Donald Pleasence Movies and Career Information

Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, (5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during his long career. Although he often found himself typecast as villainous and/or psychopathic characters, Pleasence is possibly best known for his work in two of cinema's most enduringly successful franchises: the James Bond and Halloween series. Pleasence was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, the son of Alice (née Armitage) and Thomas Stanley Pleasence, a railway stationmaster. He was brought up in the small village of Grimoldby, Lincolnshire, and raised a strict Methodist. Pleasence attended Ecclesfield Grammar School, in Sheffield, Yorkshire, and subsequently dropped out to work as a railway clerk, whilst looking for a job as an actor. 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 changed his stance and was commissioned into the Royal Air Force, serving with 166 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command. His Avro Lancaster was shot down on 31 August 1944 during a raid on Agenville. He was taken prisoner and placed in a German prisoner-of-war camp,