Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born October 10, 1930) is an English playwright and theatre director. He has written for theatre, radio, television and film. His early work is often associated with the theatre of the absurd.

Personal Life

In 1977, Pinter caused a public scandal by leaving his wife, the troubled actress Vivien Merchant whom he had married in 1956 and who still loved him, for Lady Antonia Fraser, the eldest daughter of the 7th Lord Longford and a Roman Catholic, whom he eventually married in 1980 after his divorce. His play Betrayal (1978) is sometimes claimed as a depiction of this liaison, but is actually based on an earlier seven-year affair Pinter had with Joan Bakewell, the television presenter.

Related Topics:
1977 - Vivien Merchant - Antonia Fraser - 1978 - Joan Bakewell

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Subsequently, he had a public falling out with theatre director Peter Hall over the depiction of a frequently drunk Pinter in Hall's Diaries published in 1983, though the two men subsequently returned to friendly terms.

Related Topics:
Peter Hall - 1983

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Pinter is a great fan of cricket and is the chairman of the Gaieties Cricket Club. He is also an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.

Related Topics:
Cricket - National Secular Society

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