John Carpenter was elated when Donald Pleasence
agreed to portray Dr. Samuel "Sam" Loomis. As the
story goes, the two held their initial meeting across
the street from Mann's Chinese Theater at the
Hamburger Hamlet in Hollywood. Pleasence's
daughter had reportedly been impressed with
Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, and so it was she
who reportedly convinced her father to accept the role
as Loomis.
Despite his tight budget, Carpenter knew that landing
an actor of Pleasence's caliber was a major coup, so
he acquired a mobile home for Pleasence to use as
his trailer, and the rest is history. In addition to taking
part in Halloween and all of its "sequels" which
incorporate Dr. Loomis and Michael
Myers.Pleasence also teamed up with Carpenter for
Escape From New York, which has become a cult
favorite in its own right.
After Halloween, Pleasence continued his incredibly
successful acting career, and at the time of his death
in 1995 had to his credit 181 feature films and
television programs too numerous to mention here. A
masterful actor, Pleasence will be remembered not
only within the horror genre, but also for an incredible
string of classic films including: 1958's A Tale of Two
Cities and 1963's The Great Escape, 1966's
Fantastic Voyage, 1976's The Eagle Has Landed,
and 1978's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.