Donald Pleasence

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Donald Pleasence

in Eye of the Devil (1967)
Born Donald Henry Pleasence
October 5, 1919(1919-10-05)
Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England
Died February 2, 1995 (aged 75)
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Spouse(s) Meira Shore (1941-1958)
Josephine Crombie (1959-1970)
Miriam Raymond (1970-1988)
Linda J. Kentwood (1988-1995)

Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE (5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English stage and film actor. His high work rate in international cinema earned him the distinction of being the most prolific film actor at the time of his death with over 500 screen credits. Although a large number of his characters were villains and psychos, he is perhaps best known for his roles in two enduring film franchises, the James Bond series and the Halloween saga. In the former, he portrayed Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, thus becoming the first of several actors to give a face to Bond's persistent nemesis. In the latter, he hunted serial killer Michael Myers as Dr. Sam Loomis throughout five Halloween films (I, II, IV, V and VI).

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Pleasence was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, the son of Alice (née Armitage) and Thomas Stanley Pleasence, a stationmaster.[1] He was brought up in the small village of Grimoldby, Lincolnshire, England, and attended Ecclesfield Grammar School in south west Yorkshire.

His acting career began in a production of Wuthering Heights, but was interrupted by World War II. He was at first a conscientious objector, but later joined the Royal Air Force and served with 166 Squadron, Bomber Command. His Avro Lancaster was shot down on 31 August 1944 during a raid on Agenville.[2] He was taken prisoner and tortured by his captors[citation needed] then 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 POW camp.

[edit] Career

Pleasence returned to acting after the war, and critics began to call him the "Man with the Hypnotic Eye". Coupled with his bald head and quiet but intense voice, he specialized in insane and evil characters, including Prince John in the ITV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, Heinrich Himmler in The Eagle Has Landed, and the Bond villain Blofeld in You Only Live Twice. In his later years, he became known to a younger generation as Dr. Loomis in Halloween. His trademark voice may be credited to elocution lessons he had as a child.

In the early 1960's he recorded several children story records on the Atlas Record label under the Talespinners series in the U.K., later released in the U.S. as Tale Spinners For Children on the United Artist label. The stories included were Don Quixote and the Brave Little Tailor.

One of his earliest roles on television, as Syme in the BBC's highly-acclaimed 1954 adaptation of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, also starred Peter Cushing - another actor who would go on to find fame in many horror film roles. He appeared twice with Patrick McGoohan in the British spy series, Danger Man, in episodes "Find and Return" and "Position of Trust". His first appearance in America was in an episode of The Twilight Zone. He played an aging (and suicidal) teacher at a boys' school in the 1962 episode "The Changing of the Guard." He hosted the 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live with music guest Fear (which, because of Fear's raucous performance and the sick, dark humor of the sketches, hasn't been seen on television since its first airing)

Pleasence starred as Rev. Septimus Harding in the BBC's 1982 production of The Barchester Chronicles. He played the murderer in an episode of Columbo entitled "Any Old Port in a Storm" and also had the distinction of having been a culprit captured by Mrs. Columbo in "Murder is a Parlor Game." Pleasence also provided the voiceover for the British Public Information Film, The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water. The film, intended to warn children of the dangers of playing near water, attained notoriety for allegedly giving children nightmares.

His acting hero was Sir Laurence Olivier whom he worked with many times, including the 1979 version of Dracula. Pleasence even does an amusingly broad impersonation of Olivier as horror film actor "Valentine De'ath" in the 1977 film The Uncanny.

Pleasence was nominated twice for the Tony award for best performance by a leading actor in a play: in 1969 for The Man in the Glass Booth, and in 1972 for Wise Child; and he was awarded an OBE in 1994.

[edit] Personal life

Pleasence was married four times and had five daughters. He was married to Miriam Raymond 1941 - 1958 and had Angela and Jean. His 1959 - 1970 marriage to actress and singer Josephine Martin Crombie produced Lucy and Polly. He was married to Meira Shore 1970 - 1988 and they had a daughter, Miranda. His last marriage to Linda Kentwood lasted until his death in 1995.

On February 2, 1995 he died at the age of 75 in St.-Paul-de-Vence, France from complications from heart valve replacement surgery.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ross, Helen; Lillian Ross (1962). The Player: A Profile of an Art. Simon and Schuster, 256. ISBN. 
  2. ^ Chorley, W.R. (1997), Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 5: 1944; p 407. Midland Counties Publications, UK. ISBN 0 904597 91 1.
  3. ^ www.imdb.com Power Play

[edit] External links

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Preceded by
Adolfo Celi		 Official James Bond villain actor
1967		 Succeeded by
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