The process of creation goes on all the time. When I get through, I feel I know what the character will do in every situation. But the building up of the part is not mechanical or deliberate. It grows out of the text.

Equipped with a shiny bald head and a quiet but intense voice to go with his trademark penetrating gaze he specialised in portraying insane or evil characters including the violent alcoholic Doc Tydon in Wake in Fright (1971) the mad Doctor in the Bud Spencer-Terence Hill film Watch Out We're Mad (1974) Heinrich Himmler in The Eagle Has Landed (1976) and the Bond arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967) the first film in which the villain's face is clearly seen. Selected filmography. Sam Loomis in the Halloween series.

His most notable film roles include villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice RAF Flight Lieut. Colin Blythe in The Great Escape and psychiatrist Dr.