WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Born: 5th October 1919
Died: 2nd February 1995 (aged 75)
Donald Henry Pleasence was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire in 1919, to a family of rail workers, he also followed in their footsteps before becoming an actor at the age of 20 – he made his stage debut on the eve of World War II. In 1940, Pleasence joined the RAF and served as a wireless operator with No. 166 Squadron with whom he flew over sixty raids. He was shot down over France, during a raid on Agenville, he was captured and imprisoned in Stalag Luft I where he kept his fellow inmates entertained. He was repatriated in 1946 and continued his stage career. His big screen debut came eight years later.
His film spanned 40 years and included some iconic films like John Carpenters’ Halloween franchise, The Great Escape and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
Donald Pleasence played Dr Sam Loomis in five of the six Halloween films made within his lifetime (he is only not in Halloween III: Season of the Witch but this does stray from the Michael Myers storyline and no actors or characters appear in this – well, actually, that’s a lie as Jamie Lee Curtis does appear in it as an uncredited voice) so I’m surprised that only two appear in his top five; that being John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween and its 1981 sequel. Loomis is Michael’s psychiatrist, who follows the escapee back to Haddonfield (Myers’ hometown and scene of his first murder fifteen years earlier). Dr Loomis is a learned man and Pleasence’s portrayal makes him a quiet, unassuming man with a subtle sense of humour; the later films test his frustration, anger and softness especially with his young co-star the way. It is no surprise that Loomis’ pursuit of Myers seems to send him a little crazy which Pleasance does very well.
Pleasance was the third actor to portray Blofeld – seven actors in all have played the role (two uncredited). I understand that it was expected that we see little of Blofeld’s face but in You Only Live Twice he first appears one hour into the film but we don’t see his face, and gnarly eye, for another 30 minutes (so considering there is only 30 minutes left to the film Pleasence doesn’t get that much screen time – in fact his cat probably gets more than he does). Pleasence plays the role of villain really well, his calm and level voice portrays the hidden evilness. I can understand why it was this Blofeld that Mike Myers based Austin Powers’ arch nemesis Dr Evil on – even he gets more screen time than Donald! I am in no position to comment on how Donald portrays the character of Dr Harmon in Oh, God! as its just one line, so if you’ll excuse me I will use his sixth film, Prince of Darkness, that I can comment on. (well actually it’s the ninth film on his list as Halloween 4 & Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers appear before it)
As the President of America in John Carpenter’s Escape from New York Pleasence is scared s*!tless half the time, alright he is dropped from Air Force One in an escape pod into a dystopian United States and taken hostage but he is the President you’d hope for a little more backbone! He has several short scenes throughout the film but keeps up the fear constantly until he needs to be composed (which is straight after he totally flips out and shoots his kidnapper). If Mr Pleasence actually stood against that wall while they shot around him I have to stand up and applaud his commitment to his role. Nest we have Dracula but this Dracula is probably not the best adaptation of Bram Stoker’s story that I have seen but it has its moments mainly Pleasence’s Dr Jack Seward (do not confuse him as the Seward from the book, this is written as Lucy’s father not Mina’s suitor). He’s a competent doctor who runs the asylum yet he is slightly bumbling in a few ways and he always seems to be eating! I love the scene where he is sitting in Mina’s grave and he pops a sweet in his mouth before picking up the second crucifix. I’m not saying he’s the light entertainment but he’s does bring a little brightness to a very awkward script.
There is something slightly mischievous about Donald’s role of The Dark Hermit in The Greatest Story Ever Told that you can understand how he is also credited as Satan, yet there is no sign of the usual depiction of Satan so I’m not sure why this is part of his credit, just shouting for Jesus to be crucified does not make him the devil! His hair is wild, he has a grizzly beard and looks nothing like the Donald Pleasence we would normally see yet his delivery make him recognisable. As I have said before a biblical epic is a little like Shakespeare the script leads the way and it is the performances that bring it too life – if an actor isn’t strong enough then the role falls flat which is definitely not the case for Pleasence. So finally we have Prince of Darkness but this is so weird! There are so many links with this film to other films in Pleasences’s top five – 1. Pleasence plays a priest just like he does in Oh, God! 2. The priest’s name is Loomis (like his character in Halloween) and 3. This film is directed by the same man who directed Pleasence in Halloween (1&2) and Escape from New York – John Carpenter. But that is where the coincidences end some might think that this is also a Dracula film (as there is a Christopher Lee film Dracula Prince of Darkness) but you’d be wrong as this refers to Milton’s Prince of Darkness. There is a lovely mix of assurance and fear within this performance that makes good use of Donald’s acting skills.
The best Pleasence character for me has to be Loomis in the Halloween films. Not only because Halloween itself is probably one of, if not the, original slasher film but the development of Loomis over the films although slight you can see how he is being worn away by his pursuit of Myers. The character covers the whole gamut of human emotion and I have to admit the later scripts lack the quality of John Carpenter Loomis becomes more of a centre piece and carries the weak script almost on his shoulders with a little help from young actress, Danielle Harris. I’m not sure the frustration he portrays at the start of Halloween 5 is more at the lack of continuity between the 4th & 5th or because the script wants him to go that hard – personally having seen the two back to back I’d say it’s the former! Donald Pleasence died after filming his scenes for Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers but before any re-shoots could be done
When you look at Donald Pleasence’s film career it is a surprise that he never won any awards even though he was nominated several times. In his personal life he was awarded an OBE in 1994. He wrote a children’s book called Scouse the Mouse, which was made into an animation by a director friend of his. Pleasence was married four times and had five daughters from his first three. He died from heart complications after heart valve replacement surgery in France in 1995. Both Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (one of his last big screen performances) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) were dedicated to Donald Pleasence.
