Pleasence brilliant portrayal as the obsessed, slightly craze, Dr. Loomis hunting the Bogeyman in Carpenter's Halloween helped make the film a horror favorite. Pleasence is larger than life in the role, his stocky slightly deranged Doctor is a brilliantly perceived character, not only is he the only one hip to what is going on, he is also completely fearless. He actually seeks to face off against an unkillable foe - and we the scared shitless audience - love him for it.

Pleasence would offer his talents to numerous horror films, for a time it seemed he was in every other horror film produced - and for good reason. The British actor brought a sense of class and seriousness to any roll which is a great accomplishment considering the amount of shit awful films he has appeared in.

Some of Donald Pleasance most memorable roles were his kindly scientist with the kick ass monkey in Argento's warped Phenomena - his detective in the brilliant cannibal film Red Meat - and his kidnapped president in Carpenter's Escape From New York.

And still many will cite his Blofeld performance from the James Bond vehicle, You Only Live Twice (Donald Pleasence villain was hilariously spoofed as Doctor Evil in the Austin Powers series) as Pleasence greatest moment. He is a treat in the film as he buzzes around in his wheelchair, constantly petting his cat. Who could forget the scene where Bond scoops his bald ass up with a helicopter and dumps him into a smoke stack!

Below is a list of some of Donald Pleasence's better roles:

The Great Escape (Sturges, 1963)

Cul-de-Sac (Polanski, 1968)

You Only Live Twice (Gilbert, 1967)

Raw Meat (Sherman, 1973)

Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)

Escape From New York (Carpenter, 1981)

The Monster Club (Baker, 1981)

Alone in the Dark (Sholder, 1982)

The Devonsville Terror (Lommel, 1983)

Phenomena (Argento, 1985)