Donald Pleasence

Donald Pleasence was an English television, film and stage actor. He is known for his performance in the Halloween series, as Dr. Sam Loomis. He played the role of villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the movie You Only Live Twice, a James Bond film. Others include The Great Escape The Great Escape was the story of how Dalai Lama e >> Read More... and Cul-de-sac. He was born in England. His parents were Thomas Stanley Pleasence and Alice. He went to Ecclesfield Grammar School. His father worked as a railway station master. After his graduation, he worked as a railway clerk, as well was hunting for a job as an actor. During the second world war, he worked in RAF Bomber Command. During a raid on Agenville, his Lancaster died. He was sent to prison by the Germans and was taken to the prisoner-of-war camp where he used to produce and act in plays. In 1939, he worked as an assistant stage manager in a theater group with Jersey. He made his acting debut with Wuthering Heights Click to look into! >> Read More... as Hareton. He was a part of theater groups in Bristol and Birmingham. He moved to London and made his first presence there with the play Twelfth Night in the year 1942. In the 1950s, his performance included Hobson's Choice, The Lark by Jean Anouilh. He was most appreciated for his performance in The Caretaker by Harold Pinter at the Arts Theatre. His other performances include Anouilh's Poor Bitos by Anouilh, The Man in the Glass Booth by Robert Shaw. He won the London Variety Award in the category of the Stage Actor of the Year in 1968 for his performance in The Man in the Glass Booth. His later work included Tea Party and The Basement. Donald made his first television appearance in 1946 with I Want to Be a Doctor. In 1954, he starred in Nineteen Eighty-Four, which was an adaptation of a novel of the same name by George Orwell.

It was an adaptation by the BBC and also featured Peter Cushing Peter Cushing, was an English on-screen character >> Read More... in the series directed by Nigel Kneale. He appeared in many episodes of The Adventures of Robin Hood Click to look into! >> Read More... by ITV. He played the character of Prince John. He was a part of Danger Man, a British spy series with Patrick McGoohan. He made his first appearance in the episode of an American television series The Twilight Zone. In 1973, he appeared in the episode of Columbo named "Any Old Port in a Storm." He played a murderer in the series. He made a presence in the series The Barchester Chronicles in 1982 by the BBC as Reverend Septimus Harding. He has been the host for the Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live or popularly called as NBC&#39 >> Read More... in 1981. In 1986, he joined and collaborated with Polly Jo Pleasence and Ronald Lacey in a thriller series Into the Darkness. He made his first appearance in the film with The Beachcomber in 1954.

His second film was Barnacle Bill opposite Alec Guinness. In 1958, he appeared in Look Back in Anger opposite Tony Richardson and Circus of Horrors by Sidney Hayers, in 1959. Because of his physical appearance and intense voice, he would mostly be selected for the role of villain. In Dr. Crippen, he played the role of Dr. Michaels and in 1966 he played a violent alcoholic Doc Tydon in the movie Wake in Fright. In Watch Out, We're Mad he played a mad doctor and Bond arch-villain in You Only Live Twice. He played the character of a comic villain, Dr. Evil in the film Austin Powers. In the 1960s, he appeared in The Great Escape, as Colin Blythe, The Night of the Generals as an old-school German general who was involved in the killing of Adolf Hitler. In 1965, he played a role in The Greatest Story Ever Told, which is a religious epic. In the 1970s, he played roles in movies like Halloween as Dr. Loomis, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Pumaman and Escape from New York. His character of Dr. Loomis was seen in many series of Halloween like Halloween II, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers in 1995. He had voiced for many characters. His voice was a part of a children's story records. He voiced for the Lonely Water and The Spirit Click to look into! >> Read More... of Dark which were British Public Information Film. He has written a children's book Scouse the Mouse.

The book was later made into an animated film by Gerald Potterton as The Rainbow Boys. He received four times nomination from Tony Award in the category of Best Performance by a leading actor for the movie The Caretaker, The Man in the Glass Booth, Wise Child, and Poor Bitos. He was honored as Officer of the Most Excellent Order in 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II. He got married four times in his life and had five daughters. He married Miriam Raymond in 1941 and had Jean and Angela as their daughters, in 1959, he married Martin Crombie and had Polly and Lucy as daughters, married Meira Shore in 1970 and had Miranda with her. His last marriage in 1995 to Linda Kentwood. In 1995, he died at the age of 76 due to a heart attack.