Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character played by actor J.K. Simmons on the which of these US TV series?

Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character played by American actor J. K. Simmons on the HBO series "Oz". Simmons was born in January 1955.

Schillinger is one of the most powerful and feared inmates in Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary ("Oz"). As a leader of the Aryan Brotherhood in Oz, Schillinger controls most white inmates and has a reputation for ruthless brutality and rape. He is an ardent racist, and is serving an eight-year sentence for beating a black drug dealer with a crowbar. The dealer was selling drugs to his sons. Despite being in prison, Schillinger is shown to be a high-ranking member of the Brotherhood outside of prison. This gives him power outside of Oz through a vast network of allies.

Schillinger also indulges in varying degrees of sexual sadism, especially toward fellow inmate Tobias Beecher, whom he rapes to "initiate" him into prison life. In addition to Beecher, Schillinger commits several acts of rape over the series against other white inmates, while ironically maintaining a hatred for homosexuals. Schillinger also has the Brotherhood kill other inmates to prove that the Aryans in Oz are a legitimate threat to the rest of the inmate population.

The American TV prison drama series "Oz" is set at a fictional men's prison created and principally written by Tom Fontana. It was the first one-hour dramatic TV series to be produced by the cable network HBO. "Oz" ran for six seasons from July 1997 to the finale which aired in February 2003.