl’s surprise, too).  Even after their superiors told Carl to get off of the story, Tony still encouraged him to keep going; clearly, if Carl can prove his unbelievable stories, then Tony will be willing to print them.

In just two movies and twenty episodes, we got an incredible amount of characterization for a character who was clearly multifaceted.  One can only wonder how much father Simon could’ve taken the character had the series not been canceled; there was already a script for a third movie, plus scripts for three more episodes.  One of these lost episodes, “Eve of Terror,” was adapted into comic form by Moonstone, and if their comic is any indication of the script, then we would’ve seen even more character development of Tony.  At one point, Tony openly expresses his regret that he can’t support Carl’s story, even apologizing to him; it’s a very powerful scene, and one that I would’ve loved to have seen Simon bring to life.  At another point in the story, we also see Tony show off what I like to refer to as Swivel Chair Judo, which consists of him sending a swivel chair careening across the office floor to knock another chair out from under Kolchak via the domino effect (I should point out that this was well before the considerably more heartwarming scene, and that Tony did have a reason for it); I would’ve loved to have seen Simon do that, as well, for no other reason than that it would’ve been incredibly cool.

I know that I certainly can’t complain with what we have.  Simon managed to breathe so much life into Tony Vincenzo with just two movies and twenty episodes.  Yet there will always be a part of me that will wonder how much deeper a character was he.  As good as Moonstone’s original comics are in helping explore that (including showing us what would happen if Carl and Tony took on a monster together), there is nothing that will ever compare to the joy of seeing Simon bringing Tony to life.

~Crystal Rose