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Donald Henry Pleasence Wiki Biography

Balding, quietly-spoken, of slight build and possessed of piercing blue eyes — often peering out from behind round, steel-rimmed glasses — Donald Pleasence had the necessary physical attributes which make a great screen villain. In the course of his lengthy career, he relished playing the obsessed, the paranoid and the purely evil. Even the Van … IMDB Wikipedia $10 million 1919 1919-10-5 1995-02-02 5′ 6″ (1.68 m) Actor Donald Henry Pleasence Donald Pleasence Net Worth Ecclesfield School England Escape from New York (1981) Halloween (1978) Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) Josephine Crombie Libra Nottinghamshire October 5 Soundtrack The Great Escape (1963) UK Worksop Writer

Donald Henry Pleasence Quick Info

Donald Henry Pleasence Trademarks

1. Intense performances
2. Dr. Sam Loomis from the Halloween films
3. Bald head and piercing blue eyes

Donald Henry Pleasence Quotes

• [om The Flesh and the Fiends (1960)] George Rose and myself were perfectly horrible grave robbers. As I recall, that film had some rather bloody scenes in it which, in 1960, was a rare occurrence in horror films. That was a really atmospheric film, and it portrayed the poverty of 19th century Europe realistically.
• [on Fantastic Voyage (1966)] I remember being amazed the first day I walked onto the shoot and saw these outsize sets that simulated the human body. I enjoyed that film because, even though my character was the villain, I got to play him as a much gentler person. Of course, he richly deserved to be swallowed by the antibodies at the end.
• I don’t know if I’m the first actor people think of when it comes to horror films, but I do seem to get these calls pretty regularly. I work all the time, and it’s by choice. I’ve got homes in Spain and France, and I do tend to have, shall we say, extravagant ways. It’s nice to know that, at some point, I’ll have a month off to work in my garden or be with my grandchildren. But it’s equally good to know that a call might come that would take me halfway around the world to make a film.
• All kids love horror films. Films of that nature are especially attractive to teenagers for the simple reason that they don’t want to sit home with Mom and Dad and watch game shows. Give them a film that’s scary, violent, and a little bit funny and they’ll be out of the house and into the theaters like a shot.
• [from an interview in 1988] Being typed as the one who constantly plays the crazy, mixed-up person is something I vehemently deny. I love playing the heavies, like Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967); they’re usually larger than life and are the characters that most people remember. But as my career has progressed, more and more I’m the good guy chasing after the crazy, mixed-up people. I’m rarely the crazed monster anymore. If the truth be known, I prefer being the pursuer. If the crazed killer was the only role I was being offered, I don’t know what I might do to myself.
• For a while, I wore a toupee because I thought it would help me get work. But it didn’t, so eventually I threw it away and said, “They’ll have to take me the way I am.”
• I don’t like horror films. I’m interested in them, but if there were three kinds of film playing across the road at my local cinema, the horror film would not be the one I would go to see. I do a lot of horror films because I’m asked to do them, and I need to make money all the time, so …
• John Carpenter is the best director I ever worked with. One of the main reasons is his bravery in the way he’s cast me in his films. By casting me as the president in Escape from New York (1981) and as the essentially good Dr. Loomis in the original Halloween (1978), he gave me the opportunities that might have been missed had I stayed a stereotypical madman. That casting against type is what made Prince of Darkness (1987) such a lovely bit of business for me. People were walking into the theaters expecting me to be bad, and I ended up representing all the good in the universe.
• [on The Great Escape (1963)] That was my first big Hollywood picture, and it struck particularly close to home for me because I had been in the RAF and spent some time in a POW camp in Germany. I had a wonderful part and was delighted. Steve McQueen was a bit difficult during the filming, flying in three separate screenwriters to make sure his character was to his liking. Coming from a theater background, I had a lot of qualms with the way this big budget movie was being made, but I kept my mouth shut and was ultimately very happy with the experience.
• [from an interview done in 1989] It’s gotten to the point where it’s big news when I don’t do a horror film. At this point in my career, it doesn’t bother me much that I’m probably hopelessly typecast. I like to work, and horror films definitely keep me working.
• [on THX 1138 (1971)] It was an enjoyable film to make. Even at that point, I had a feeling George Lucas would go on to do some wonderful things. Technically he knew everything about the business at a very young age.
• [on Halloween (1978)] There are parts of the script which I couldn’t accept. I believe people are behaving in a way in which they couldn’t possibly in real life behave. And that’s always difficult because if you’re one of the people, then you are the one who’s going to look like an idiot.
• 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.
• I treat all film roles one way – very seriously.
• 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.

Donald Henry Pleasence Important Facts

• $20,000
• He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1994 Queen’s New Year Honours List for his services to drama.
• He and his The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) co-stars Telly Savalas and Max von Sydow all later played the Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld: Pleasence in You Only Live Twice (1967), Savalas in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) and von Sydow in Never Say Never Again (1983).
• He was the first actor to play Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond films. However, he was a last-minute replacement for a Czech actor, Jan Werich.
• Among the possible actors for the role of Fallanda in Lifeforce (1985). Frank Finlay won the role.
• He was good in school plays and won prizes.
• Daughter, Jean, is an occupational therapist at a psychiatric hospital.
• Is Carrie Anderson’s great-uncle.
• He was flying in a Lancaster NE112 “AS-M” when it was shot down on September 9, 1944.
• Often joked to friends and family that, before Halloween (1978) came out, he was typecast as villains and psychopaths, never having been given the chance to play a good guy or hero. However, after his portrayal of the heroic, Van Helsing-like Dr. Sam 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 a wireless operator in Lancaster bombers in 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force.
• 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 Guest (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.
• One of the stars of The Great Escape (1963) to have actually been a World War II prisoner of war (Hannes Messemer, who played Colonel Lugo the camp commander, was a German soldier in World War II and was captured by American troops and held in a POW camp until the end of the war). He was also a POW in Russia. 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.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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.
• His father was a stationmaster.
• 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.
• Married four times and had five daughters. Angela Pleasence and Jean Pleasence were born from his marriage to actress Miriam Raymond; Lucy Pleasance 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.
• When Moustapha Akkad asked Donald Pleasence how many more Halloween (1978) films he was planning to make, Donald replied “I stop at twenty-two!”
• 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.
• The only actor to have appeared in both The Great Escape (1963) and its television sequel The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988). 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” POWs. 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.).
• He had elocution lessons as a child.
• Father of Angela Pleasence, Jean Pleasence, Polly Jo Pleasence, Lucy Pleasance (1962) and Miranda Pleasence.
• 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) and Pleasence’s Blofeld have a large facial scar.

Donald Henry Pleasence Filmography

Donald Henry Pleasence Awards