About

Known credits:
101
Birthday:
1930-10-10
Place of birth:
Hackney, London, England, UK
Website:
N/A

Harold Pinter

Overview

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

Known for

Acting
2023 Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story Actor Self (archive footage) 58
Average
2010 Harold Pinter: A Celebration Actor Self (archive footage) N/A
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2007 Sleuth Actor Man on T.V. 60
Fair
2007 Krapp's Last Tape Actor Krapp N/A
N/A
2006 Art, Truth and Politics Actor self N/A
N/A
2001 Catastrophe Actor The Director 59
Average
2001 One for the Road Actor Nicolas N/A
N/A
2001 The Tailor of Panama Actor Uncle Benny 59
Average
2001 Wit Actor Mr. Bearing 61
Fair
1999 Mansfield Park Actor Sir Thomas Bertram 61
Fair
1999 Against the War Actor himself N/A
N/A
1997 Mojo Actor Sam Ross 58
Average
1997 Michael Redgrave: My Father Actor Self N/A
N/A
1996 Breaking the Code Actor John Smith 58
Average
1987 The Birthday Party Actor Nat Goldberg 59
Average
1985 Turtle Diary Actor Man in Bookshop 58
Average
1981 Poets Against the Bomb Actor N/A
N/A
1981 The South Bank Show: The French Lieutenant's Woman Actor Self - Interviewee N/A
N/A
1978 Langrishe, Go Down Actor Barry Shannon 58
Average
1976 Rogue Male Actor Saul Abrahams 59
Average
1970 The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer Actor Steven Hench 58
Average
1969 Last to Go Actor N/A
N/A
1967 The Basement Actor Stott N/A
N/A
1967 Accident Actor Bell - TV Producer 59
Average
1964 In Camera Actor Garcin 59
Average
1964 The Caretaker Actor Man 59
Average
1963 The Servant Actor People in Restaurant: Society Man 65
Fair
1962 This Week in Britain #199: The Caretaker Actor Self N/A
N/A
1960 A Night Out Actor Seeley N/A
N/A

Directing
1995 Landscape Directing Director 59
Average
1992 Party Time Directing Director 58
Average
1988 Mountain Language Directing Director 59
Average
1982 The Hothouse Directing Director N/A
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1980 The Rear Column Directing Director N/A
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1978 Die Geburtstagsfeier Directing Director N/A
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1974 Butley Directing Director 59
Average

Writing
2024 Retrógrado Writing Original Story N/A
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2019 The Collection Writing Writer N/A
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2019 The New World Order Writing Writer 59
Average
2016 National Theatre Live: No Man's Land Writing Theatre Play 59
Average
2016 A Walk By Waiting Writing Writer N/A
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2011 Talk Show Writing Theatre Play N/A
N/A
2010 Harold Pinter: A Celebration Writing Writer N/A
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2007 Sleuth Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
2007 Celebration Writing Writer 59
Average
2007 Le gardien Writing Author N/A
N/A
2006 Art, Truth and Politics Writing Writer N/A
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2004 The Caretaker Writing Author N/A
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2003 Victoria Station Writing Writer N/A
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2002 The Dwarfs Writing Writer 58
Average
1999 Against the War Writing Writer N/A
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1999 The Dumb Waiter Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1995 Landscape Writing Writer 59
Average
1993 The Trial Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1992 Party Time Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1991 Old Times Writing Writer 59
Average
1990 The Comfort of Strangers Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1990 The Handmaid's Tale Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1989 The Heat of the Day Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1989 Reunion Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1988 Mountain Language Writing Writer 59
Average
1987 The Birthday Party Writing Writer 59
Average
1987 Basements Writing Writer 59
Average
1985 Turtle Diary Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1985 One for the Road Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1985 The Dumb Waiter Writing Writer 59
Average
1984 A Kind of Alaska Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1983 Betrayal Writing Writer 58
Average
1983 Landscape Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1982 The Hothouse Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1981 The French Lieutenant's Woman Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1981 The Caretaker Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1978 No Man's Land Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1978 Langrishe, Go Down Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1976 The Last Tycoon Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1976 The Collection Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1975 Old Times Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1973 The Homecoming Writing Theatre Play 58
Average
1973 The Homecoming Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1973 Monologue Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1971 The Go-Between Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1969 Last to Go Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1968 The Birthday Party Writing Theatre Play 59
Average
1968 The Birthday Party Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1967 The Basement Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1967 A Night Out Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1967 Accident Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1967 A Slight Ache Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1966 The Quiller Memorandum Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1966 Modesty Blaise Writing Co-Writer 58
Average
1965 Tea Party Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1964 The Pumpkin Eater Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1964 The Caretaker Writing Writer 59
Average
1963 Kolleksjonen Writing Author N/A
N/A
1963 The Servant Writing Screenplay 65
Fair
1963 The Lover Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1961 The Dumb Waiter Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1960 Night School Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1960 A Night Out Writing Writer N/A
N/A
The Collection Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Crew
2004 Under a False Name Crew Thanks 58
Average