Wilson Loewen is a fictional character at HBO's drama Oz

Oz (TV series)

Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...

 played by Tom Atkins

Tom Atkins (actor)

Tom Atkins is an American television and film actor. He is primarily known for his work in the horror film genre, having worked with writers and directors such as John Carpenter, Stephen King, and George A. Romero...

.

Character Overview

Mayor Wilson Loewen was a politician who helped Governor James Devlin

Governor James Devlin

Governor James Devlin is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Željko Ivanek.-Character overview:Devlin, the governor of the state, is hated by most of the inmates and some of the staff members at the Oswald State Correctional facilities as he proposes several anti-prisoner acts of...

 get elected. He was arrested after the police discovered he was involved with two murders of Black-Americans girls in 1963 during his tenure as a sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

. Loewen is loosely based on Charles H. Robertson

Charles H. Robertson

Charles "Charlie" H. Robertson is an American politician who served as Mayor of York, Pennsylvania from 1994–2002. He attended William Penn Senior High School in York and spent two years as a medic in the United States Army....

, a mayor who was found not guilty in the killing of a black woman during a race riot in 1969.Although Loewen gives the impression of a harmless and charming old man,He is a vicious and unrepentant racist and murderer.When not in the public eye,He uses racial slurs and treats close associates such as Vern Schillinger horribly as well as having no hesitation of betraying Them if it serves His interests.It is never directly stated but Loewen's guilt in the murder of the two children is almost certain.

Season 6

Back in 1963, when Wilson Loewen was a sheriff of a small town, he assisted the Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...

 in killing two Black-American girls. He was elected mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 years later. Governor Devlin's good friend, Loewen helped with his election. When the scandal of the two homicides in '63 started, Devlin said on the television that, if Loewen gets arrested, he'll take him out of the jail at the same second. A racial fight starts in the whole city, including in Oz, where a lock down is initiated by Leo Glynn. After his conviction, Loewen is sent to Oz's Unit J with sheriff Alvin Yood

Alvin Yood

Alvin Yood is a character at HBO drama Oz played by Tom Ligon.-Character Overview:Prisoner 01Y218. Convicted January 20, 2001 for aggravated assault of a minor. Sentence of 12 years, up for parole in seven....

 and Tobias Beecher

Tobias Beecher

Tobias Beecher is a main character on the television show Oz, played by Lee Tergesen. He is one of only eight regular characters to survive the entire run of the show...

. During a meal, Loewen gets food stuck in his throat, and Beecher saves his life. Wilson is moved to the hospital, where he meets with Governor Devlin and demands to be released from Oz. He goes on to blackmail the governor, implying that he will talk about crimes committed by Devlin. Loewen is visited by Vernon Schillinger

Vernon Schillinger

Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character, played by American actor J. K. Simmons, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #92S110. Convicted October 21, 1992 – Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in five...

, who says that Loewen is his hero. Loewen, however, mocks and humiliates Vern. During the night, hospital inmate Lionel Kelsch starts screaming to create a distraction. Fellow inmate Willy Brandt

Willy Brandt (Oz)

William "Willy" Brandt is a fictional character at HBO drama Oz. Willy Brandt is played by Matthew Cowles.-Character Overview:Prisoner 96B339, William "Willy" Brandt....

 enters Loewen's bedroom and slices his throat, killing him. It is then later revealed that Governor Devlin ordered his assistant Perry Loftus

Perry Loftus

Perry Loftus is a fictional character at HBO drama Oz played by Christopher Neal Jackson.-Character Overview:An intelligent African American young man, Perry Loftus studied with Oz's CO Adrian Johnson. After getting out of the University, Loftus became Governor James Devlin's assistant.-Season...

 to kill Loewen. Loftus paid his college friend, CO Adrian Johnson

Adrian Johnson

Adrian Johnson, played by Cyrus Farmer, is one of the African American corrections officer on the HBO drama Oz.-Character overview:He first appears as one of the several African American corrections officers to work in Emerald City under the management of Martin Querns...

to arrange the hit. Johnson paid Kelsch and Brandt to kill Loewen.