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Birth of Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (Playwright, screenwriter, actor, theatre director, poet) was born on October 10, 1930, in Hackney, east London (UK), the only child of British Jewish parents of Eastern European descent: his father, Hyman "Jack" Pinter (1902–1997) was a ladies' tailor; his mother, Frances (née Moskowitz; 1904–1992), a housewife. -
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Attended Hackney Downs School
Pinter discovered his social potential as a student at Hackney Downs School, a London grammar school. There he develop his passion for literature and drama. He also found a mentor, his teacher, Joseph Brearley, who directed him in school plays. -
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First poems
Pinter's first poems were published in 1947 in the school magazine of Hackney Downs. His early poems were published in Poetry London in August 1950. He continued to write poems throughout his life, and his first collection of poems was published in 1968, included poems from little magazines in the 1950s. -
Political Activism
Surviving World War II and experiencing the anti-Semitism that followed made a pacifist of him. When Pinter was 18 years old he opposed the politics of the Cold War, leading to his decision to become a conscientious objector and to refuse to comply with National Service in the British military. -
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Attended Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
He was admitted to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) on a grant, but he left after two terms. He disliked his time at RADA and frequently missed classes. He left the program after faking a nervous breakdown. -
Central School of Speech and Drama experience
At the end of the spring term in Central School of Speech and Drama, Pinter was hired by Anew McMaster for a Shakespeare tour around Ireland. During that tour he discovered Samuel Beckett (influential figure). While writing both poetry and novels, Pinter decided to adopt a stage name: David Baron. -
Influential Figure
Harold Pinter discovered Samuel Beckett during a Shakespeare tour of Ireland in 1951. Samuel Beckett's work helped Pinter create his own distinct style of writing and the two writers became close friends.
Shakespeare’s work also influence Pinter’s pre-theatre writings (1950-1956), to his collaboration with Sir Peter Hall. -
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Failed Marriage
In 1956 Pinter married an English actress, Vivien Merchant and had a son, Daniel, born in 1958. He divorced Vivien Merchant in 1977 because of his affairs with Joan Bakewell from 1962 to 1969 and
with Antonia Fraser in 1975. -
First Play
Pinter's first play, The Room, was performed as a student production at the University of Bristol.
Published: 1957
Brief Synopsis: "The Room" is a short, tense play where Rose, a seemingly ordinary woman living in a rented room with her husband Bert, is increasingly disturbed by a series of mysterious visitors, including a young couple and a blind black man named Riley, which culminates in a sudden, violent act and a sense of growing unease and fear. -
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Tony Awards
Other than the 1967 Tony Award Pinter received for Best Play for The Homecoming. He was nominated for Tony Awards for The Caretaker in 1962 and Old Times in 1972. He also won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 1969 for The Man in the Glass Booth. -
Influenced writing
Pinter believed in the importance of performance achieved in film—he was influenced by the actors of his youth like Robert Newton—and he was moved by films such as Napoléon and Abel Gance’s silent classic. -
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The Homecoming (one of his best-known plays)
The Homecoming is a two-act play written in 1964. Published: 1965
Synopsis: Teddy, a successful philosophy professor living in America, returns to his working-class family home in North London with his wife Ruth, introducing her to his father, brothers, and uncle for the first time.
The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Play at its 40th-anniversary production at the Cort Theatre was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for "Best Revival of a Play". -
Royal National Theatre
When Peter Hall (a British theater director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company) was named managing director of the Royal National Theatre in 1973, he invited Pinter to join him as the associate director. Pinter remained there for 10 years. -
Remarried
When Pinter told Vivien Merchant about his affair with Antonia Fraser, Merchant became verbally abusive towards Fraser, both in public and in private.
Merchant's career declined, and she died of liver disease at the age of 53. Pinter than later married Fraser in 1980. While, being married to Fraser he enjoyed his life with six adult stepchildren and 17 step-grandchildren. -
International PEN
Pinter was active in International PEN (a worldwide association of writers), serving as a vice president, along with American playwright Arthur Miller. In 1985, Pinter and Miller went to Turkey, on a mission co-sponsored by International PEN and a Helsinki Watch committee to investigate and protest against the torture of imprisoned writers. -
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Politics
Pinter strongly opposed the 1991 Gulf War, the 1999 NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War, the United States' 2001 War in Afghanistan, and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. His political statements elicited some strong public criticism and even, at times, provoked ridicule and personal attacks. -
Only Novel
The Dwarfs is the only novel by Harold Pinter. It was written in the early 1950s, before Pinter began writing plays.
Published/Revised: 1992
Brief Synopsis: A novel that explores the lives of four young people in post-war London. -
David Cohen Prize
Pinter accepted the David Cohen Prize in recognition of a lifetime of literary achievement. He won the David Cohen Prize because of his significant and lasting contributions to literature, particularly recognized for his unique style of playwriting which often featured ambiguous dialogue, long pauses, and underlying tension, creating a profound impact on contemporary theatre through his plays. -
Laurence Olivier Award
Award Category:
Society of London Theatre Special Award (essentially a lifetime achievement award)
Significance:
This award acknowledged Pinter's extensive body of work, including plays like "The Birthday Party," "The Homecoming," and "Betrayal". -
Last play
Harold Pinter's last stage play was Celebration, written in 2000. Pinter stopped writing plays after Celebration to focus on poetry.
Published: 1999
Brief Synopsis: Celebration is a play about a dinner at an expensive and top restaurant in town where two couples celebrate a wedding anniversary. -
Health issues
Pinter learned he had cancer of the esophagus in late 2001. Esophageal cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the esophagus, the tube that connects the throat to the stomach. He also suffered from pemphigus, a rare autoimmune disease. -
Nobel Prize Literature
Pinter was awarded with the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms." He is the 11th British writer to become a recipient of the prize after William Golding in 1983 and was followed later by Doris Lessing in 2007 and Kazuo Ishiguro in 2017. -
Dead of Harold Pinter
Pinter died on December 24, 2008 at age 78 years in Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom by cancer. -
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Reference Page
-officiallondontheatre.com
-en.wikipedia.org
-haroldpinter.org
-en.wikipedia.org%2C%20a%20housewife.)