Obituary: Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter: 1930-2008
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Thursday, 25, Dec 2008 04:27
Harold Pinter, playwright, director, actor, poet, political activist and literary great has died in London, at the age of 78.
inthenews.co.uk looks back on the life of the most influential post-war British playwright.
Born into a Jewish family in the London borough of Hackney, Pinter's grandparents had fled persecution in Poland and Odessa. Attracted to acting from an early age, Pinter's future political activism was foreshadowed when three years after the second world war he refused to do national service as conscientious objector.
His 29 works as a playwright include The Caretaker - his breakthrough work in 1960 - The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter, The Homecoming, Betrayal). He also wrote 21 screenplays such as The Servant, The Go-Between, The French Lieutenant's Woman).
The former Shakespearian actor directed 27 theatre productions as well, from James Joyce's Exiles to David Mamet's Oleanna, as well as many of his own plays including his latest, Celebration, paired with his first, The Room at The Almeida Theatre, London in the spring of 2000.
Awarded a CBE in 1966 and in 2002, Pinter was made a Companion of Honour for services to literature. In 2005 he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature.
Announcing the award, Horace Engdahl, chairman of the Swedish Academy, described Pinter as an artist "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms".
Other awards include the Shakespeare prize in 1970 (Hamburg), the European prize for literature in 1973 (Vienna), the Pirandello prize in 1980 (Palermo), the David Cohen British literature prize in 1995, the Laurence Olivier Award, the Legion d'Honneur and the Moliere D'Honneur for lifetime achievement.
Almost a decade ago he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature, which added to the honorary degrees he received from 17 universities.
Pinter always made his interest in politics very public, speaking out against the abuse of state power around the world, condemning coalition action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Four years ago he was awarded the Wilfred Owen award for poetry for a collection of work criticising the war in Iraq.
Pinter had been suffering from cancer for some time. His second wife, Lady Antonia Fraser, told the Guardian: "He was a great, and it was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years. He will never be forgotten."