Donald Pleasence was John Carpenter’s big landing when he convinced him to star as Dr. Loomis. The meeting came at Hamburger Hamlet across the street from Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Carpenter and crew set him up with a nice Mobile Home for a trailer and were set to film their movie.
HALLOWEEN, by far, was NOT the first movie for Donald Pleasence. His daughter saw John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13 and liked it, so she convinced her father to do the movie. Halloween wasn’t his last movie, either, Donald went on to do more than 175 TV shows and movies in his career.
Many people will remember him for doing many small, obscure, and even cheesy movies in his time. Donald did his fair share of classic movies, though. A Tale of Two Cities (1958) and The Great Escape (1963) are just two of the movies he did before coming aboard to star in Halloween.
After HALLOWEEN, Donald began getting even more roles in bigger Hollywood movies. He filmed the sequel to Halloween and teamed up with Carpenter for Escape From New York, which has become a cult favorite in its own genre. His real claim to fame over the years, however, has been his taking part in Halloween and all of its sequels which incorporate Dr. Loomis and Michael Myers.
Sadly after filming his scenes for Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers in 1995, Pleasence died at the age of 75 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence France, from complications of heart failure following heart valve replacement surgery. He will be forever missed by fans of the series.
Halloween II – © 1981 Universal Studios