Donald Pleasence

Acting

Donald Pleasence

Born 1919-10-05 · Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, UK

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.

Acting credits

Halloween poster
7.6

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.

Halloween

1978

Escape from New York poster
7.0

In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.

Escape from New York

1981

You Only Live Twice poster
6.6

A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.

You Only Live Twice

1967

The Great Escape poster
7.9

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

The Great Escape

1963

Halloween II poster
6.6

After failing to kill stubborn survivor Laurie and taking a bullet or six from former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers has followed Laurie to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she's been admitted for Myers' attempt on her life. The institution proves to be particularly suited to serial killers, however, as Myers cuts, stabs and slashes his way through hospital staff to reach his favorite victim.

Halloween II

1981

The Greatest Story Ever Told poster
6.4

From his birth in Bethlehem to his death and eventual resurrection, the life of Jesus Christ is given the all-star treatment in this epic retelling. Major aspects of Christ's life are touched upon, including the execution of all the newborn males in Egypt by King Herod; Christ's baptism by John the Baptist; and the betrayal by Judas after the Last Supper that eventually leads to Christ's crucifixion and miraculous return.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

1965

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers poster
5.2

Six years after being presumed dead in a fire, and just as the town prepares to finally celebrate Halloween again, Michael Myers returns to Haddonfield to continue his reign of terror.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

1995

Prince of Darkness poster
6.8

A priest discovers an ancient canister containing a strange liquid in an abandoned church. When a group of graduate students and scientists are tasked with studying it, they unknowingly unleash an evil force waiting to destroy all of humanity.

Prince of Darkness

1987

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers poster
6.2

Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

1988

Watch Out, We're Mad poster
7.5

After a tied 1st place in a local stunt race, two drivers start a contest to decide who of them will own the prize, a dune buggy. But when a mobster destroys the car, they are determined to get it back.

Watch Out, We're Mad

1974

Phenomena poster
6.8

A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.

Phenomena

1985

Warrior Queen poster
3.7

In ancient Pompeii, slaves are bought and sold for household chores and sex. A mysterious queen moves among the elite, meantime secretly helping the slaves to escape. Eventually her life is also in jeopardy, and as the volcano erupts she and the slaves attempt to escape while being chased by the military.

Warrior Queen

1987

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers poster
5.3

After lying in a coma for a year, Michael Myers awakens and stalks his way back to his small hometown in Illinois, intent on killing his niece, Jamie, who has been confined to a mental institution since his last attempt to slay her.

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

1989

The Eagle Has Landed poster
6.7

When the Nazi high command learns in late 1943 that Winston Churchill will be spending time at a country estate in Norfolk, it hatches an audacious scheme to kidnap the prime minister and spirit him to Germany for enforced negotiations with Hitler.

The Eagle Has Landed

1976

Fantastic Voyage poster
6.7

In order to save an assassinated scientist, a submarine and its crew are shrunk to microscopic size and injected into his bloodstream.

Fantastic Voyage

1966

Shadows and Fog poster
6.7

With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.

Shadows and Fog

1991

The Night of the Generals poster
6.8

A German intelligence officer investigates a prostitute's killing in Warsaw during World War II. He lands on three major Nazi generals as suspects, two of whom are also involved in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler.

The Night of the Generals

1967

Wake in Fright poster
7.2

A young schoolteacher descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in a brutal, menacing town in outback Australia.

Wake in Fright

1971

The Count of Monte-Cristo poster
6.9

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

The Count of Monte-Cristo

1975

Tales That Witness Madness poster
5.5

Enigmatic asylum owner Dr Tremayne houses four very special cases. Visited by his colleague Nicholas, Tremayne explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each patient went mad, be they a ritualistic 'luau', a time-travelling bicycle, a toy tiger, and a tree stump.

Tales That Witness Madness

1973

The Thief and the Cobbler poster
7.1

Princess Yum Yum falls in love with Tack and saves him from being executed. Later, when the protective orbs of the palace get stolen, Tack and Yum Yum set out to find them and save the kingdom.

The Thief and the Cobbler

1993

Cul-de-sac poster
6.7

On the run and in search of help, two wounded gangsters find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.

Cul-de-sac

1966

Soldier Blue poster
6.8

After a cavalry group is massacred by the Cheyenne, only two survivors remain: Honus, a naive private devoted to his duty, and Cresta, a young woman who had lived with the Cheyenne two years and whose sympathies lie more with them than with the US government. Together, they must try to reach the cavalry's main base camp. As they travel onward, Honus is torn between his growing affection for Cresta.

Soldier Blue

1970

All Quiet on the Western Front poster
6.7

At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.

All Quiet on the Western Front

1979

Behind the camera