Donald Pleasence
Born: 1919-10-05 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
Died: 1995-02-02
Known For: Acting
Biography
Donald Henry Pleasence OBE (October 5, 1919 – February 2, 1995) was an English actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades. Often typecast as villainous and/or psychopathic characters, Pleasence is arguably best-known for his work in two of cinema's most successful franchises - James Bond and Halloween.
Filmography
2026
- The Dr. Loomis Tapes as Dr. Loomis
2025
- Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music as Self (archive footage)
2012
- Driving Lessons as Dr. Sam Loomis (archive footage)
2003
- Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest as Self / Dr. Samuel 'Sam' Loomis (archive footage)
1996
- Fatal Frames as Professor Robinson
1995
- Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers as Dr. Sam Loomis
- Signs and Wonders as Cornelius Van Damm
- Safe Haven as The Sailor
1994
- The World of Hammer as Self (archive footage)
- Guinevere as Merlin
- Freeze: But is it Art? as Sinister Dentist
1993
- The Thief and the Cobbler as Phido the Vulture (voice)
- The Hour of the Pig as Pincheon
- The Big Freeze as Soup slurper
- Femme Fatale as Victor Harty
1992
- Diên Biên Phu as Howard Simpson
1991
- Shadows and Fog as Doctor
- Millions as Ripa
- The Vulture Is a Patient Bird as Armon Shalik
- Women in Arms as Dreyfuss
1990
- Life of General De Gaulle as Winston Churchill
1989
- Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers as Dr. Sam Loomis
- Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery as Jason Rafiel
- Ten Little Indians as Mr. Justice Lawrence Wargrave
- Buried Alive as Dr. Schaeffer
- River of Death as Heinrich Spaatz
- Casablanca Express as Colonel Bats
- American Rickshaw as Rev. Mortom
- Paganini Horror as Mr. Pickett
- The House of Usher as Walter Usher
1988
- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers as Dr. Loomis
- The Great Escape II: The Untold Story as Dr. Absalon
- Hanna's War as Captain Thomas Rosza
- The Great Escape II: The Untold Story as Dr. Absalon
- Nosferatu in Venice as Don Alvise
- Phantom of Death as Inspector Datti
- The Commander as Henry Carlson
- Metropolitan Animals as Prof. Livingstone
- Last Platoon as Colonel B. Abrahams
1987
- Prince of Darkness as Priest
- Warrior Queen as Clodius Flaucus
- Django Strikes Again as Ben Gunn
- Basements as Mr. Kidd (segment "The Room")
- Ground Zero as Prosper Gaffney
- Specters as Professor Lasky
- Double Target as Sen. Blaster
- Scoop as Lord Copper
- Gila and Rik as Joe Gardenia
1986
- Cobra Mission as Father Lenoir
- To Kill a Stranger as Col. Kostik
- Naso di cane as Olindo Cuomo
- Deadheat as Aldo Rossi
- Into the Darkness as David Beckett
1985
- Screen Two as Victor Harty
- The Ray Bradbury Theater as George Hill
- Phenomena as Professor John McGregor
- Nothing Underneath as Commissioner Danesi
- The Ambassador as Minister Eretz
- Reel Horror as Axel MacGregor (archive footage)
- Treasure of the Amazon as Klaus von Blantz
- Black Arrow as Sir Oliver Oates
- The Corsican Brothers as The Chancellor
1984
- Master of the Game as Salomon Van der Merwe
- A Breed Apart as J.P. Whittier
- Terror in the Aisles as Self - Host
- Arch of Triumph as Ivon Haake
- Where Is Parsifal? as Mackintosh
- Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie as Victor Frankenstein / Baron Frankenstein
1983
- Warrior of the Lost World as Prossor
- The Falklands Factor as Dr. Samuel Johnson
- The Devonsville Terror as Dr. Warley
1982
- Wogan as Self
- The Barchester Chronicles as Septimus Harding
- Alone in the Dark as Leo Bain
- Witness for the Prosecution as Mr. Myers
- Computercide as George Dettler
1981
- Escape from New York as President of the United States
- Halloween II as Dr. Sam Loomis
- The Monster Club as Pickering, Chief of the B-Squad
- Race for the Yankee Zephyr as Gilbert Carson
1980
- Blade on the Feather as John Cavendish
- Pumaman as Kobras
1979
- Mrs. Columbo
- Dick Turpin as Ignatius Slake
- The French Atlantic Affair as Max Dechambre
- All Quiet on the Western Front as Kantorek
- Dracula as Dr. Jack Seward
- Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff as Dr. Steiner
- Jaguar Lives! as General Villanova
- Gold of the Amazon Women as Clarence Blasko
- L'Homme en colère as Albert Rumpelmayer
- Better Late Than Never as Colonel Riddle
1978
- Halloween as Loomis
- Centennial as Sam Purchas
- The Bastard as Solomon Sholto
- The Dark Secret of Harvest Home as Narrator (voice)
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as B.D. Brockhurst
- Power Play as Blair
- Blood Relatives as James Doniac
- The Defection of Simas Kudirka as Capt. Vladimir Popov
- Night Creature as Axel MacGregor
- Tomorrow Never Comes as Dr. Todd
- Last In, First Out as Rothko
1977
- Jesus of Nazareth as Melchior
- Telefon as Nicolai Dalchimsky
- The Uncanny as Valentine De'ath (segment "Hollywood 1936")
- Oh, God! as Doctor Harmon
1976
- The Eagle Has Landed as Himmler
- Laurence Olivier Presents as Nat Jeffcote
- The Last Tycoon as Boxley
- The Devil's Men as Father Roche
- Trial by Combat as Sir Giles Marley
- The Passover Plot as Pontius Pilate
- I Don't Want to Be Born as Dr. Finch
- Hindle Wakes as Nat Jeffcote
- Goldenrod as John Tyler Jones
- The Joke as Bendel
- Meriel the Ghost Girl as George Livingston
1975
- Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
- The Count of Monte-Cristo as Danglars
- Escape to Witch Mountain as Lucas Deranian
- Peep Show
- Hearts of the West as A.J. Nietz
- Journey into Fear as Kuvetli
1974
- Playhouse as George Livingston
- Watch Out, We're Mad as Doctor
- The Black Windmill as Cedric Harper
- The Mutations as Professor Nolter
- From Beyond the Grave as Jim Underwood
- Barry McKenzie Holds His Own as Erich Count von Plasma
- House of the Damned as Martin Zayas
- Occupations as Christo Kabak
- The Cafeteria as Aaron
1973
- Orson Welles' Great Mysteries as Cawser
- Tales That Witness Madness as Prof. R.C. Tremayne
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as Fred Smudge
- Malachi's Cove as Malachi
- The Rainbow Boys as Ralph Logan
- Lonely Water as The Spirit (voice)
1972
- The Pied Piper as The Baron
- Death Line as Inspector Calhoun
- Henry VIII and His Six Wives as Thomas Cromwell
- Innocent Bystanders as Loomis
- Wedding in White as Jim Dougall, Sr.
- The Jerusalem File as Major Samuels
1971
- Columbo as Adrian Carsini
- The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Carnacki
- THX 1138 as SEN
- Wake in Fright as Doc Tydon
- Kidnapped as Ebenezer Balfour
- Skin Deep as Gerry Muddiman
- The Fox Trot as Tom
1970
- Play for Today as Samuel Johnson
- Soldier Blue as Isaac Q. Cumber
1969
- The Madwoman of Chaillot as The Prospector
- Mr. Freedom as Dr. Freedom
- Last to Go
- Arthur? Arthur! as Arthur Brownjohn / Sir Easonby 'E' Mellon
1968
- Hawaii Five-O as Hans Vogler
- The News-Benders as J.G.
- Sleep is Lovely as Clive
- Creature of Comfort as James Thorne
1967
- You Only Live Twice as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
- The Night of the Generals as General Kahlenberge
- NBC Experiment in Television as (voice)
- Will Penny as Preacher Quint
- Matchless as Gregori Andreanu
- The Diary of Anne Frank as Albert Dussel
- Call Me Daddy as Ben Hoffman
1966
- Fantastic Voyage as Dr. Michaels
- Cul-de-sac as George
- Eye of the Devil as Pere Dominic
1965
- The Greatest Story Ever Told as The Dark Hermit - Satan
- The Hallelujah Trail as 'Oracle' Jones
1964
- The Caretaker as Mac Davies / Bernard Jenkins
1963
- The Fugitive as Max Pfeiffer
- The Outer Limits as Harold J. Finley
- The Great Escape as Blythe 'The Forger'
- Espionage as Escalon
- Dr. Crippen as Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen
1962
- The Inspector as Wolters
1961
- The Defenders as Dr. Byron Saul
- Spare the Rod as Mr. Jenkins
- What a Carve Up! as Everett Sloane
- The Horsemasters as Captain Pinski
- No Love for Johnnie as Renfrew
- The Wind of Change as Pop
1960
- Danger Man as Nikolides
- Sunday-Night Play as Admiral Vespery
- Armchair Mystery Theatre as Host
- The Hands of Orlac as Graham Coates
- Sons and Lovers as Mr. Pappleworth
- Circus of Horrors as Vanet
- Hell Is a City as Gus Hawkins
- The Battle of the Sexes as Irwin Hoffman
- Suspect as Parsons, alias Bill Brown
- The Flesh and the Fiends as William Hare
- Alice Through the Looking Box as Caterpillar
- The Shakedown as Jessel Brown
- A Story of David as Nabal
- The Big Day as Victor Partridge
- The Cupboard as Fred Watson
- Toff and Fingers as Self/Host
1959
- The Twilight Zone as Ellis Fowler
- One Step Beyond as Harvey Laurence
- Interpol Calling as Karl Haussman
- Look Back in Anger as Hurst
- Killers of Kilimanjaro as Captain
- The Traitor as Grantley Caypor
1958
- The Adventures of William Tell
- The Man Inside as Organ Grinder
- The Two-Headed Spy as Gen. Hardt
- A Tale of Two Cities as Barsad
- The Wind Cannot Read as Doctor
- Heart of a Child as Spiel
- The Telltale Heart ... (Writer)
- The Greatest Man in the World as US President
1957
- Manuela as Evans
- Barnacle Bill as Cashier
- The Man in the Sky as Crabtree
1956
- Tony Awards as Self - Nominee
- 1984 as R. Parsons
- Armchair Theatre as President of the USA
- The Black Tent as Ali
1955
- The Adventures of Robin Hood as Prince John
- Value for Money as Limpy
- The Moment of Truth as The Foreign Minister
- Round the World in 80 Days as Voices
1954
- The Wonderful World of Disney as Captain Pinski
- Nineteen Eighty-Four as Syme
- Orders Are Orders as Cpl. Martin (as Donald Plesance)
- The Beachcomber as Tromp
1952
- The Dybbuk as Second batlon
1951
- Hallmark Hall of Fame as Kantorek
1950
- Sunday Night Theatre as Syme