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Portrait of Donald Pleasence in London. Author Allan Warren.

Top 10 Cool Facts about Donald Pleasence

Donald Henry Pleasence was born on 5 October 1919 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. He was an English Actor. Donald Henry began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career.

He played numerous supporting and character roles. These included RAF Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe in The Great Escape (1963). In 1971 he played the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

He appeared in numerous American and European-produced horror and thriller films. He collaborated with Halloween director John Carpenter twice.

Pleasence was nominated four times for the Tony Award. This is due to his best performance as a leading actor in a Broadway play.

Pleasence had several spoken Records and voice-overs. He recorded various Children鈥檚 story records on the Atlas Record label.

Let鈥檚 learn the Top 10 Cool Facts about Donald Pleasence

1. Acting was not His Initial Career

Donald Henry was the son of Alice and Thomas Stanley Pleasence. His father was a railway master.

He was brought up as a strict Methodist in the Small village of Grimoldby, Lincolnshire. Donald acquired his formal education at Crosby Junior School, Scunthorpe and Ecclesfield Grammar School.

He worked as the Clerk-in-charge at Swinton railway station in South Yorkshire. However, he decided to change his career and be a professional actor.

2. He Volunteered with the Royal Air Force

Donald Volunteered with the Royal Air Force and served as an aircraft wireless operator with No.166 Squadron in Bomber Command. Before that, he had initially refused conscription into the British Armed Forces.

He changed his stance in autumn 1940. This was after the attacks upon London by the Luftwaffe.

3. Captured and Imprisoned in the German Prisoner-of-War Camp

Donald鈥檚 Lancaster NE112 was shot down on 31 August 1944. This was during an attack on Eganville.

He was captured and imprisoned in the German Prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft I. Pleasence produced and acted in various plays for the entertainment of his fellow captives.

4. Donald accrued over 200 films in an impressive career that spanned over four decades

Donald Pleasence in Eye of the Devil trailer.unknown Author.

Donald Pleasence started his career in the theatres of England and Scotland after World War II. He began making a name for himself with small roles in film and TV projects such as 鈥�1984鈥� (1956) and 鈥淭he Adventures of Robin Hood鈥� (ITV, 1955-1960).

Pleasence starred as psychiatrist Dr Samuel Loomis in Halloween (1978) and four of its sequels. This role led him to be nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actor.

The series鈥� popularity and critical success led to a resurgent career for Pleasence. He appeared in numerous American and European-produced horror and thriller films.

Donald collaborated with Halloween director John Carpenter twice more, as the President of the United States in Escape from New York (1981), and as the Priest in Prince of Darkness (1987).

5. He Made his Television Debut in I Want to Be a Doctor

Pleasence appeared and played several roles after his Television Debut. He received posted critical attention for his role as Syme in the BBC version of Nineteen Eight-Four.

His other roles were; Prince John in several episodes of the ITV series The Adventures of Robin Hood. He appeared twice in the British spy series, 鈥淧osition of Trust鈥� and 鈥淔ind and ReReturn鈥�.

6. Pleasence鈥檚 first appearance in America was in an episode of The Twilight Zone

He played the role of an ageing teacher at a boy鈥檚 school in the episode 鈥淭he Changing of the Guard鈥� (1962). In 1963, he appeared in an episode of The Outer Limits titled 鈥淭he Man With the Power鈥�. In 1966, he also guest starred in an episode of The Fugitive entitled 鈥淲ith Strings Attached.鈥�

7. One of his Film Attained Notoriety for Allegedly Giving Children Nightmares

Donald Pleasence was taken in London. Author Allan warren

 Pleasence had several spoken Records and voice-overs. He recorded various Children鈥檚 story records on the Atlas Record label.

The story records were marketed as the Talespinners series in the United Moreover, they were also released in the United States as Tale Spinners for Children by United Artists. The stories included Don Quixote and the Brave Little Tailor.

Additionally, He provided the voice-over for the British Public information film, The Spirit of Dark and Lovely Water. The film attained notoriety for allegedly giving children nightmares.

8. The Author of a Children鈥檚 Book

Pleasence was the author of Scouce the Mouse in 1977. The book was animated by Canadian animator/film director Gerald Potterton.

9. He Bagged Several Awards during his Career

Pleasence was nominated four times for the Tony Award. This is due to his best performance as a leading actor in a Broadway play.

The following roles led him to be nominated for the Tony award; in 1962 for Harold Pinter鈥檚 The Caretaker, in 1965 for Jean Anouilh鈥檚 Poor Bitos. In 1969 for Robert Shaw鈥檚 The Man in the Glass Booth, and 1972 for Simon Gray鈥檚 Wise Child.

Additionally, Pleasence was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. This was for his services to the acting profession. Pleasence was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.

10. Pleasence Married Four Times

Pleasence married four times. However, he had five daughters from his first three marriages. His last marriage was to Linda Kentwood.

However, Pleasence died at age 75 in Saint-Paul-de Vence, France. He died from a complication of heart failure following heart valve replacement surgery.

Donald Pleasence is remembered as a role model to upcoming actors. Various films were dedicated to Donald such as the 1995 Film Halloween, The Curse of Michael Myers was dedicated to him.

In the 2021 film, Halloween Kills Tom Jones, Jr. Played Loomis, wearing prosthetic make-up to resemble Pleasence. L

Dr Evil, the character played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers comedy films (1997鈥�2002), and Doctor Claw from Inspector Gadget are parodies of Pleasence鈥檚 performance as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice.