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Harold Pinter picture

Harold Pinter

Writing
Known For

78 Years Old

Harold Pinter CH CBE (10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964), and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993), and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television, and film productions of his own and others' works. Pinter was born and raised in Hackney, east London, and educated at Hackney Downs School. He was a sprinter and a keen cricket player, acting in school plays and writing poetry. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but did not complete the course. He was fined for refusing national service as a conscientious objector. Subsequently, he continued training at the Central School of Speech and Drama and worked in repertory theatre in Ireland and England. In 1956 he married actress Vivien Merchant and had a son, Daniel, born in 1958. He left Merchant in 1975 and married author Lady Antonia Fraser in 1980. Pinter's career as a playwright began with a production of The Room in 1957. His second play, The Birthday Party, closed after eight performances, but was enthusiastically reviewed by critic Harold Hobson. His early works were described by critics as "comedy of menace". Later plays such as No Man's Land (1975) and Betrayal (1978) became known as "memory plays". He appeared as an actor in productions of his own work on radio and film. He also undertook a number of roles in works by other writers. He directed nearly 50 productions for stage, theatre and screen. Pinter received over 50 awards, prizes, and other honours, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005 and the French Légion d'honneur in 2007. Despite frail health after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in December 2001, Pinter continued to act on stage and screen, last performing the title role of Samuel Beckett's one-act monologue Krapp's Last Tape, for the 50th anniversary season of the Royal Court Theatre, in October 2006. He died from liver cancer on 24 December 2008. Description above from the Wikipedia article Harold Pinter, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Born

Hackney, London, England, UK on 10th October 1930

Died

24th December 2008

All Credits

The South Bank Show Image
The South Bank Show
Self
The Wednesday Play Image
The Wednesday Play
Garcin
Tony Awards Image
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
BBC2 Play of the Week Image
BBC2 Play of the Week
Barry Shannon
The Culture Show Image
The Culture Show
Self
NBC Experiment in Television Image
NBC Experiment in Television
Self / (voice)
No Image
Theatre Night
Goldberg
The Servant Image
The Servant
People in Restaurant: Society Man
The Tailor of Panama Image
The Tailor of Panama
Uncle Benny
Sleuth Image
Sleuth
Man on T.V.
Mansfield Park Image
Mansfield Park
Sir Thomas Bertram
Wit Image
Wit
Mr. Bearing
Accident Image
Accident
Bell - TV Producer
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story Image
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
Self (archive footage)
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer Image
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
Steven Hench
Breaking the Code Image
Breaking the Code
John Smith
Harold Pinter:  A Celebration Image
Harold Pinter: A Celebration
Self (archive footage)
Rogue Male Image
Rogue Male
Saul Abrahams
Turtle Diary Image
Turtle Diary
Man in Bookshop
The Caretaker Image
The Caretaker
Man
Mojo Image
Mojo
Sam Ross
Langrishe, Go Down Image
Langrishe, Go Down
Barry Shannon
Catastrophe Image
Catastrophe
The Director
In Camera Image
In Camera
Garcin
Michael Redgrave: My Father Image
Michael Redgrave: My Father
Self
A Night Out Image
A Night Out
Seeley
Art, Truth and Politics Image
Art, Truth and Politics
self
No Image
One for the Road
Nicolas
No Image
Last to Go
The Birthday Party Image
The Birthday Party
Nat Goldberg
The Basement Image
The Basement
Stott
Krapp's Last Tape Image
Krapp's Last Tape
Krapp
The South Bank Show: The French Lieutenant's Woman Image
The South Bank Show: The French Lieutenant's Woman
Self - Interviewee
Poets Against the Bomb Image
Poets Against the Bomb
No Image
Against the War
himself
No Image
This Week in Britain #199: The Caretaker
Self