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's Early Roles: A Treasure-Trove of Classics

Something that may not be very well-known except to those interested enough to research is that Simon Oakland got his film start on television rather than in the movies. A very young Simon can be seen in early episodes of Gunsmoke, Have Gun-Will Travel, Decoy, Brenner, and other mid to late 1950s shows, including episodes of anthology series.

It’s interesting to note that for the most part, these early roles were all as protagonists and “good guys.” When it comes to guest-starring roles, it sometimes seems as though Simon is most usually remembered for his villains. And while they are excellent, so are his heroes, and they should be well remembered too.

Among the earliest of Simon’s works that is still commercially available appears to be his second appearance on Beverly Garland’s gritty vehicle Decoy, in the episode Saturday Lost. He portrays a hard-nosed, cynical sergeant, Steve Necclo, who works with Beverly’s character Casey Jones on a strange and disturbing amnesia case. He is both no-nonsense and compassionate, and by the episode’s end he is grim over the heart-breaking solution to the mystery.

Sancho Fernandez, from the first season finale of Have Gun-Will Travel, The Statue of San Sebastian, is an angry man locked in a rivalry with a local, believing him to have killed his brother. His rage is certainly understandable. Simon portrays him, as always, as very human and three-dimensional.

In the early days of Gunsmoke, Simon played everything from a protective Mexican father enraged over the treatment of his daughter to an honest businessman in Dodge City to an innocent man accused of murder. Jim Nation, the latter role, is my favorite of his Gunsmoke characters. It’s thrilling to see Matt Dillon forced into a position where he must trust that Jim will help them when their stagecoach is hijacked. And it’s even more thrilling to see Jim come through with flying colors.

The poker player Enoch Mills doesn’t appear for too long in the episode How to Cure a Friend, but it is highly gratifying to see that the richest man in Dodge is upright. Sometimes it seems a bit too cliché that businessmen in old Westerns will be crooked. And an important note: Simon filmed this role in 1956, making it one of the very earliest television appearances he ever made. And, next to Decoy’s Saturday Lost, it is the oldest Simon Oakland role that is easily viewed today.

The titular character in Miguel’s Daughter is the darkest of Simon’s early Gunsmoke roles. And it’s difficult to know what to say about him. He is not a villain, but he has a warped sense of justice. When Matt tries to explain to him that if he goes after and kills the men who assaulted his daughter, he will end up leaving his daughter alone because he will be arrested and executed, it makes no difference. He still pursues his brand of justice, seeking and killing the one man who escaped Matt’s capture. The last line of the episode is heart-breaking, as Matt says to Chester that now he must tell the daughter of Miguel’s kind of justice.

Simon plays Miguel complete with a Spanish accent. Another thing about him that has always impressed me, which I believe Crystal wrote an entry on, is his amazing array of accents. I have heard him portray Russians, Mexicans, Italians, and men in the Old West, each with an appropriate and well-done voice. I have also heard him disguise his natural Brooklyn tones and speak without any accent at all.

On Brenner, in the episode Small Take, Simon plays one of his earliest villains. And even then, Mike Dover is certainly not the same breed of slime as later wretches. He bribes a young cop and runs various rackets in his neighborhood, but he does not have a dangerous temper and does not decide to kill a policeman who is getting too close to the truth until it looks like the only possibility. And still, when one of his lackeys cackles psychotically at the thought of killing the man, Dover reacts in disturbed disgust. This is a world apart from men such as Vernon Kane on Laramie or Mel Barnes on Bonanza. Those killers would be the ones doing the delighted cackling.

It’s difficult to narrow down exactly if Simon had one character type that was more prominent than all the rest. Unlike some people, I do not believe Simon was typecast. He played just as many good guys as bad guys, if not more. It’s just that his villains are so memorable, perhaps sometimes viewers don’t recall or seek out his other roles. Also, regretfully, many of Simon’s roles, including a vast number of his protagonists, are not currently commercially available. But hopefully soon, with the continuing interest in shows of yesteryear, more rare golden oldies will make their way onto DVDs and television channels, and we will be able to explore many more facets of Simon’s incredible acting abilities.

~Lucky Ladybug

Into the West

It isn’t everyday that a movie/TV genre you previously thought was dull and boring eventually becomes a favorite.  I was never a fan of the Western genre for a number of reasons.  The whole “gunslinger” archetype made my eyes roll, someone always seemed to be feuding with someone else, and the landscape was noticeably lacking in greenery (guess I’m too used to seeing a carpet of grass around…).  I was convinced that nothing would ever change my mind.

Enter Simon Oakland.

Though, it did take a while for him to get me to change my mind.  I never counted his “Cowboy” role from Get Smart as a Western (the character had been on his way to a costume party), and my eyes were otherwise drawn to Tony Vincenzo and General Moore.  It was sometime afterwards that I found out about a character called Mel Barnes, from the Bonanza episode “Justice Deferred.”

Out of sheer curiosity, I took at look at “Justice Deferred.”  Surprising though it was to see Simon playing a character so cruel and malicious (and yet thrilling to see him break the fourth wall in the opening credits—in the most adorable way possible), it was even more surprising for me to realize that I liked the episode, despite its Western genre.  I quickly wrote this off as a one-time thing.  Sometime after that, I looked at another Bonanza episode: “Thunder Man.”  Once again, Simon played a character that was cruel and malicious… but, this time, the character (William Poole) was also a wonderful singer.  “Thunder Man” still remains the only time I’ve ever heard Simon sing, but that alone cemented this episode as a favorite for me.  Poole has intrigued me so much as a character, as well, from his mysterious backstory to whether or not he was once a decent man who was corrupted by madness.

I conceded that I was now a fan of Bonanza.  Even then, I considered it to be a fluke—the one Western that I would like.  And, once again, Simon would prove me wrong.  First The Virginian episode “Letter of the Law” and then “The Secret” episode of The Big Valley warmed me up to the genre slightly more.  I found that, thanks to Simon’s wonderful acting, I could look past the feuds and the lack of greenery and enjoy the story.

However, there was still one more hurdle to get me to get past my dismissal of the Western genre—the “gunslinger” archetype.  Looking back, it was a weird quirk of mine; I couldn’t stand watching an Old West gun duel, yet if people were dueling with tamed monsters or a card game, I was all for it.  But I stayed away from shows like Gunsmoke just to avoid the archetype.

And then came my first watching of the “Overland Express” episode of Gunsmoke, in which Simon’s character (Jim Nation) was, for once, not a cold and malicious character.  And I was enamored.  The archetype wasn’t as bad as I thought, and it was a thrill to see Simon play a good guy, for once (and it was also amusing to see him trying not to break character at one point; he was smiling in amusement when one of the other characters was talking about greasing a wagon wheel with cheese).  Seeing other episodes of Gunsmoke, even ones where Simon wasn’t even in, eventually followed.

Sometimes, all it takes is one person to get us to see things in a different light, with a more open mind.  And I am forever grateful to Simon for introducing me to a genre that was intriguing after all.

~Crystal Rose

Still Relevant in the 21st Century: Another Appealing Aspect of Simon Oakland's Characters

One of the intriguing elements to Simon Oakland’s characters is how they are still relevant here in the 21st century.  Both the good and the malevolent characters could easily find a place in the modern world, even the ones from period pieces.  The realization came to me when I was musing over how, after a few tweaks, it could be possible to apply the translated lyrics of “Dastaan-e Om Shanti Om” (from the 2007 Bollywood/Hindi movie Om Shanti Om) to the story of William Poole from the “Thunder Man” episode of Bonanza (for it is, as the song says, “A story of broken dreams” for everyone involved).  The fact that that a song from a movie from 2007 could apply to characters in a 1963 episode of a TV show set in the Old West speaks volumes to the relevancy of the characters and the story.  And it isn’t just here…

Take the case of the Empryian, from The Outer Limits episode “Second Chance.”  Is the Empyiran’s view on humans any less applicable in 2011 than it was in 1964?  Not at all; for all we complain about our world and our lives, we still are very reluctant to leave our comfort zones, as the Empyrian so glibly stated. 

And what of Lieutenant Schrank and his jaded view on the direction the youths of our world seem to be taking?  A look at any local news station will tell you that West Side Stories still happen worldwide.  Suddenly, Schrank’s cynicism seems more and more understandable.

Of course, it isn’t just the cruel or cynical characters that are applicable to our modern age; Simon’s nicer characters are also relevant.  A character like Jim Nation, from the “Overland Express” episode of Gunsmoke is a reminder that there are some people who are good deep down in spite of initial appearances, and if you give them the benefit of the doubt, they’ll come through for you when you need them most.

Also included in the list of relevant characters are those characters who are nothing but good and loveable, like Tony Vincenzo—gruff on the outside, but with a caring heart of gold on the inside.  Don’t we all know a Tony Vincenzo somewhere in our lives—someone who, despite any and all disagreements they may have with us, can’t help but be concerned for our problems to the extent that they start worrying for us, despite the headaches?  Everything about Tony is believable: his attempts to resist the temptation of junk food in favor of healthier practices like yoga (and, in addition, his failure at both), his bark being worse than his bite, and the sheer pity and sympathy he has for his unfortunate employee and friend, Carl Kolchak, no matter what troubles he brings upon him.

And, sometimes, it’s not just what the characters represent that is still relevant to our time; sometimes, the characters themselves have a place in our world.  Tony Vincenzo is the best example of this yet again; the Kolchak saga continues on in the form of Moonstone’s comics, which are not only still being published, but take place in the present day.  Tony and Carl don’t look or feel out of place at all among the tech age we live in; they continue on with their bantering like they always did.

Perhaps it was Simon’s ability to bring to life characters that are still relevant to the 21st century that ended up being one of the many contributing factors as to why a modern-day young lady ended up being so enamored by the characters—and the man behind them.  Though the man may be gone, the characters live on.  And perhaps, a hundred years from now, they’ll still be just as relevant.

~Crystal Rose