Born: 5^th October 1919, Worksop, Nottinghamshire.  Died: 2^nd February 1995, St. Paul de Vence, France.

Donald Pleasence played Prince John on four occasions and, although Hubert Gregg and Brian Haines also played the role, Donald’s portrayal is probably remembered the most. He also played Bailiff Baldwin in the episode ‘A Village Wooing’, where he vied with Leslie Phillips for the affections of a feisty widow. The son of a stationmaster, Donald made his stage debut in 1939, as Hareton Earnshaw in ‘Wuthering Heights’ at the Playhouse Theatre in Jersey. 1942 saw his London stage debut, as Curio in ‘Twelfth Night’. The latter part of World War II was not a happy time for Donald Pleasence. He enlisted late for the RAF as, being a pacifist, was a conscientious objector but he later changed his mind. In 1944 his plane was shot down over France, and Donald ended up in a German prisoner-of-war camp. After his release he decided to throw himself into his work, and appeared in London and New York over the next few years. TV and film roles began to come his way in the 1950s, and this led to a hugely prolific screen career lasting more than 40 years. Donald appeared in such films as ‘The Great Escape’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ and ‘Halloween’ (plus its sequels). In 1994 he was awarded an OBE. Donald Pleasence died from complications from heart valve replacement surgery in 1995, at the age of 75. He was survived by his fourth wife, Linda. Three of Donald’s five daughters became actresses,  Angela, Polly Jo and Miranda. He was scheduled to appear with them in a production of ‘King Lear’ shortly before his death.

Episodes Featuring Donald Pleasence: -

Series 1

The Prisoner - Prince John

Series 2

A Village Wooing - Bailiff Baldwin

Isabella - Prince John

Ambush - Prince John

Series 3

Marian’s Prize - Prince John

A complete list of Donald's film & TV credits can be found at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000587/

Notable Film Roles: -

The Beachcomber (1954) ... Tromp

Orders Are Orders (1954) ... Lance Corporal Martin

Value for Money (1955) ... Limpy

The Man in the Sky (aka Decision Against Time) (1957) ... Crabtree

A Tale of Two Cities (1958) ... John Barsad

The Two-Headed Spy (1958) ... General Hardt

Look Back in Anger (1958) ... Hurst

The Shakedown (1959) ... Jessel Brown

The Scarf (1959) (TV Series) ... Det. Insp. Harry Yates

Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) ... Captain

The Battle of the Sexes (1959) ... Irwin Hoffman

Hell Is a City (1960) ... Gus Hawkins

Sons and Lovers (1960) ... Mr. Pappleworth

The Wind of Change (1961) ... Pop

What a Carve Up! (aka No Place Like Homicide!) (1961) ... Everett Sloane

Dr. Crippen (1962) ... Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen

The Caretaker (aka The Guest) (1963) ... Mac Davies/Bernard Jenkins

The Great Escape (1963) ... Flight Lt. Colin ‘The Forger’ Blythe

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) ... The Dark Hermit - Satan

The Hallelujah Trail (1965) ... 'Oracle' Jones

You Only Live Twice (1967) ... Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Will Penny (1968) ... Preacher Quint

Creature of Comfort (1968) ... James Thorne

The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) ... The Prospector

Soldier Blue (1970) ... Isaac Q. Cumber

Kidnapped (1971) ... Ebenezer Balfour

Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972) ... Thomas Cromwell

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1973) (TV) ... Fred Smudge

From Beyond the Grave (1973) ... Jim Underwood

The Black Windmill (1974) ... Cedric Harper

The Mutations (aka Dr. of Evil) (1974) ... Professor Nolter

Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974) ... Erich Count von Plasma

The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975) (TV) ... Danglars

Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) ... Lucas Deranian

Journey Into Fear (aka Burn Out) (1975) ... Kuvetli

Trial by Combat (aka Dirty Knight's Work) (1976) ... Sir Giles Marley

The Passover Plot (1976) ... Pontius Pilate

The Eagle Has Landed (1976) ... Heinrich Himmler

Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (TV Mini-Series) ... Melchior

Oh, God! (1977) ... Dr. Harmon

Tomorrow Never Comes (1978) ... Dr. Todd

The Bastard (aka The Kent Chronicles) (1978) (TV) ... Solomon Sholto

Night Creature (aka Out of the Darkness) (1978) ... Axel MacGregor

Centennial (1978) (TV Series) ... Sam Purchas

Halloween (1978) ... Dr. Sam Loomis

Dracula (1979) ... Dr. Jack Seward

The Monster Club (1980) ... Pickering

Halloween II (1981) ... Dr. Sam Loomis

The Barchester Chronicles (1982) (TV Series) ... Rev. Septimus Harding

Alone in the Dark (1982) ... Dr. Leo Bain

The Devonsville Terror (1983) ... Dr. Warley

A Breed Apart (1984) ... J.P. Whittier

Phenomena (aka Creepers) (1985) ... Prof. John McGregor

The Treasure of the Amazon (aka Greed) (1985) ... Klaus von Blantz

To Kill a Stranger (1985) ... Colonel Kostik

Into the Darkness (aka Poison) (1986) ... David Beckett

Warrior Queen (1987) ... Clodius Flaucus

Ground Zero (1987) ... Prosper Gaffney

Prince of Darkness (1987) ... Father Loomis

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) ... Dr. Sam Loomis

The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988) (TV) ... Dr. Absalon

River of Death (1989) ... Heinrich Spaatz

Halloween 5 (1989) ... Dr. Sam Loomis

Casablanca Express (1989) ... Colonel Bats

Buried Alive (1990) ... Dr. Schaeffer

Shadows and Fog (1992) ... Doctor

The Hour of the Pig (aka The Advocate) (1993) ... Pincheon

Guinevere (1994) (TV) ... Merlin

Safe Haven (1995) ... The Sailor

Signs and Wonders (1995) (TV Mini-Series) ... Cornelius Van Damm

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) ... Dr. Sam Loomis

Fatal Frames (1996) ... Professor Robinson

Notable TV Guest Appearances: -

BBC Sunday Night Theatre - ‘Arrow to the Heart’ (1952) ... Corporal

ITV Television Playhouse - ‘Ever Since Paradise’ (1956) ... William

The Adventures of William Tell - ‘The Spider’ (1959) ... The Spider

The Four Just Men - ‘The Survivor’ (1960) ... Paul Koster

Interpol Calling - ‘The Absent Assassin’ (1960) ... Karl Haussman

Danger Man - ‘Position of Trust’ (1960) ... Captain Aldrich

Armchair Theatre - ‘The Cupboard’ (1960) ... Fred Watson

Danger Man - ‘Find and Return’ (1961) ... M. Nikolides

One Step Beyond - ‘The Confession’ (1961) ... Harvey Laurence

Disneyland - ‘The Horsemasters’ (1961) ... Captain Pinski

The Twilight Zone - ‘The Changing of the Guard’ (1962) ... Professor Ellis Fowler

The Outer Limits - ‘The Man with the Power’ (1963) ... Harold J. Finley

The Defenders - ‘Fires of the Mind (1965) ... Dr. Byron Saul

The Fugitive - ‘With Strings Attached’ (1966) ... Max Pfeiffer

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes - ‘The Horse of the Invisible’ (1971) ... Carnacki

Hawaii Five-O - ‘The Ninety-Second War’ (1972) ... Hans Vogler

Columbo - ‘Any Old Port in a Storm (1973) ... Adrian Carsini

Mrs. Columbo - ‘Murder Is a Parlor Game’ (1979) ... I.A. Morly

Dick Turpin - ‘Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure: Part 4’ (1981) ... Ignatius Slake

Miss Marple - ‘A Caribbean Mystery’ (1989) ... Jason Rafiel

Lovejoy - ‘The Prague Sun’ (1992) ... Karel Redl

Omnibus - ‘Freeze - But is it Art?’ (1994) ... The Dentist