How tall was Donald Pleasance

Donald Pleasance's Height

5ft 6 (167.6 cm)

English actor best remembered for roles in Look Back in Anger, The Great Escape, Cul de Sac, You Only Live Twice, THX 1138, Raw Meat, Dracula, Escape from New York, Phenomena and the Halloween series. A 1969 biography yearbook described his height and weight as being "Five feet seven inches tall and weighs 140 pounds.", although in 1948 he had his height listed as 5 feet 8 inches.

How tall is Donald Pleasance
Photo by Allan Warren [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Add a Comment52 comments

Average Guess (18 Votes)
5ft 6.35in (168.5cm)
Sandy Cowell said on 28/Dec/22
I found that Angela Pleasance starred in Happy Vallley!
Sandy Cowell said on 16/Nov/22
‘Prince of Darkness’, ‘Halloween’ and ‘The Great Escape’ were Donald at his best, with plenty more besides. Was
there anything he couldn’t act in? He turned his skills to so, so many genres, be they dramas, horrors or comedies I’ll soon have a count-up as to how many of his movies I own.

Our Mum allowed us kids to watch ‘The Great Escape’ as fairly small children, and I loved it!
Sandy Cowell said on 11/Nov/22
I ordered the pristine copy of the DVD anyway. You can’t have too much of a good thing, and last time I played my old one, it seemed to need more than a simple wipe clean!
Sandy Cowell said on 11/Nov/22
YEEEEEAAAAAH! Thank you so much, Rob, for adding Donald to the Classic Actors page. 😉👍🏼
Sandy Cowell said on 10/Nov/22
I DON’T BELIEVE IT! I’ve been offered by Amazon a copy of Donald Pleasance’s brilliant John Carpenter film ‘Prince of Darkness’ for a measly fiver! I searched for years for my copy and paid far more than this, so I’m going to be checking out my DVD to make sure it’s in perfect working order, and if it isn’t - through overuse, of course! - I’ll purchase a brand new one.

I’m actually going for 5ft6.5. He’s much taller than Victor Wong in the movie.

@ Rob - Do you think Donald Pleasance could be added to the Classic Actors page? He’s SO deserving of the honour.
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Dec/21
One of Donald Pleasance's five daughters, Angela Pleasance, played the Ghost of Christmas Past in the 1984 'A Christmas Carol'. She does resemble her Dad!

I found 165cm for her but it's doubtful that Angela is still that height as she's now 80.

Donald gets 5ft6. 🕯️...🎄
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 2/May/21
I never thought I'd hear Donald Pleasance swearing (not the 'F' word - this is from 1972!) the way he does in the film 'Death Line'.

He insults people and then puts on a funny little forced smile, and blows his nose constantly with the same filthy old mouchoir, picking at the bogies through the hanky with his fingers!

I bought this film because I'm looking forward to comparing Donald with Christopher Lee. I can see it's going to be requiring a second watch because so far, the usually impeccably spoken Mr Pleasance has stolen the show for me with his filthy language and bad manners and I haven't stopped laughing!

There is another Policeman working with Inspector Donald and I cannot see him being more than either side of 5ft4, making Donald look quite tall. You can buy this film from Amazon and I do recommend it.

Classic actor Donald gets 5ft6.

😂😦😖😳🤬
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 20/Mar/21
I loved this guy. He was such a workaholic that he accepted every role he was offered, I've heard.

Lately I've been watching Donald's 'Prince of Darkness' and he looks really quite tall next to Victor Wong. I've decided on 5ft6.5. He'll have been at his peak in 'The Great Escape' and he didn't look as tall as 5ft8.
Miiiiiiighty_- said on 10/Jan/20
Looked slightly shorter than a 5'6" slouching Peter Falk in their episode of Columbo.

5'6 seems a bit generous
Nic (5'9" 15) said on 24/Jul/19
Also important to note he was in a multitude of dog fight plane crashes.
Danimal 5'9 3/4 said on 24/Feb/19
Rob, he deserves a before and after height listing. He appeared to be taller in his early movies. The man died at 75 years old. He could have easily lost at least 1.5" from his peak height. I'm not sure why you don't take age into account sometimes. You've been doing this for so long mate.
Editor Rob
When someone passes, I just have to put them at their peak.
Sandy Cowell said on 25/Oct/18
@ Rob - Re: Your picture from 2nd October, 2017.

Ah! Doesn't he look young? We aren't any the wiser as to his height from this picture, but we can see that he was extremely youthful and also very svelte. It does make me wonder whether Donald could have had an all time high of 5ft8. He struck me as an honest, thoroughly unpretentious, genuine guy and NOT the sort of person to inflate his height! I have only ever read the nicest of things about him. 😁
Greg99 said on 24/Oct/18
I thought he was about 5'7"ish, at least he looked roughly that next to Garner, wouldn't have thought much shorter - I did see him once in the pub next to his home in Chiswick around 1978, but he was sitting on a bar stool at the time so I can't estimate from that!
Sandy Cowell said on 24/Oct/18
The short Chinese man from 'Prince of Darkness' WAS Victor Wong. He was just 5ft4 by the way.
Sandy Cowell said on 24/Oct/18
I loved his performances in 'The Great Escape' and 'Halloween'. The former film must have been made in 1960 (I think!) and pleasant Donald didn't look 5ft8 even then. I'd be really keen to know this brilliant actor's all time high, and watching 'The Great Escape' in order to gain some idea is always a pleasure and NEVER a chore! He played that clever and brave man who was losing his eyesight so very well!

He also led the cast in John Carpenter's 'Prince of Darkness', which shows from time to time on the 'Horror Channel'. I think the film's a creepy knock-out and thorough underrated. Alas though, it isn't the sort of film to see in order to gain knowledge of his optimum height, but there is a Chinese fellow called Victor ?* in it; sorry I can't remember his surname, but he was also in 'Gremlins'! Yeah, that one, and he isn't too tall either, but there are some in this film who do tower over Donald and Victor.

I can't see Donald Pleasance being over 5ft6, peak height, and no way even approaching the 5ft8 he.was listed as, so that's what he gets, unless I have reason to think otherwise when I next see him in an earlier film of his, preferably 'The Great Escape'!

🏐👋🏿 🚲.....🚴......🚵......👥🚊💣🤧

🚆🙄"Good Luck!"🕵️


* I'll be back later with his surname. It might be Wong....
berta said on 22/Jul/18
didnt now he was that short. from looking at the first 2 halloween movies i would have thought maybe 170-172 but it was so long ago so i really have no idea about this guy. maybe he was only 168
Rising - 174 cm said on 28/Jul/17
I'm a huge fan, but having seen stuff even from his early 40s like The Flesh and the Fiends(1960), I doubt he was taller than 5'6". He just always looked like a small guy to me. Rob has Richard Attenborough at 5'6.5" and I'm pretty sure he was taller than Pleasence in The Great Escape, which Pleasence filmed when he was about 45 as it was released in 1963. He still seemed pretty trim and held excellent posture when he guested on Columbo around age 55 and was no taller than 5'6" Peter Falk, who always slouched on that show. I'm sure he dropped below 5'6" by the early 80s at the latest. 6'1" Dwight Schultz could look a good 7" or so inches taller to me in Alone in the Dark and I thought he looked like he was under 5'7" IN shoes by Halloween 2. By those films in the early 80s when he'd have been in his early 60s during filming, I do think he looked older than he had just a few years earlier in the late 70s so a small height loss is fairly probable by that point.
Danimal said on 26/Jul/17
Just saw him in an old 1963 Outer Limits episode where he was thin and in his early 40's and looked to be taller than in his later years (1970's and 1980's). He looked about 5'7" back then and may have dipped to under 5'6" later on.
Phil said on 7/Dec/16
He was shorter than Peter Falk in Columbo ( any old port in a storm )
donald was 5 foot 4.5 .
5 foot 6 is just not possible.
Arch Stanton said on 24/Oct/16
One of his best performances is Cul-de-Sac. Incredible. 5 ft 6 flat is accurate IMO, didn't look under it like a Hoffman or Pacino type.
Sandy Cowell said on 22/Oct/16
One of the all-time great actors, Donald Pleasance was a workaholic who had difficulty turning down any role he was offered, so I have read.
He gave his all in everything he did. Who can forget him as the blind man in 'The Great Escape'?
Then, of course, he was Michael Myers' psychiatrist in the Halloween films and there are so many, many more.
One of them, a John Carpenter film called 'Prince of Darkness' is on TV tonight and I personally rate this film very highly, which so far has conflicted with the TV write-ups I've read.
OK, so it is a bit far-fetched, but the performances are just SO good! It also stars Alice Cooper and there is one black actor called Jessie somebody in real life, whose portrayal of a scientist going out of his mind is one of the best and most chilling I have ever seen!
I read here that Donald was 5ft7, but I would have thought him to have been at least an inch less. His rather rotund physique will have made him look smaller of course and he did act with some much taller people, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who being a woman, and built the way she is, is going to give us the impression that Pleasance is really short and stocky!
But this man was great in everything he did and there's no escaping that!
Jug said on 20/Sep/16
5'5 or 5'6. Certainly not more. A great character actor. Really one of the greatest.
Sam said on 17/Aug/15
Rob, can you change the first sentence to "British actor best remembered for roles in Look Back in Anger, The Great Escape, Cul de Sac, You Only Live Twice, THX 1138, Raw Meat, Dracula, Escape from New York, Phenomena and the Halloween series.
Bud said on 15/Sep/14
He played in Columbo,and he was shorter or the same height as 5'6 Peter Falk,unfortunatly i can't remember exactly how tall he looked with him.
SaveUsY2J said on 9/Jul/14
Looked 5'6" in Halloween but he was nearly 60 by then. Maybe 5'7, or close to it, when he was younger.
RisingForce said on 13/Apr/14
That's true, even with Falk hunching over, it's clear that he's the taller of the two. Click Here

5'5.5" might be a better guess.
TonyV said on 18/Jan/14
He looked a little shorter than Peter Falk in "Any Old Port in a Storm," a 1973 Columbo episode. Probably one of the few murderers who were actually shorter than Columbo, who was known for having very poor posture.
RisingForce said on 1/Nov/13
May have been a bit under 5'6" by the early 80s. At times during Alone In The Dark, his head could look a bit below Dwight Schultz nose and that was filmed in 1982. There's also the hospital scene in Halloween 2 where Donald seems shorter in shoes than a barefoot, 5'7" Jamie Lee Curtis although the scenes aren't ideal for comparing. He would have been in his early 60's at the time of these movies so 5'6" peak is still possible. Great actor regardless.
Arch Stanton said on 22/Sep/13
Looks 5'6"ish in Halloween. that was 1978.
Sam173cm said on 24/Aug/13
There's an other website which described him as 5'4" 1/2 (164cm). Do you that it can be correct, Rob?
Editor Rob
could have lost a bit of height by latter years and appeared nearer that
Shaun said on 16/Aug/11
Looked 5'6" flat mostly I agree. In You Only Live Twice looked about 8 inches shorter than Connery.
jake said on 27/Jul/11
Could he have been near 5ft7 at peak?
jtm said on 28/Nov/10
mcqueen was 5'9 and pleasance was 5'6.
RisingForce said on 12/Jun/09
Frank2, have you ever met Donald? If so, how tall did he look?
RisingForce said on 17/Mar/09
I can't really remember for sure either because I never really compared heights in Halloween, but for some reason I have the image in my head of her being taller than Pleasance.

Next time I watch a movie with Pleasance in it I'll make more of a point of comparing his height to other actors.
glenn said on 14/Mar/09
cant remember about curtis.but i think your right.she mightve been taller.
RisingForce said on 13/Mar/09
At first he did look almost 5'7"/5'7.5" when compared to Sean Connery, but if you look at his footwear it looks very suspicious which is why I say 5'6". Wasn't Jamie Lee Curtis taller than him in Halloween as well?
RisingForce said on 26/Feb/09
I thought he looked no more than 5'6" in The Great Escape(1963), You Only Live Twice, The Halloween movies and Escape From New York.

In Escape From New York I think Kurt Russell had 4 inches on him. One of my favorite actors.
Doug said on 6/Feb/09
Definate 5'6".
Anonymous said on 19/Jan/09
Didn't look any shorter than 5'7" in Halloween so definetly 5'7 peak maybe a tad over.
glenn said on 11/Jan/08
he was in alot of movies.5-7 peak.5-6 later on.
Anonymous said on 10/Jan/08
Hey, don't forget he was in Fantastic Voyage and The Great Escape. A villain and a hero. Long live the 5'6''.
? said on 15/Apr/06
I think 5'6 1/2" suits Donald best
trueheight said on 13/Mar/06
his intense screen presence and bulky build may belie the fact that he is 5'6, in the Halloween series anyway. Shorter than almost every single character in parts 1&2
Glenn said on 11/Mar/06
I agree.5-6.
Trueheight said on 10/Mar/06
5'6 is much more accurate, he is a few inches shorter than Jamie Lee Curtis
Dave said on 24/Dec/05
Falk straightens up at one point and he looks slightly taller than Pleasance. I honestly don't think Pleasance can be taller than 5'6'', maybe even 5'5 1/2''
CelebHeights Editor said on 24/Dec/05
I caught a few scenes...there is not much between them...actually, falk's posture always is a bit dodgy on that show, so it's hard to say...when they're standing at the door after the first longish meeting pleasance looks taller but then dodgy posture of falk means I don't rule 5ft 6 out...
Parker said on 24/Dec/05
I noticed the Columbo episode 'Any old Port in A Storm' is channel 5 at 4.30 in the UK Christmas Eve - If you catch it Rob, I'm sure you will downgrade him - there are a number of scenes of Pleasance and Peter Falk........
Viper652 said on 22/Dec/05
Only 5-6??? I thought he was close to 5-8 in the Halloween movies.
Picture said on 21/Dec/05
I just putted the You Only Live Twice DVD on my DVD and looked for the scenes that he shares with Connery. There one scene in wich pleasence is next to 6 ft 2.5 Connery, and Connery is looking down to him. Pleasence looks no more than 5 ft 6 next to him. I believe that Mr Pleasence was 48 years during filming that movie so he was probably 5 ft 6 his peak height.
Picture said on 21/Dec/05
There exist pictures of him with him and Mie Hama (the leading of You Only Live Twice) and he shorter than her!

Heights are barefeet estimates, derived from quotations, official websites, agency resumes, in person encounters with actors at conventions and pictures/films.

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