Donald Pleasence was born on October 5th,
1919 in the town of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, UK,
the son of a stationmaster.
Donald began his long and distinguished acting
career on the London stage in 1939. During WW2, Pleasance joined
the British Royal Air Force and was shot down and captured
by the Germans, who tortured him. While Donald spent the
rest of the war in a German POW Camp, he formed an acting
group with the other POW's, and put on plays to help pass
the time and unpleasantness of being in captivity in the
Nazi's hands.
The POW experience Donald Pleasence endured
was put to good use in such films as THE GREAT ESCAPE, a film
which also starred other actors who were POW'S in Germany.
In 1954, Donald Pleasence started his film career
in earnest, and never stopped until the year of his death in
1995, due to complications of heart surgery.
Donald Pleasence was a talented, memorable character
actor who excelled in a variety of genres, specializing in strange
roles, such as Flight Lt. Colin 'The Forger'' Blythe in THE GREAT
ESCAPE, or menacing characters, portraying various types of
villains, characters the audience loved to hate.
Donald's most memorable roles include:
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE - Ernst Stavro Blofeld
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - President of the United States
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS - Dr. Loomis
Donald Pleasence's other film credits include: