Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter was a British playwright best known for his association with the Theatre of the Absurd, though he also saw a successful career as a director and actor. Pinter was born on October 10, 1930, in London to working-class Jewish parents. His father was a tailor and his mother was a housewife. Pinter studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art starting in 1948 but dropped out to pursue an acting career. He spent the next several years touring Ireland and England with various repertory companies. Pinter began his career as a playwright in the mid-1950s with the one-act drama The Room, which was first produced in 1957. His first full-length play, The Birthday Party, was first produced in 1958 and left initial audiences perplexed due to its absurdist themes and experimental features. Pinter’s second full-length play, The Caretaker, was first produced in 1960. His next major play, The Homecoming, was first produced in 1965. These major plays helped solidify Pinter’s reputation, both as a key player in the Theatre of the Absurd and as a notable artist in his own right. In addition to his plays, Pinter also wrote for radio, television, and film, including the screenplay for the film adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1990) and for the film adaptation of one of his own plays, Betrayal (1983). Regarded as one of the most important British playwrights of the 20th century, Pinter has received numerous accolades for his work, including the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. Pinter died on December 24, 2008 at age 78 of esophageal cancer. He was survived by his second wife and numerous step-children and step-grandchildren.