10 Actors Who Saved Their Careers By Starring In Horror Movies

Across an acting career spanning more than 50 years, Donald Pleasence racked up an impressive 239 screen credits, two-thirds of which were actually prior to him being cast as Dr. Samuel Loomis in 1978 horror classic Halloween.

Indeed, Pleasence was far from an unknown actor before working with John Carpenter, starting out as a stage performer in the late 1930s, transitioning to TV and film in the '50s, and delivering notable performances in The Great Escape and especially as Blofeld in 1967 Bond film You Only Live Twice.

By the '70s, Pleasence began starring in a glut of low-budget horror films, most of which were obvious paychecks, until things changed forever when he agreed to play Loomis in Halloween.

Beyond the film's own transformative effect on the horror genre, Pleasence received enormous acclaim for his role as the dogged psychiatrist, winning the actor a swath of young fans unfamiliar with his prior work.

In addition to reprising the role of Loomis on four subsequent Halloween sequels, Pleasence spent the next two decades as a regular on the genre film circuit, appearing in literally dozens of horror and thriller movies, ensuring he classed-up just about anything he appeared in, good or bad.

Somewhat fittingly, one of the actor's final roles prior to his 1995 passing was a reprise of Loomis for the sixth Halloween, The Curse of Michael Myers.

Despite playing the most iconic Bond villain decades earlier, to horror fans Pleasence is still best remembered for what is surely his signature role.