Harold Pinter (next)
Awards: Wilfred
Owen Poetry Prize, 2005;
Nobel
Prize in Literature-2005
Born: 10/10/1930 in East London at Borough of
Hackney
Died: 24/12/2008 in London
Citizen: British
Language: English
Pinter was born in a lower class family and was
the only child of his parents. His father was a ladies' tailor and
mother, a housewife. In school, Pinter was a good sprinter and a
cricketer. His school teacher Joseph Brearley who used to
conduct plays for the students had a profound impact on him.
Pinter was primarily a playwright, screen writer,
actor and director. But he was also a poet. During his school days, he
started acting and writing poems. As a student, he joined Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art but could not complete the course. He also
worked in reportory theatre of Ireland and England for some time.
Production of the play The Room in 1957 was the starting of his
career as a playwright. It was followed by his second play, The
Birthday Party, which was favorably reviewed. He also acted in a
number of his own as well as other plays.
Pinter's blunt political
statements invited wrath, ridicule and severe criticism from many
quarters. He was very critical of US involvement in Iraq and called it
a naked aggression watched silently by the Great Britain. He was also
a patron of Palestine Festival of Literature.
Pinter was detected of esophageal cancer in
December, 2001 and had to undergo chemotherapy. Even, he could not
personally attend the Nobel ceremony due to illness. He ultimately
died of liver cancer in 24th December, 2008.
Pinter's funeral was a quiet, private affair
at the graveside at Kensal Green Cemetery, 31 December 2008. The eight
readings selected in advance by Pinter included passages from seven of
his own writings and from the story "The Dead", by James Joyce, which
was read by actress Penelope Wilton. At its end, Pinter's widow,
Antonia Fraser, stepped forward to his grave and quoted from Horatio's
speech after the death of Hamlet: "Goodnight, sweet prince, / And
flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
Notable Plays:
The Birthday Party(1957) ;
The Dumb Waiter(1957),The
Caretaker(1959); A Night
Out(1959); The Home Coming(1964)
; Silence(1968);
Old Times(1970);
Betrayl(1978);
Moonlight(1993);Celebration(1999);
Remembrance of Things Past(2000);
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