About
| Birth Notes: | 5 October 1919, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, UK |
| Height: | 5' 6" |
| Family: | * 'Meira Shore' (10 October 1970 - 1 February 1988) (divorced); 1 child * Josephine Crombie (1959 - 1970) (divorced); 2 children * Miriam Raymond (1941 - 1958) (divorced); 2 children * 'Linda Kentwood' (3 January 1989 - 2 February 1995) (his death) |
| Biography: | 'Donald Pleasence' (qv) started acting on the London stage in 1939. He served in the RAF, was shot down and held in a POW camp. His balding, bland face and memorable voice made him the most popular actor on British TV He specialised in strange or menacing characters from Ernst Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967) to Dr. Loomis in the Halloween series. |
Filmography
| A Breed Apart (1984) as J.P. Whittier |
| Casablanca Express (1989) as Colonel Bats |
| Circus of Horrors (1960) as Vanet |
| Cul-de-sac (1966) as George |
| Escape from New York (1981) as President |
| Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) as Lucas Deranian |
| Eye of the Devil (1966) as Pere Dominic |
| Halloween (1978) as Dr. Sam Loomis |
| Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) as Dr. Sam Loomis |
| Halloween 5 (1989) as Dr. Sam Loomis |
| Halloween II (1981) as Dr. Sam Loomis |
| Halloween: Resurrection (2002) as Dr. Samuel 'Sam' Loomis |
| Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) as Dr. Sam Loomis |
| Hell Is a City (1960) as Gus Hawkins |
| I Don't Want to Be Born (1975) as Dr. Finch |
| Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008) as Himself |
| Oh, God! (1977) as Doctor Harmon |
| Phenomena (1985) as Professor John McGregor |
| Prince of Darkness (1987) as Priest |
| Shadows and Fog (1991) as Doctor |
| The Eagle Has Landed (1976) as Himmler |
| The Great Escape (1963) as Flight Lt. Colin Blythe "The Forger" |
| The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) as The Dark Hermit - Satan |
| The Last Tycoon (1976) as Boxley |
| The Princess and the Cobbler (1993) as Phido the Vulture |
| The Uncanny (1977) as Valentine De'ath (segment 3 "Hollywood 1936") |
| THX 1138 (1971) as SEN |
| You Only Live Twice (1967) as Ernst Stavro Blofeld |
| ...Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo! (1974) as The Doctor |
| 1984 (1956) as R. Parsons |
| A Story of David (1960) as Nabal |
| A Tale of Two Cities (1958) as John Barsad |
| Alone in the Dark (1982) as Dr. Leo Bain |
| American risciò (1990) as Reverend Mortom |
| Angel Hill: l'ultima missione (1988) as Colonel B. Abrams |
| Animali metropolitani (1987) as Prof. Livingstone |
| Arthur! Arthur! (1969) as Arthur Brownjohn/Sir Easonby 'E' Mellon |
| Barnacle Bill (1957) as Cashier |
| Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974) as Erich Count von Plasma |
| Buried Alive (1990) as Dr. Schaeffer |
| Cobra Mission (1986) as Father Lenoir |
| Creature of Comfort (1968) as James Thorne |
| Death Line (1972) as Inspector Calhoun |
| Der Commander (1988) as Henry Carlson |
| Diên Biên Phú (1992) as Howard Simpson |
| Django 2: il grande ritorno (1987) as Gunn |
| Double Target (1987) as Senator Blaster |
| Dr. Crippen (1962) as Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen |
| Dracula (1979) as Dr. Jack Seward |
| Fantastic Voyage (1966) as Dr. Michaels |
| Fatal frames: Fotogrammi mortali (1996) as Professor Robinson |
| Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984) as Victor Frankenstein/Old Baron Frankenstein |
| From Beyond the Grave (1973) as Jim Underwood (segment 2 "An Act of Kindness") |
| Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006) as Sam Loomis |
| Goldenrod (1976) as John Tyler Jones |
| Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979) as Dr. Steiner |
| Ground Zero (1987) as Prosper Gaffney |
| Hanna's War (1988) as Captain Thomas Rosza |
| Heart of a Child (1958) as Spiel |
| Hearts of the West (1975) as A.J. Neitz |
| Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972) as Thomas Cromwell |
| Il mondo dell'orrore di Dario Argento (1985) as Himself/Prof. John McGregor |
| In and Out of Fashion (1998) as Himself |
| Innocent Bystanders (1972) as Loomis |
| Jaguar Lives! (1979) as General Villanova |
| Journey Into Fear (1975) as Kuvetli |
| Kidnapped (1971) as Ebenezer Balfour |
| Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) as Captain |
| L'avvoltoio può attendere (1991) as The Art Collector |
| L'homme en colère (1979) as Albert Pumpelmeyer |
| L'ordre et la sécurité du monde (1978) as Rothko |
| L'uomo puma (1980) as Kobras |
| La loba y la Paloma (1974) as Martin Zayas |
| Les liens de sang (1978) as James Doniac |
| Look Back in Anger (1959) as Hurst |
| Malachi's Cove (1974) as Malachi |
| Manuela (1957) as Evans |
| Matchless (1967) as Gregori Andreanu |
| Miliardi (1991) as Ripa |
| Mr. Freedom (1969) as Dr. Freedom |
| Night Creature (1978) as Axel MacGregor |
| No Love for Johnnie (1961) as Roger Renfrew |
| Nosferatu a Venezia (1988) as Don Alvise |
| Orders Are Orders (1954) as Cpl. Martin |
| Paganini Horror (1989) as Mr. Pickett |
| Power Play (1978) as Blair |
| Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981) as Gilbert Carson |
| Reel Horror (1985) as Axel MacGregor |
| River of Death (1989) as Heinrich Spaatz |
| Robin Hood: Quest for the Crown (1991) as Prince John |
| Safe Haven (1995) as The Sailor |
| Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) as B.D. Hoffler |
| Soldier Blue (1970) as Isaac Q. Cumber |
| Sons and Lovers (1960) as Mr. Puppleworth |
| Sotto il vestito niente (1985) as Commissioner Danesi |
| Spare the Rod (1961) as Mr. Jenkins |
| Spettri (1987) as Professor Lasky |
| Suspect (1960) as Parsons, alias Bill Brown |
| Tales That Witness Madness (1973) as Prof. R.C. Tremayne |
| Telefon (1977) as Nicolai Dalchimsky |
| Ten Little Indians (1989) as Mr. Justice Lawrence Wargrave |
| Terror in the Aisles (1984) as Host/Dr. Loomis (Halloween I & II) |
| The Ambassador (1984) as Minister Eretz |
| The Battle of the Sexes (1959) as Irwin Hoffman |
| The Beachcomber (1954) as Tromp |
| The Big Day (1960) as Victor Partridge |
| The Big Freeze (1993) as Soup slurper |
| The Black Tent (1956) as Ali |
| The Black Windmill (1974) as Cedric Harper |
| The Caretaker (1963) as Mac Davies/Bernard Jenkins |
| The Devil's Men (1976) as Father Roche |
| The Devonsville Terror (1983) as Dr. Warley |
| The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) as William Hare |
| The Hallelujah Trail (1965) as 'Oracle' Jones |
| The Hands of Orlac (1960) as Graham Coates |
| The Hour of the Pig (1993) as Pincheon |
| The House of Usher (1989) as Walter Usher |
| The Inspector (1962) as Sgt. Wolters |
| The Jerusalem File (1972) as Major Samuels |
| The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) as The Prospector |
| The Man in the Sky (1957) as Crabtree |
| The Man Inside (1958) as Organ-grinder |
| The Monster Club (1980) as Pickering, Chief of the B-Squad |
| The Mutations (1974) as Professor Nolter |
| The Night of the Generals (1967) as General Kahlenberge |
| The Other People (1968) as Clive - Elsa's father |
| The Passover Plot (1976) as Pontius Pilate |
| The Pied Piper (1972) as The Baron |
| The Rainbow Boys (1973) as Ralph Logan |
| The Shakedown (1960) as Jessel Brown |
| The Treasure of the Amazon (1985) as Klaus von Blantz |
| The Two-Headed Spy (1958) as General Hardt |
| The Wind Cannot Read (1958) as Doctor |
| The Wind of Change (1961) as Pop |
| To Kill a Stranger (1985) as Col. Kostik |
| Tomorrow Never Comes (1978) as Dr. Todd |
| Trial by Combat (1976) as Sir Giles Marley |
| Un delitto poco comune (1988) as Inspector Datti |
| Value for Money (1955) as Limpy |
| Wake in Fright (1971) as 'Doc' Tydon |
| Warrior of the Lost World (1983) as Prossor |
| Warrior Queen (1987) as Clodius |
| Wedding in White (1972) as Jim Dougall, Sr. |
| What a Carve Up! (1961) as Everett Sloane |
| Where Is Parsifal? (1983) as Mackintosh |
| Will Penny (1968) as Preacher Quint |
Trivia
|
* His portrayal of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967) will always be an influence of the Dr. Evil character in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). Both Dr. Evil ('Mike Myers (I)' (qv)) and Pleasence's Blofeld have a large facial scar. * Father of Angela Pleasence, Polly Jo Pleasence and Miranda Pleasence. * He had elocution lessons as a child. * The only actor to have appeared in both The Great Escape (1963) and its TV sequel, The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988) (TV). Ironically, he played one of the would-be great escapees in the first film and one of the German executioners in the second. Strangely he even played the role of the SS and Gestapo chief, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, in the film The Eagle Has Landed (1976). Heinrich Himmler was the one who ordered the secret murder of "the 50" POW's. Thus, Pleasence is likely to be one of only a few actors to have ever portrayed all three roles of murder conspirator, executioner, and victim! (although technically he was not among the 50. His character died earlier.). * Was originally chosen to play Blair in The Thing (1982), but a scheduling conflict prevented him from doing so. Therefore, the role went to Wilford Brimley. * When Moustapha Akkad asked Donald Pleasence how many more Halloween (1978) films he was planning to make, Donald replied "I stop at twenty-two!" * Married four times and had five daughters. Angela Pleasence and Jean Pleasence were born from his marriage to actress Miriam Raymond; Lucy and Polly Jo Pleasence were the products of his union with actress/singer Josephine Crombie and Miranda Pleasence was conceived during his marriage to singer Miera Shore. * Shortly before his death in 1995, he was scheduled to star in a production of "King Lear" that would have featured daughters Angela Pleasence, Polly Jo Pleasence and Miranda Pleasence. * His father was a stationmaster. * He was initially a conscientous objector during World War II, but later changed his mind and joined the British Royal Air Force. His plane was shot down and was taken prisoner of war by the Nazis until his release in 1945. * Was held at Stalag Luft I, near the Baltic Sea. While a POW during World War II, he organized a theatre company in order to pass the time. His productions included "The Petrified Forest", in which he played the Leslie Howard role opposite a 6' 1" Canadian who played the Bette Davis part. * Played Loomis in Innocent Bystanders (1972), Dr. Sam Loomis in most of the first six Halloween (1978) movies (Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) was not a "Michael Myers" movie) and Father Loomis in Prince of Darkness (1987). * The only star of The Great Escape (1963) to have actually been a World War II prisoner of war ('Hannes Messemer' (qv), who played Col. Lugo the camp commander, was a German soldier in WW II and was captured by American troops and held in a POW camp until the end of the war). When he kindly offered advice to director John Sturges, he was politely asked to keep his "opinions" to himself. Later, when another star from the film informed Sturges that Pleasence had actually been an RAF officer in a World War II German POW camp, Sturges requested Pleasance's technical advice and input on historical accuracy from that point forward. * Was nominated for four Tony Awards as Best Actor (Dramatic): in 1962 for "The Caretaker", a part he recreated in the film version also titled The Caretaker (1963); in 1965 for "Poor Bitos"; in 1969 for "The Man in the Glass Booth" and, in 1972 for "Wise Child" - but he never won. * He was a wireless operator in Lancaster bombers in 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force. * Often joked to friends and family that, before Halloween (1978) came out, he was typecast as villains and psychos, never having been given the chance to play a good guy or hero. However, after his portrayal of the heroic, Van Helsing-like Dr. Loomis in Halloween, he had the exact opposite problem in that no one wanted to see him play bad guys anymore, that the only parts offered to him were avengers and heroes. * He was flying in a Lancaster NE112 "AS-M" when it was shot down on September 9th, 1944. * Is Carrie Anderson's great-uncle. |
Quotes
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* I'm a professional actor. I get the part. I read the script. If I decide to do it, I learn the lines. I have no theory about acting. For me, there is no Method. I just do it. * I treat all film roles one way - very seriously. * There was a sort of horror picture that I did called The Mutations (1974). I think I did that solely for the money. I have six daughters, and they can be quite expensive, so one has to keep working and be able to pay the bills. I did get to work with Tom Baker . He's a very charming, bright man and I liked him very much. I remember that movie as a very happy time; the whole gang of us were very friendly, and that means so much when you're working together. But I surely wouldn't list that film among my proudest moments. |
Photos
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