Donald Pleasence
Encyclopedia
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE
, (5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades. Known for his piercing blue eyes and bald head, Pleasence is arguably best remembered for his work in the Halloween
and James Bond
franchises.
, Nottinghamshire
, England
, the son of Alice (née
Armitage) and Thomas Stanley Pleasence, a railway stationmaster. He was brought up in the small village of Grimoldby
, Lincolnshire
, and raised a strict Methodist. Pleasence attended Ecclesfield Grammar School
, in Sheffield
, Yorkshire
, and subsequently dropped out to work as a railway clerk, whilst looking for a job as an actor. During World War II
Pleasence was initially a conscientious objector
, but later changed his stance and was commissioned into the Royal Air Force
, serving with 166 Squadron
, RAF Bomber Command
. His Avro Lancaster
was shot down on 31 August 1944 during a raid on Agenville. He was taken prisoner and placed in a German prisoner-of-war camp, where he produced and acted in plays. He would later play Flight Lt. Colin Blythe in The Great Escape
where much of the story takes place inside a German POW camp.
(1971), the mad Doctor in the Bud Spencer
-Terence Hill
movie Watch Out, We're Mad (1974), Heinrich Himmler
in The Eagle Has Landed
(1976), and the Bond arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld
in You Only Live Twice
(1967), the first film in which the villain's face is clearly seen. His interpretation of the character has become predominate in popular culture considering the popularity of the comic villain, Dr. Evil
in the successful Austin Powers
film series, which primarily parodies it.
Perhaps his most sympathetic screen role was as the tragic POW Colin Blythe in the 1963 film The Great Escape
, who discovers that he is slowly going blind, but nonetheless participates in the mass break-out, only to be shot down by German soldiers because he is unable to see them. In The Night of the Generals
(1967), he played another uncharacteristically sympathetic role, this time as an old-school German general involved in a plot to kill Hitler
. In 1971, he returned to the realm of the deranged, delivering a tour de force performance in the role of an alcoholic Australian doctor in Ted Kotcheff
's nightmarish outback drama Wake in Fright
.
Pleasence played Lucifer
(taking on several human disguises) in the religious epic
The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965). He was one of many stars who were given cameos
throughout the film. Perhaps his most bizarre and powerful film role occurred in Polanski's Cul-de-sac (1966), in which he portrayed the love-sodden husband of a much younger French wife (Françoise Dorléac
). In 1968, he ventured successfully into American cowboy territory, playing a sadistic self-styled preacher who goes after stoic Charlton Heston
in the Western Will Penny
.
In his later years, he became best known to a younger generation of cinema-goers as Dr. Loomis
in Halloween
(1978). The distinctive, rather sinister accent that he employs in this and other movies may be credited to the elocution
lessons that he had as a child. He reprised his role as Dr. Loomis in Halloween II
(1981), IV
(1988), V
(1989) and VI
(1995).
His acting hero was Sir Laurence Olivier
, with whom he worked on-stage in the 1950s, and later on the 1979 movie version of Dracula. Two years earlier, Pleasence did an amusingly broad impersonation of Olivier in the guise of a horror-film actor called "Valentine De'ath" in the film The Uncanny
.
's highly acclaimed 1954 adaptation of George Orwell
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
. This adaptation also starred Peter Cushing
, another British actor who would go on to find fame in many horror-film roles. Pleasence played Prince John
in several episodes of the ITV
series The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1956–1958). He appeared twice with Patrick McGoohan
in the British spy series, Danger Man
, in episodes "Position of Trust" (1960) and "Find and Return" (1961). His first appearance in America was in an episode of The Twilight Zone
, playing an aging (and suicidal) teacher at a boys' school in the episode "The Changing of the Guard
" (1962). In 1963, he appeared in an episode of The Outer Limits entitled "The Man With the Power
". He hosted the 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live
with music guest Fear
(which, because of Fear's raucous performance and the ultra-dark humour of the sketches, hasn't been seen on television since its first airing).
In 1973 Pleasence played the murderer in an episode of Columbo entitled "Any Old Port in a Storm". He also had the distinction of playing a culprit captured by Mrs. Columbo in "Murder is a Parlor Game" (1979). Pleasence provided the voice-over for the British Public Information Film
, The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water
in 1973. The film, intended to warn children of the dangers of playing near water, attained notoriety for allegedly giving children nightmares. Pleasence starred as the Reverend Septimus Harding in the BBC's 1982 TV serial The Barchester Chronicles
.
by United Artists
. The stories included Don Quixote and the Brave Little Tailor
.
(London: New English Library), which was animated by Canadian animator/film director Gerald Potterton
(a friend of the actor, who directed him in the 1973 Canadian film The Rainbow Boys, retitled The Rainbow Gang for VHS release in the United States) and also adapted into a children's recording (Polydor Records
, 1977) with Ringo Starr
voicing the book's title character, Scouse the Mouse.
for best performance by a leading actor in a Broadway
play: in 1962 for Harold Pinter
's The Caretaker
, in 1965 for Jean Anouilh
's Poor Bitos, in 1969 for Robert Shaw
's The Man in the Glass Booth
, and in 1972 for Simon Gray
's Wise Child
.
He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to the acting profession by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
and Jean. His 1959–1970 marriage to actress and singer Josephine Martin Crombie produced Lucy and Polly. He was married to Meira Shore in 1970–1988 and they had a daughter, Miranda. His last marriage to Linda Kentwood lasted until his death in 1995 and was without issue.
, France
, from complications of heart failure following heart valve
replacement surgery. He was cremated.
and Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, were both dedicated to the memory of Pleasence, the latter of which he did not appear in.
Dr. Evil
, the character played by Mike Myers
in the Austin Powers
comedy films (1997–2002), is a parody of Pleasence's performance as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, (5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades. Known for his piercing blue eyes and bald head, Pleasence is arguably best remembered for his work in the Halloween
Halloween (franchise)
Halloween is an American horror franchise that consists of ten slasher films, novels, and comic books. The franchise focuses on the fictional character of Michael Myers who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his older sister, Judith Myers...
and James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
franchises.
Early life
Pleasence was born in WorksopWorksop
Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Alice (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Armitage) and Thomas Stanley Pleasence, a railway stationmaster. He was brought up in the small village of Grimoldby
Grimoldby
Grimoldby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies east of Louth, The 2001 Census reported a village population of 1151.Grimoldby Grade I listed Anglican church is dedicated to St Edith...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, and raised a strict Methodist. Pleasence attended Ecclesfield Grammar School
Ecclesfield School
Ecclesfield School is a secondary school situated on Chapeltown Road between Chapeltown and Ecclesfield, South Yorkshire in the East Ecclesfield district of Sheffield. It is in the Sheffield LEA, and is for ages 11–16. It has around 1,750 pupils.-History:It used to be known as Ecclesfield...
, in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, and subsequently dropped out to work as a railway clerk, whilst looking for a job as an actor. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Pleasence was initially a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
, but later changed his stance and was commissioned into the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, serving with 166 Squadron
No. 166 Squadron RAF
No. 166 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that formed just after the end of World War I. It was the first and one of only three to be equipped with the Handley Page V/1500 heavy bomber.-History:...
, RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
. His Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
was shot down on 31 August 1944 during a raid on Agenville. He was taken prisoner and placed in a German prisoner-of-war camp, where he produced and acted in plays. He would later play Flight Lt. Colin Blythe in The Great Escape
The Great Escape (film)
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
where much of the story takes place inside a German POW camp.
Cinema
Pleasence's acting career began in a production of Wuthering Heights, but was interrupted by World War II. Pleasence returned to acting after the war, and critics began to call him the "Man with the Hypnotic Eye". Equipped with a shiny bald head and a quiet but intense voice to go with his trademark penetrating gaze, he specialised in portraying insane or evil characters, including the violent alcoholic Doc Tydon in Wake in FrightWake in Fright
Wake in Fright is a 1971 Australian film directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence and Chips Rafferty. The screenplay was written by Evan Jones, based on Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel of the same name....
(1971), the mad Doctor in the Bud Spencer
Bud Spencer
Bud Spencer is an Italian actor, filmmaker and former swimmer . He is known for past roles in spaghetti westerns together with his long time filmpartner Terence Hill...
-Terence Hill
Terence Hill
Terence Hill is an Italian actor. He is best known for starring in multiple action and western films together with his longtime filmpartner Bud Spencer.-Biography:...
movie Watch Out, We're Mad (1974), Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
in The Eagle Has Landed
The Eagle Has Landed (film)
The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. It was directed by John Sturges and starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall...
(1976), and the Bond arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and a supervillain from the James Bond series of novels and films, who was created by Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory. An evil genius with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond and is arguably...
in You Only Live Twice
You Only Live Twice (film)
You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name...
(1967), the first film in which the villain's face is clearly seen. His interpretation of the character has become predominate in popular culture considering the popularity of the comic villain, Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil is a fictional character, played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the antagonist of the movies, and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld . Dr...
in the successful Austin Powers
Austin Powers (film series)
The Austin Powers series is a series of action-comedy films written by and starring Mike Myers as the title character, directed by Jay Roach and distributed by New Line Cinema...
film series, which primarily parodies it.
Perhaps his most sympathetic screen role was as the tragic POW Colin Blythe in the 1963 film The Great Escape
The Great Escape (film)
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
, who discovers that he is slowly going blind, but nonetheless participates in the mass break-out, only to be shot down by German soldiers because he is unable to see them. In The Night of the Generals
The Night of the Generals
The Night of the Generals is a 1967 suspense thriller film directed by Anatole Litvak. Set during World War II, the story was adapted from the novel of the same name by Hans Hellmut Kirst. It stars Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet and Philippe Noiret.The...
(1967), he played another uncharacteristically sympathetic role, this time as an old-school German general involved in a plot to kill Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. In 1971, he returned to the realm of the deranged, delivering a tour de force performance in the role of an alcoholic Australian doctor in Ted Kotcheff
Ted Kotcheff
Ted Kotcheff , sometimes credited as William Kotcheff or William T. Kotcheff, is a Canadian film and television director, who is well known for his work on several high-profile British television productions and as a director of films such as First Blood.-Early life:Kotcheff was born William...
's nightmarish outback drama Wake in Fright
Wake in Fright
Wake in Fright is a 1971 Australian film directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence and Chips Rafferty. The screenplay was written by Evan Jones, based on Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel of the same name....
.
Pleasence played Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
(taking on several human disguises) in the religious epic
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Greatest Story Ever Told is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens and distributed by United Artists. It is a retelling of the story of Jesus Christ, from the Nativity through the Resurrection. This film is notable for its large ensemble cast and for being the last...
(1965). He was one of many stars who were given cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
throughout the film. Perhaps his most bizarre and powerful film role occurred in Polanski's Cul-de-sac (1966), in which he portrayed the love-sodden husband of a much younger French wife (Françoise Dorléac
Françoise Dorléac
Françoise Dorléac was a French actress. Born in Paris, she was the daughter of screen actor Maurice Dorléac and Renée Deneuve, and was the elder sister of Catherine Deneuve. The two sisters starred together in the 1967 musical, The Young Girls of Rochefort...
). In 1968, he ventured successfully into American cowboy territory, playing a sadistic self-styled preacher who goes after stoic Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
in the Western Will Penny
Will Penny
Will Penny is a 1968 western film directed by Tom Gries starring Charlton Heston and Donald Pleasence. It was based upon an episode of the 1960 Sam Peckinpah television series The Westerner called "Line Camp," which was also written and directed by Tom Gries...
.
In his later years, he became best known to a younger generation of cinema-goers as Dr. Loomis
Samuel Loomis
Samuel Loomis was a Connecticut furniture maker and the most celebrated maker of Colchester/Norwich style furniture.-External links:* ]]* ]]...
in Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
(1978). The distinctive, rather sinister accent that he employs in this and other movies may be credited to the elocution
Elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone.-History:In Western classical rhetoric, elocution was one of the five core disciplines of pronunciation, which was the art of delivering speeches. Orators were trained not only on proper diction, but on the proper...
lessons that he had as a child. He reprised his role as Dr. Loomis in Halloween II
Halloween II
Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to the Halloween set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers continues to...
(1981), IV
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd , the daughter of Laurie...
(1988), V
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is a 1989 American slasher film and the fifth installment in the Halloween film series. It was directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard and starred Donald Pleasence, who again portrayed Dr. Sam Loomis and Danielle Harris, who returned to play Jamie Lloyd...
(1989) and VI
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a 1995 American horror film and the sixth installment in the Halloween series. Directed by Joe Chappelle from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands, the plot involves the "Curse of Thorn", a mystical symbol first shown in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers...
(1995).
His acting hero was Sir Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, with whom he worked on-stage in the 1950s, and later on the 1979 movie version of Dracula. Two years earlier, Pleasence did an amusingly broad impersonation of Olivier in the guise of a horror-film actor called "Valentine De'ath" in the film The Uncanny
The Uncanny (film)
The Uncanny is a 1977 British portmanteau horror film, concerning feline revenge. The film was written by Michael Parry, directed by Denis Héroux and stars Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ray Milland, Joan Greenwood, Donald Pilon, Samantha Eggar, and John Vernon.Although it is similar to the...
.
Television
One of his earliest roles on television was as Syme in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's highly acclaimed 1954 adaptation of George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four (TV programme)
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a British television adaptation of the novel of the same name by George Orwell, originally broadcast on BBC Television in December 1954. The production proved to be hugely controversial, with questions asked in Parliament and many viewer complaints over its supposed...
. This adaptation also starred Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
, another British actor who would go on to find fame in many horror-film roles. Pleasence played Prince John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
in several episodes of the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
series The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the...
(1956–1958). He appeared twice with Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
in the British spy series, Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
, in episodes "Position of Trust" (1960) and "Find and Return" (1961). His first appearance in America was in an episode of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
, playing an aging (and suicidal) teacher at a boys' school in the episode "The Changing of the Guard
The Changing of the Guard (The Twilight Zone)
"The Changing of the Guard" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:Professor Ellis Fowler is an elderly teacher who is forced into retirement by his school...
" (1962). In 1963, he appeared in an episode of The Outer Limits entitled "The Man With the Power
The Man with the Power
The Man with the Power was the alias given to a fictional character from the Fantastic Four comics series. He appeared only once, in Fantastic Four #234 and was created by John Byrne.-Fictional character biography:L. R...
". He hosted the 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
with music guest Fear
Fear (band)
Fear is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1977. The band is credited for helping to shape the sound and style of American hardcore punk, the group started out as part of the early California punk rock scene, and gained national prominence after an infamous 1981...
(which, because of Fear's raucous performance and the ultra-dark humour of the sketches, hasn't been seen on television since its first airing).
In 1973 Pleasence played the murderer in an episode of Columbo entitled "Any Old Port in a Storm". He also had the distinction of playing a culprit captured by Mrs. Columbo in "Murder is a Parlor Game" (1979). Pleasence provided the voice-over for the British Public Information Film
Public information film
Public Information Films are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the Public Service Announcement .-Subjects:...
, The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water
Lonely Water
Lonely Water is a 1973 British Public Information short film made for the Central Office of Information. The film aimed to warn children of the dangers of careless or foolhardy behaviour in the vicinity of water, and was shown regularly on TV for several years during breaks in children's...
in 1973. The film, intended to warn children of the dangers of playing near water, attained notoriety for allegedly giving children nightmares. Pleasence starred as the Reverend Septimus Harding in the BBC's 1982 TV serial The Barchester Chronicles
The Barchester Chronicles
The Barchester Chronicles is a 1982 British television serial produced by the BBC. It is an adaptation of Anthony Trollope's first two Barchester novels, The Warden and Barchester Towers, and was directed by David Giles...
.
Spoken records
During the early 1960s, he recorded several children's-story records on the Atlas Record label. These were marketed as the Talespinners series in the UK. They were also released in the USA as Tale Spinners For ChildrenTale Spinners For Children
Tale Spinners For Children was a series of stories and novels adapted for young audiences on vinyl records in the early 1960s. They included a collection of old fairy tales, folklore, literary classics such as Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe, and time-honored fables, with the title role sometimes...
by United Artists
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
. The stories included Don Quixote and the Brave Little Tailor
Brave Little Tailor
Brave Little Tailor is a 1938 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon is an adaptation of the fairy tale The Valiant Little Tailor with Mickey Mouse in the title role. The film was directed by Bill Roberts and features...
.
Books
Pleasence was the author of the 1977 children's book Scouse the MouseScouse the Mouse
Scouse the Mouse is a children's album, released in Great Britain in 1977, that featured the vocals of Ringo Starr and others. Starr appears as the album's main character, Scouse the Mouse, who emigrates from Liverpool to the United States. Scouse is a word for things from Liverpool. Other...
(London: New English Library), which was animated by Canadian animator/film director Gerald Potterton
Gerald Potterton
Gerald Potterton is a British/Canadian director, producer and animator. He is best known for directing the cult classic Heavy Metal and his animation work on Yellow Submarine....
(a friend of the actor, who directed him in the 1973 Canadian film The Rainbow Boys, retitled The Rainbow Gang for VHS release in the United States) and also adapted into a children's recording (Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, 1977) with Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
voicing the book's title character, Scouse the Mouse.
Awards
Pleasence was nominated four times for the Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for best performance by a leading actor in a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play: in 1962 for Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
's The Caretaker
The Caretaker
The Caretaker is a play by Harold Pinter. It was first published by both Encore Publishing and Eyre Methuen in 1960. The sixth play that Pinter wrote for stage or television production, it was his first significant commercial success...
, in 1965 for Jean Anouilh
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
's Poor Bitos, in 1969 for Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw (actor)
Robert Archibald Shaw was an English actor and novelist, remembered for his performances in The Sting , From Russia with Love , A Man for All Seasons , the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three , Black Sunday , The Deep and Jaws , where he played the shark hunter Quint.-Early life...
's The Man in the Glass Booth
The Man in the Glass Booth
The Man in the Glass Booth is a 1975 American drama film directed by Arthur Hiller. The screenplay was adapted from Robert Shaw's 1967 novel and 1968 stage play, both of the same name. The plot was inspired by images of the trial of Adolf Eichmann....
, and in 1972 for Simon Gray
Simon Gray
Simon James Holliday Gray, CBE , was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years...
's Wise Child
Wise Child
Wise Child is a play by Simon Gray.The plot concerns orphaned Jerry Artminster, who blackmails a criminal named Jock Masters by promising he won't reveal his identity if Jock agrees to impersonate the boy's mother in the Reading, Berkshire, hotel where the boy lives. The other characters are Mr...
.
He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to the acting profession by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
Personal life
Pleasence married four times and had five daughters from his first three marriages. He was married to Miriam Raymond in 1947–1958, and they had AngelaAngela Pleasence
Angela Pleasence is an English actress. She is the daughter of actor Donald Pleasence and his first wife, Miriam Raymond. The surname for both daughter and father has occasionally been miscredited as "Pleasance"...
and Jean. His 1959–1970 marriage to actress and singer Josephine Martin Crombie produced Lucy and Polly. He was married to Meira Shore in 1970–1988 and they had a daughter, Miranda. His last marriage to Linda Kentwood lasted until his death in 1995 and was without issue.
Death
Pleasence died at the age of 75 in Saint-Paul-de-VenceSaint-Paul, Alpes-Maritimes
Saint-Paul or Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, it is well-known for its modern and contemporary art museums and galleries such as Fondation Maeght which is located nearby.The property...
, 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...
, from complications of heart failure following heart valve
Heart valve
A heart valve normally allows blood flow in only one direction through the heart. The four valves commonly represented in a mammalian heart determine the pathway of blood flow through the heart...
replacement surgery. He was cremated.
Legacy
Halloween: The Curse of Michael MyersHalloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a 1995 American horror film and the sixth installment in the Halloween series. Directed by Joe Chappelle from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands, the plot involves the "Curse of Thorn", a mystical symbol first shown in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers...
and Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, were both dedicated to the memory of Pleasence, the latter of which he did not appear in.
Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil is a fictional character, played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the antagonist of the movies, and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld . Dr...
, the character played by Mike Myers
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
in the Austin Powers
Austin Powers (film series)
The Austin Powers series is a series of action-comedy films written by and starring Mike Myers as the title character, directed by Jay Roach and distributed by New Line Cinema...
comedy films (1997–2002), is a parody of Pleasence's performance as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice.
Selected filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | The Dybbuk | Second Batlon | TV movie |
| 1952-1959 | BBC Sunday-Night Theatre | Corporal | TV series, episode Arrow to the Heart (I) (1952) |
| Chamberlain | Episode Such Men are Dangerous (1954) | ||
| Syme | Episode Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954) | ||
| Foreign Minister | Episode The Moment of Truth (1955) | ||
| Doctor | Episode The Millionairess (1959) | ||
| 1954 | The Beachcomber | Tromp | |
| Montserrat | Juan Alvarez | TV movie | |
| The Face of Love | Alex | TV movie | |
| Orders Are Orders Orders Are Orders Orders Are Orders is a 1954 British comedy film directed by David Paltenghi, and featuring Peter Sellers, Sid James, Tony Hancock, Raymond Huntley, Donald Pleasence and Eric Sykes. It was a remake of the 1933 film Orders Is Orders.-Synopsis:... |
Corporal Martin | ||
| 1955 | Value for Money Value for Money Value for Money is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring John Gregson, Donald Pleasence, Leslie Phillips, Joan Hickson, Derek Farr and Diana Dors.-Cast:* John Gregson as Chayley Broadbent* Diana Dors as Ruthine West... |
Limpy | |
| 1956 | 1984 1984 (1956 film) 1984 is a 1956 film based on the novel of the same name by George Orwell. This is the first cinema rendition of the story, directed by Michael Anderson, and starring Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, Jan Sterling, and Michael Redgrave... |
R. Parsons | |
| The Black Tent The Black Tent The Black Tent is a 1956 British war film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel, Anna Maria Sandri, André Morell and Donald Pleasence. It is set in North Africa, during the Second World War and was filmed on location in Libya.-Plot:During the British retreat... |
Ali | ||
| 1956-1958 | The Adventures of Robin Hood The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series) The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the... |
Prince John (4 episodes) | TV series, episodes The Prisoner (1956), Isabella (1956), Ambush (1957), Marian's Prize (1958) |
| Bailiff Baldwin (1 episode) | Episode A Village Wooing (1956) | ||
| 1956-1959 | ITV Television Playhouse | William | TV series, episode Ever Since Paradise (1956) |
| Albert | Episode Chance Meeting (1956) | ||
| Captain Browne | Episode Fate and Mister Browne (1958) | ||
| Leonard Browne | Episode Mr. Browne Comes Home (1959) | ||
| Robert Robertson | Episode The Silk Purse (1959) | ||
| 1957 | The Man in the Sky Man in the Sky Man in the Sky is a 1957 film produced by Ealing Studios and starring Jack Hawkins.-Plot:... |
Crabtree | Titled Decision Against Time in USA |
| Assignment Foreign Legion | Commandant | TV series, episode The Coward | |
| Manuela Manuela (1957 film) Manuela is a 1957 British drama film directed by Guy Hamilton. It was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Trevor Howard - James Prothero* Elsa Martinelli - Manuela Hunt* Pedro Armendáriz - Mario Constanza... |
Evans | ||
| Barnacle Bill | Cashier | Titled All at Sea in USA | |
| 1958 | I Spy | Mr. Frute | TV movie |
| A Tale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities (1958 film) A Tale of Two Cities is a 1958 British film of the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities. It starred Dirk Bogarde and Dorothy Tutin, and was directed by Ralph Thomas.-Cast:*Dirk Bogarde as Sydney Carton*Dorothy Tutin as Lucie Manette... |
John Barsad | ||
| Heart of a Child Heart of a Child Heart of a Child is a 1958 film directed by Clive Donner. It stars Jean Anderson and Donald Pleasence.-Cast:* Jean Anderson as Maria* Donald Pleasence as Spiel* Richard Williams as Karl* Maureen Pryor as Frau Spiel* Norman Macowan as Heiss... |
Spiel | ||
| The Wind Cannot Read The Wind Cannot Read The Wind Cannot Read is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, Yoko Tani, Ronald Lewis and John Fraser... |
Doctor | ||
| The Man Inside The Man Inside The Man Inside is a 1958 British crime adventure film brought to the screen by Warwick Film Productions. The screenplay from David Shaw was based on a novel by M.E.Chaber and was directed by John Gilling. The film was Bonar Colleano's last role before he died in a car accident... |
Organ-grinder | ||
| The Two-Headed Spy The Two-Headed Spy The Two-Headed Spy is a 1958 British spy thriller, set in World War II. It starred Jack Hawkins and was directed by Andre De Toth. It also starred Gia Scala, Erik Schumann and Alexander Knox.-Plot:... |
General Hardt | ||
| 1959 | The Scarf | Detective Inspector Harry Yates | TV series, 6 episodes |
| Look Back in Anger Look Back in Anger (film) Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British film starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and Mary Ure and directed by Tony Richardson.It is based on John Osborne's play of the same name about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and... |
Hurst | ||
| William Tell The Adventures of William Tell The Adventures of William Tell is a British swashbuckler adventure series, first broadcast on the ITV network in 1958, and produced by ITC Entertainment.-Production notes:... |
The Spider | TV series, episode The Spider | |
| The Traitor | Grantley Caypor | TV movie | |
| Killers of Kilimanjaro Killers of Kilimanjaro Killers of Kilimanjaro is a 1959 British CinemaScope adventure film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor, Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey and Donald Pleasence for Warwick Films. The story was inspired by actual incidents of the Tsavo maneaters recounted in the book African Bush... |
Captain | ||
| The Battle of the Sexes The Battle of the Sexes (1959 film) The Battle of the Sexes is a 1959 British comedy film starring Peter Sellers and directed by Charles Crichton, based on the short story The Catbird Seat, by James Thurber. The story was adapted by Monja Danischewsky.-Cast:* Peter Sellers as Mr... |
Irwin Hoffman | ||
| 1960 | The Shakedown The Shakedown (1959 film) The Shakedown is a 1959 crime-drama film directed by John Lemont.It was banned in Finland .-Cast:* Terence Morgan as Augie Cortona* Hazel Court as Mildred Eyde* Donald Pleasence as Jessel Brown... |
Jessel Brown | |
| The Four Just Men | Paul Koster | TV Series, episode The Survivor | |
| Interpol Calling Interpol Calling Interpol Calling was a 1959 Rank Organisation and Jack Wrather Productions television crime drama series for ITC Entertainment. The series, which ran for one season of 39 half-hour monchrome episodes, followed the adventures of Interpol policemen Duval and Mornay as they fought against... |
Karl Haussman | TV series, episode The Absent Assassin | |
| 1962 | The Inspector The Inspector (1962 film) The Inspector, is a 1962 British-American drama film directed by Philip Dunne, starring Stephen Boyd & Dolores Hart. Dolores Hart plays Lisa Held, a Dutch Jewish girl who has survived the horror of Auschwitz.-Plot:... |
Sergeant Wolters | |
| 1963 | The Great Escape The Great Escape (film) The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough... |
Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe RAF, "The Forger" | |
| 1965 | The Hallelujah Trail The Hallelujah Trail The Hallelujah Trail is a 1965 Western spoof directed by John Sturges and starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Brian Keith, Donald Pleasence, and Martin Landau, amongst others.-Plot synopsis:... |
Oracle Jones | |
| 1966 | Fantastic Voyage Fantastic Voyage Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it.... |
Dr. Michaels | |
| Cul-de-sac | George | ||
| 1967 | You Only Live Twice You Only Live Twice (film) You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name... |
Ernst Stavro Blofeld Ernst Stavro Blofeld Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and a supervillain from the James Bond series of novels and films, who was created by Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory. An evil genius with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond and is arguably... |
|
| 1970 | Soldier Blue Soldier Blue Soldier Blue is a 1970 American Revisionist Western movie directed by Ralph Nelson and inspired by events of the 1864 Sand Creek massacre in the Colorado Territory.... |
Isaac Q. Cumber | |
| 1971 | THX 1138 THX 1138 THX 1138 is a 1971 science fiction film directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. The film is based on a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch... |
SEN 5241 | |
| 1972 | Death Line Death Line Death Line is a 1972 British horror film, distributed as Raw Meat in the United States. The film stars Donald Pleasence as Inspector Calhoun, and was directed by the American filmmaker Gary Sherman.-Plot:... |
Inspector Calhoun | |
| 1974 | Watch Out, We're Mad | The Doctor | |
| 1976 | The Eagle Has Landed The Eagle Has Landed (film) The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. It was directed by John Sturges and starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall... |
Himmler Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo... |
|
| 1977 | Telefon | Nikolai Dalchimsky | |
| 1978 | Halloween Halloween (1978 film) Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern... |
Dr. Loomis | |
| 1981 | Halloween II Halloween II Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to the Halloween set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers continues to... |
||
| 1982 | Escape from New York Escape from New York Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security... |
Mr. President | |
| Alone in the Dark Alone in the Dark (1982 film) Alone in the Dark is a 1982 slasher film directed by Jack Sholder. It was the director's debut film and was the first motion picture to be released by New Line Cinema. The film's tagline is: "They're out... for blood! Don't let them find you--"-Plot:... |
Dr. Leo Bain | ||
| 1985 | Phenomena Phenomena (film) Phenomena is a 1985 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento. An edited version of the film was released in the United States under the title Creepers , the game called Clock_Tower_ that was released in 1995 for snes , was loosely based on Phenomena.Jennifer Connelly stars as a young girl who... |
John McGregor | |
| 1987 | Prince of Darkness Prince of Darkness (film) Prince of Darkness is a 1987 horror film directed, written, and scored by John Carpenter. The film is the second installment in what Carpenter calls his "Apocalypse Trilogy", which began with The Thing and concludes with In the Mouth of Madness .-Plot:The movie opens with a dying priest clutching... |
Priest | |
| 1988 | Hanna's War Hanna's War Hanna's War is a 1988 film co-written and directed by Menahem Golan. The film is based on The Diaries Of Hanna Senesh and the biographical novel A Great Wind Cometh by Yoel Palgi. It is a biopic detailing the true story of Hannah Szenes.-Plot:... |
Captain Thomas Rosza | |
| Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd , the daughter of Laurie... |
Dr. Loomis | ||
| 1989 | Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is a 1989 American slasher film and the fifth installment in the Halloween film series. It was directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard and starred Donald Pleasence, who again portrayed Dr. Sam Loomis and Danielle Harris, who returned to play Jamie Lloyd... |
||
| Ten Little Indians Ten Little Indians (1989 film) Ten Little Indians is a 1989 mystery film, and the fifth screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's famous novel. It was the third version to be produced by Harry Alan Towers, following his 1965 and 1974 adaptations... |
Judge Lawrence Wargrave | ||
| 1993 | The Thief and the Cobbler The Thief and the Cobbler The Thief and the Cobbler is an animated feature film, famous for its animation and its long, troubled history. The film was conceived by Canadian animator Richard Williams, who worked 28 years on the project. Beginning production in 1964, Williams intended The Thief and the Cobbler to be his... |
Phido the Vulture | (voice) |
| 1995 | Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a 1995 American horror film and the sixth installment in the Halloween series. Directed by Joe Chappelle from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands, the plot involves the "Curse of Thorn", a mystical symbol first shown in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers... |
Dr. Loomis | |
| 1996 | Fatal frames: Fotogrammi mortali | Professor Robinson | |
External links
- Donald Pleasence at screenonline
- Donald Pleasence-bio at (re)Search my Trash
- The Man with the Hypnotic Eye A Tribute to Donald Pleasence
- Photograph of a theatrical production in prisoner of war camp featuring Donald Pleasence
- Lonely Water Public Information Film
