Tom Simcox
Encyclopedia
Thomas William Simcox, known as Tom Simcox (born June 17, 1937) is a former actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 who resides in the unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 community of Leona Valley
Leona Valley, California
Leona Valley is a census-designated place located in the geographic Leona Valley of northern Los Angeles County, California, in the transition between the Sierra Pelona Mountains and Mojave Desert, just west of Palmdale and the Antelope Valley. The population was 1,607 at the 2010 census.Leona...

 west of Palmdale
Palmdale, California
Palmdale is a city located in the center of northern Los Angeles County, California, United States.Palmdale was the first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city on August 24, 1962; 47 years later, voters approved creating a charter city in November, 2009. Palmdale is...

 in Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Simcox appeared in the 13-episode Warner Brothers television series Code R
Code R (TV series)
Code R is an American action-adventure television series that aired on CBS from January 21 to June 10, 1977. It focuses on the emergency services of the California Channel Islands. The series stars James Houghton, Martin Kove and Tom Simcox and ran for a single season of thirteen episodes.Simcox...

, which aired on CBS from January 21 to June 10, 1977. Code R focuses on the emergency
Emergency
An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer palliative...

 services, fire, police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

, and ocean rescue, of the California Channel Islands. Simcox played the police chief, Walt Robinson.

Early television roles

Simcox's television career began in 1962 with appearances on two ABC series, The Naked City
The Naked City
The Naked City is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The movie, shot partially in documentary style, was filmed on location on the streets of New York City, featuring landmarks such as the Williamsburg Bridge the Whitehall Building and an apartment building on West 83rd...

, a police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 set in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and Ben Casey
Ben Casey
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...

, a medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...

 starring Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...

. That same year, he appeared as a waiter in CBS's Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...

legal drama
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...

 with Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...

. In 1963, Simcox appeared on the episode "Beyond His Reach" of ABC's college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 drama, Channing
Channing (TV series)
Channing is an American drama series that aired on American Broadcasting Company from September 18, 1963 to April 8, 1964...

, starring Jason Evers
Jason Evers
Jason Evers was an American actor.Evers was born Herb Evers in New York City, New York. After quitting high school to join the United States Army, Evers was so inspired by stars like John Wayne that he decided to try acting...

 and Henry Jones
Henry Jones (actor)
Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...

. Simcox also appeared in 1963 in two NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 dramas, Wendell Corey
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey was an American actor and politician.He was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, the son of Milton Rothwell Corey and Julia Etta McKenney . His father was a Congregationalist clergyman...

's The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...

(as Joe Parker in episode entitled "Hang by One Hand") and in Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...

's The Lieutenant
The Lieutenant
The Lieutenant is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963-1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated...

, about the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 (as Captain Brett Parker in episode "To Take Up Serpents"). He managed to appear in numerous episodes that same year on ABC's General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

.

In 1965 he also appeared in the pilot of Joseph Stefano's "The Haunted" TV series for CBS, subtitled "The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre", which starred Martin Landau, Dame Judith Anderson, and Diane Baker. This was never shown on American TV by CBS because it was thought to be too frightening, but bootlegged copies have been shown around the world, especially in Japan, where there is a great demand for it to be released on DVD.

Westerns

In 1964-1965, Simcox appeared twice on ABC's Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...

and began a pattern of appearances in western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 series. He appeared with Charles Drake
Charles Drake
Charles Drake was an American actor.-Biography:Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful...

 in the episode "The Link Cheney Story", along with other guest stars Yvonne Craig
Yvonne Craig
Yvonne Joyce Craig is an American actress best known for her role as Batgirl from the 1960s TV series Batman, and as the Orion Marta in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Whom Gods Destroy”.-Early life and career:...

, Pippa Scott
Pippa Scott
Pippa Scott is an American actress who has appeared in movies and television since the 1950s. She was also married to a founding partner of Lorimar Productions, Lee Rich...

, Paul Stader
Paul Stader
Paul B. Stader, sometimes known as Manny Stader , was an American actor best known for having performed stunts for Johnny Weismuller, Lex Barker, Gregory Peck, and John Wayne. He was also the underwater director of the 1978 film The Return of Captain Nemo.-Working with Weismuller and Barker:Stader...

, and Harry von Zell
Harry von Zell
Harry von Zell , born in Indianapolis, made his mark as an announcer of radio programs and an actor in films and television shows....

. On October 3, 1965, Simcox appeared in the 206th episode entitled "The Other Son" of NBC's Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...

in the role of Andy Watson, the 28-year-old son of the explosives expert Clint Watson, portrayed by Ed Begley, Sr.
Ed Begley
Edward James Begley, Sr. was an Academy Award-winning American actor.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Begley began his career as a Broadway and radio actor while in his teens. He appeared in the hit musical Going Up on Broadway in 1917 and in London the next year. He later acted in...

 The script called for Andy getting accidentally killed by the explosion from unstable nitroglycerin at the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

 assisted in filming the segment at scenic Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...

.

Other western appearances followed on The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...

, and Laredo
Laredo (TV series)
Laredo is an NBC Western television series starring Neville Brand, William Smith, Peter Brown, and Philip Carey as Texas Rangers. The program premiered on September 16, 1965, and the final new episode was broadcast on April 7, 1967. The series was produced by Universal Television.-Synopsis:Laredo...

(1966, "The Sound of Terror"). He appeared eight times on CBS's Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....

, starring James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...

: "The Magician" (1963), "Dry Well" (1964), "Winner Take All" and "The Pretender" (1965), "The Good People" (1966), "A Hat" as both Jed and Ben Conniston (1967), "A Matter of Honor" (1969), and in the penultimate year of the long-running program, as Rance Woolfe in "Trail of Bloodshed" (1974). In the 1971 World War One-era western Bearcats!, he guest starred as a German army officer involved in a plot to have Mexico fight a war with the U.S., preventing America from entering the war on the side of the allies. In 1978, he appeared as Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...

 Logan in an episode of Arness's other but short-lived western series, How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won (TV series)
How the West Was Won is an American western television series that featured an all star cast that included: James Arness, Eva Marie Saint, Fionnula Flanagan, Bruce Boxleitner, G. W. Bailey, Trisha Noble, William Shatner, Jack Elam, Woody Strode, Anthony Zerbe, Richard Kiley, Lloyd Bridges,...

, which aired on ABC.

Last episode of Combat!

In the last episode entitled "Jonah" of ABC's Combat! military drama, which aired on March 7, 1967, Simcox starred as Dolan, a new replacement soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

 burdened by the pain of seeing his friends die around him. Some of the soldiers fear that Dolan is a jinx. The episode examines fear and superstition among front-line soldiers and its impact on morale and combat readiness. "Jonah" is in contrast to a first-season Combat episode "High Named Today" in which a demoralized soldier was convinced that he would die. In "Jonah" though, Simcox plays the role of the soldier convinced that he will live at the expense of others.

The screenplay for "Jonah" was written by Richard Wendly and William Fay. Peter Haskell
Peter Haskell
Peter Abraham Haskell was an American actor who worked primarily in television.-Early years:Haskell was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Rose Veronica Golden and geophysicist Norman Abraham Haskell...

 appears as Richards, Dolan's friend who becomes to believe the jinx fears. In the end, Simcox gets shot but survives and believes that his "curse" is either conquered or never existed. Viewers never know if the squad makes it back to their base without further injury.

As the last filmed episode of Combat!, "Jonah" leaves the fate not just of the new recruit in doubt but that of the entire squad. Their five-year trek across France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 hence ended in neither triumph or tragedy but uncertainty. Appearing with Simcox and Haskell in the episode were series regulars Rick Jason
Rick Jason
Rick Jason , born Richard Jacobson, was an American actor, born in New York City, and most remembered for his role as 2nd Lt. Gil Hanley in the ABC television drama Combat! .-Biography:...

 as Lieutenant Hanley, Vic Morrow
Vic Morrow
Victor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s TV series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and cinema dramas, and numerous guest roles on television...

 as Sergeant Saunders, and Conlan Carter
Conlan Carter
Chester Conlan Carter is a former film and television actor best known for the role of "Doc", featured in sixty-six episodes of the Rick Jason and Vic Morrow ABC World War II television series Combat!...

 as Doc.

Other drama roles

Simcox landed many other roles besides westerns. He guest starred on Columbo with Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...

, Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...

, and Baretta
Baretta
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...

with Robert Blake
Robert Blake
Robert Blake may refer to:*Bob Blake , American professional ice hockey player*Robert Blake , English naval commander*Robert Blake , pioneering Irish dentist...

, Vega$
Vega$
Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...

with Robert Urich
Robert Urich
Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...

, Matt Houston
Matt Houston
Matt Houston is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1982 to 1985. Created by Lawrence Gordon, the series was produced by Aaron Spelling.-Synopsis:...

with Lee Horsley
Lee Horsley
Lee Arthur Horsley is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series, Nero Wolfe , Matt Houston , and Paradise . He starred in the 1982 cult film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove...

, Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....

with Pernell Roberts
Pernell Roberts
Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. was an American stage, movie and television actor, as well as a singer. In addition to guest starring in over 60 television series, he was widely known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam Cartwright, on the western series Bonanza, a role he played from...

 and Gregory Harrison
Gregory Harrison
Gregory Neale Harrison is an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as Chandler in the 1987 cult favorite North Shore and as Trapper John MacIntyre's young surgeon, Dr. George Alonzo 'Gonzo' Gates, on the CBS series Trapper John, M.D....

, Knight Rider with David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...

, and Airwolf
Airwolf
Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 until 1987. The program centers on a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and its crew as they undertake various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme....

with Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent is an American actor best known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s U.S. television series Airwolf .-Early life:...

 and Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...

. Between 1977 and 1980, he appeared on NBC's Disneyland in the episodes "The Ghost of Cypress Swamp" and the two-parter "The Secret of Lost Valley". From 1983 to 1986, he appeared three times in CBS's Simon and Simon detective series with Gerald McRaney
Gerald McRaney
Gerald Lee "Mac" McRaney is an American television and movie actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows Simon & Simon, Major Dad, and Promised Land. He was a series regular for the first season of Jericho.-Early life:McRaney was born in Collins, Mississippi, the son...

 and Jameson Parker
Jameson Parker
Francis Jameson Parker Jr. is an American actor, best known as the co-star of the 1980s television series Simon & Simon.-Biography:Parker studied drama at Beloit College...

. Simcox's last television role was in 1991 in an episode of the 1989-1991 third version of Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...

's NBC series Dragnet
Dragnet (series)
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...

.

Simcox appeared in a half-dozen films, including the part of Lieutenant Johnson in the 1965 classic Shenandoah
Shenandoah (film)
Shenandoah is a 1965 American Civil War film starring James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, and Katharine Ross. The picture was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Though set during the American Civil War, the film's strong antiwar and humanitarian themes resonated with audiences...

with James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...

. Other appearances were in Incident at Phantom Hill (1966, as Lieutenant Adam Long), Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...

's The Doomsday Flight (1966, TV, as Flight Engineer Chipps), Istanbul Express (1968, TV, as Leland McCord), The Aquarians (1970, TV, as Jerry Hollis), The Hollywood Man (1976), and Acceptable Risks (1986, TV, as Joe Reed). His last film appearance was as Horn in Grim Prairie Tales
Grim Prairie Tales
Grim Prairie Tales is a 1990 American horror film, directed and written by Wayne Coe, and starring James Earl Jones and Brad Dourif. It is an anthology film of four western stories, told by two travellers around a prairie campfire...

, a 1989 picture starring James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...

 as a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...

. In the story line, two men at a western campfire tell four horror stories.
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