Pinter

Harold Pinter
Pinter in December 2005
Born	(1930-10-10)10 October 1930 Hackney, London, England
Died	24 December 2008(2008-12-24) (aged 78) Acton, London, England
Occupation	Playwright, screenwriter, actor, theatre director, poet
Nationality	British
Period	1947–2008
Notable awards	Companion of Honour (2002) Nobel Prize in Literature (2005) Légion d'honneur (2007) David Cohen Prize (1995) Laurence Olivier Award (1996)
Spouse	Vivien Merchant (1956–1980; divorced) Lady Antonia Fraser (1980–2008; his death)
Children	One son with Merchant, six stepchildren with Fraser
Signature
Harold Pinter's voice from the BBC programme Front Row Interviews, 26 December 2008.
Website
www.haroldpinter.org

Harold Pinter CH CBE (/ˈpɪntər/; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning English playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career 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.