Donald Pleasence

The English actor who played Dr. Loomis.

Donald Pleasence (5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor who played the psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis in Halloween (1978) and four of its sequels.

Quick Facts

Honorific suffix: OBE
Birth name: Donald Henry Pleasence
Born: 5 October 1919
Birthplace: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England
Died: 2 February 1995
Place of death: Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Education: Ecclesfield School
Years active: 1946–1995

Facts from the source article.

Background

Known for his bald head and intense, staring eyes, he played more than 250 stage, film and television roles across a career of nearly 60 years. He began on stage in the West End, and his screen work included starring in a 1954 BBC adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

He built a reputation for nervy, unstable characters, among them Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe in The Great Escape (1963), the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967), SEN 5241 in THX 1138 (1971) and Clarence "Doc" Tydon in Wake in Fright (1971).

The Loomis role brought him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actor, and the success of the Halloween series revived his career, leading to many American and European horror and thriller films. He worked 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).

Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, the son of a railway station master, he also had an acclaimed Broadway career, winning a Drama Desk Award and four Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Play. In 1994 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to drama.