Donald Pleasence

ActorWriter Oct 5 (died age 75) Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, UK 1950–2025 (75 year career)

5.8 avg rating

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.

Known For

Film

Halloween

Loomis

Film

The Great Escape

Blythe 'The Forger'

Film

Escape from New York

President of the United States

Film

You Only Live Twice

Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Film

Halloween II

Dr. Sam Loomis

Film

Watch Out, We're Mad

Doctor

Film

Jesus of Nazareth

Melchior

Film

Prince of Darkness

Priest

Filmography

Acting (233)

Movies (192)

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music

2025

as Self (archive footage)

7.8

Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies

2025

as Self - (archive footage)

Driving Lessons

2012

as Dr. Sam Loomis (archive footage)

6.0

Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest

2003

as Self / Dr. Samuel 'Sam' Loomis (archive footage)

8.0

Fatal Frames

1996

as Professor Robinson

3.7

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

as Dr. Sam Loomis

Safe Haven

as The Sailor

Guinevere

as Merlin

Freeze: But is it Art?

1994

as Sinister Dentist

The Thief and the Cobbler

1993

as Phido the Vulture (voice)

7.1

Femme Fatale

1993

as Victor Harty

The Hour of the Pig

as Pincheon

The Big Freeze

as Soup slurper

Diên Biên Phu

as Howard Simpson

Shadows and Fog

as Doctor

Women in Arms

as Dreyfuss

Millions

as Ripa

The Vulture Is a Patient Bird

1991

as The Art Collector

3.9

Life of General De Gaulle

1990

as Winston Churchill

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

as Dr. Sam Loomis

Buried Alive

as Dr. Schaeffer

River of Death

as Heinrich Spaatz

Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery

as Jason Rafiel

Paganini Horror

as Mr. Pickett

The House of Usher

as Walter Usher

Ten Little Indians

as Mr. Justice Lawrence Wargrave

American Rickshaw

as Rev. Mortom

Casablanca Express

as Colonel Bats

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

1988

as Dr. Loomis

6.2

The Great Escape II: The Untold Story

as Dr. Absalon

Nosferatu in Venice

as Don Alvise

The Commander

as Henry Carlson

Phantom of Death

as Inspector Datti

Hanna's War

as Captain Thomas Rosza

4.7

Last Platoon

1988

as Colonel B. Abrahams

Metropolitan Animals

as Prof. Livingstone

Warrior Queen

as Clodius Flaucus

Prince of Darkness

as Priest

Basements

as Mr. Kidd (segment "The Room")

Scoop

as Lord Copper

Specters

as Professor Lasky

Double Target

as Sen. Blaster

Ground Zero

as Prosper Gaffney

Django Strikes Again

as Ben Gunn

Gila and Rik

as Joe Gardenia

To Kill a Stranger

as Col. Kostik

Cobra Mission

as Father Lenoir

Naso di cane

as Olindo Cuomo

Into the Darkness

as David Beckett

Deadheat

as Aldo Rossi

Nothing Underneath

as Commissioner Danesi

5.6

Phenomena

1985

as Professor John McGregor

6.8

Black Arrow

1985

as Sir Oliver Oates

6.5

Treasure of the Amazon

1985

as Klaus von Blantz

4.3

Reel Horror

1985

as Axel MacGregor (archive footage)

2.4

The Corsican Brothers

as The Chancellor

The Ambassador

as Minister Eretz

A Breed Apart

as J.P. Whittier

Arch of Triumph

as Ivon Haake

Terror in the Aisles

as Self - Host

Where Is Parsifal?

as Mackintosh

Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie

1984

as Victor Frankenstein / Baron Frankenstein

2.7

The Devonsville Terror

1983

as Dr. Warley

4.5

Warrior of the Lost World

1983

as Prossor

2.7

The Falklands Factor

1983

as Dr. Samuel Johnson

Computercide

as George Dettler

Alone in the Dark

as Leo Bain

Witness for the Prosecution

1982

as Mr. Myers

6.3

Escape from New York

1981

as President of the United States

Halloween II

as Dr. Sam Loomis

The Monster Club

as Pickering, Chief of the B-Squad

5.8

Race for the Yankee Zephyr

as Gilbert Carson

Pumaman

as Kobras

Blade on the Feather

as John Cavendish

L'Homme en colère

as Albert Rumpelmayer

5.4

Dracula

1979

as Dr. Jack Seward

6.4

All Quiet on the Western Front

as Kantorek

Jaguar Lives!

as General Villanova

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff

1979

as Dr. Steiner

5.3

Better Late Than Never

1979

as Colonel Riddle

Gold of the Amazon Women

as Clarence Blasko

Halloween

as Loomis

Last In, First Out

as Rothko

The Bastard

as Solomon Sholto

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

as B.D. Brockhurst

Blood Relatives

as James Doniac

Night Creature

as Axel MacGregor

Power Play

as Blair

Tomorrow Never Comes

as Dr. Todd

The Defection of Simas Kudirka

1978

as Capt. Vladimir Popov

Oh, God!

as Doctor Harmon

Telefon

as Nicolai Dalchimsky

6.6

The Uncanny

1977

as Valentine De'ath (segment "Hollywood 1936")

The Eagle Has Landed

as Himmler

The Last Tycoon

as Boxley

Goldenrod

as John Tyler Jones

Hindle Wakes

as Nat Jeffcote

The Devil's Men

as Father Roche

The Joke

as Bendel

The Passover Plot

1976

as Pontius Pilate

3.8

I Don't Want to Be Born

as Dr. Finch

Trial by Combat

as Sir Giles Marley

Meriel the Ghost Girl

1976

as George Livingston

The Count of Monte-Cristo

1975

as Danglars

6.8

Escape to Witch Mountain

as Lucas Deranian

Hearts of the West

as A.J. Nietz

Journey into Fear

as Kuvetli

Watch Out, We're Mad

as Doctor

The Black Windmill

as Cedric Harper

The Cafeteria

as Aaron

From Beyond the Grave

1974

as Jim Underwood

6.5

Occupations

1974

as Christo Kabak

The Mutations

1974

as Professor Nolter

5.0

Barry McKenzie Holds His Own

1974

as Erich Count von Plasma

5.2

House of the Damned

1974

as Martin Zayas

4.6

Tales That Witness Madness

1973

as Prof. R.C. Tremayne

The Rainbow Boys

as Ralph Logan

Lonely Water

as The Spirit (voice)

5.0

Malachi's Cove

1973

as Malachi

6.1

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

as Fred Smudge

Death Line

as Inspector Calhoun

Innocent Bystanders

as Loomis

Henry VIII and His Six Wives

as Thomas Cromwell

The Pied Piper

as The Baron

Wedding in White

as Jim Dougall, Sr.

The Jerusalem File

as Major Samuels

THX 1138

as SEN

Kidnapped

as Ebenezer Balfour

Wake in Fright

as Doc Tydon

The Fox Trot

as Tom

Skin Deep

1971

as Gerry Muddiman

Soldier Blue

as Isaac Q. Cumber

Mr. Freedom

as Dr. Freedom

Arthur? Arthur!

as Arthur Brownjohn / Sir Easonby 'E' Mellon

2.3

The Madwoman of Chaillot

as The Prospector

Last to Go

Sleep is Lovely

as Clive

Creature of Comfort

1968

as James Thorne

The News-Benders

1968

as J.G.

9.0

You Only Live Twice

1967

as Ernst Stavro Blofeld

6.6

The Night of the Generals

1967

as General Kahlenberge

Matchless

as Gregori Andreanu

Will Penny

as Preacher Quint

The Diary of Anne Frank

1967

as Albert Dussel

6.0

Call Me Daddy

1967

as Ben Hoffman

Fantastic Voyage

as Dr. Michaels

Cul-de-sac

as George

Eye of the Devil

as Pere Dominic

The Greatest Story Ever Told

1965

as The Dark Hermit - Satan

The Hallelujah Trail

as 'Oracle' Jones

The Caretaker

as Mac Davies / Bernard Jenkins

7.2

The Great Escape

1963

as Blythe 'The Forger'

7.9

Dr. Crippen

1963

as Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen

The Inspector

as Wolters

What a Carve Up!

as Everett Sloane

Spare the Rod

as Mr. Jenkins

No Love for Johnnie

as Renfrew

The Horsemasters

as Captain Pinski

The Wind of Change

as Pop

Toff and Fingers

1960

as Self/Host

The Shakedown

1960

as Jessel Brown

5.7

Suspect

1960

as Parsons, alias Bill Brown

6.5

Alice Through the Looking Box

1960

as Caterpillar

Circus of Horrors

as Vanet

The Hands of Orlac

as Graham Coates

The Battle of the Sexes

as Irwin Hoffman

Hell Is a City

as Gus Hawkins

The Big Day

as Victor Partridge

Sons and Lovers

as Mr. Pappleworth

A Story of David

as Nabal

The Flesh and the Fiends

1960

as William Hare

6.5

The Cupboard

1960

as Fred Watson

The Traitor

1959

as Grantley Caypor

Killers of Kilimanjaro

as Captain

Look Back in Anger

as Hurst

Heart of a Child

as Spiel

The Two-Headed Spy

as Gen. Hardt

The Greatest Man in the World

1958

as US President

The Man Inside

as Organ Grinder

A Tale of Two Cities

as Barsad

The Wind Cannot Read

as Doctor

Manuela

as Evans

Barnacle Bill

as Cashier

The Man in the Sky

as Crabtree

1984

as R. Parsons

The Black Tent

as Ali

Value for Money

as Limpy

Round the World in 80 Days

1955

as Voices

Orders Are Orders

1954

as Cpl. Martin (as Donald Plesance)

Nineteen Eighty-Four

as Syme

The Beachcomber

as Tromp

The Dybbuk

as Second batlon

Television (41)

Signs and Wonders

1995

as Cornelius Van Damm

The World of Hammer

1994

as Self (archive footage)

6.5

The Great Escape II: The Untold Story

as Dr. Absalon

Screen Two

as Victor Harty

The Ray Bradbury Theater

1985

as George Hill

6.8

Master of the Game

1984

as Salomon Van der Merwe

5.9

Wogan

1982

as Self

4.5

The Barchester Chronicles

as Septimus Harding

Mrs. Columbo

Dick Turpin

as Ignatius Slake

The French Atlantic Affair

as Max Dechambre

Centennial

as Sam Purchas

The Bastard

as Solomon Sholto

The Dark Secret of Harvest Home

as Narrator (voice)

Jesus of Nazareth

as Melchior

Laurence Olivier Presents

as Nat Jeffcote

Saturday Night Live

as Self - Host

Peep Show

Playhouse

as Bendel

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

as Cawser

Columbo

as Adrian Carsini

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

as Carnacki

Play for Today

as Gerry Muddiman

Hawaii Five-O

as Hans Vogler

NBC Experiment in Television

1967

as (voice)

The Fugitive

as Max Pfeiffer

The Outer Limits

as Harold J. Finley

Espionage

The Defenders

as Dr. Byron Saul

Danger Man

Armchair Mystery Theatre

1960

as Host

The Twilight Zone

as Ellis Fowler

One Step Beyond

as Harvey Laurence

Interpol Calling

as Karl Haussman

The Adventures of William Tell

Tony Awards

as Self - Nominee

Armchair Theatre

as President of the USA

5.8

The Adventures of Robin Hood

1955

as Prince John

6.3

The Wonderful World of Disney

1954

as Captain Pinski

7.8

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Kantorek

Sunday Night Theatre

as Corporal

Crew (1)

Movies (1)

The Telltale Heart

1958

Writer