Harold Pinter (1930-2008) was a British playwright whose full dramatic work, spanning 1957 to 2005, culminated in a Nobel Prize for Literature in the latter year. While his early works featured an absurdist or avant garde tone similar to Samuel Beckett (who he would befriend), Pinter's plays later shifted to focusing on memory or overt political critique, while the British divide is a common issue throughout. Dialogue was marked by the use of slang (often working class), deliberate silences, and digressions into triviality. Some of his best known plays include The Dumb Waiter (a two person piece sometimes compared to Waiting for Godot), The Caretaker, and No Man's Land, and The Homecoming.
Pinter occasionally directed (including plays by others) and had a busy screenwriting career as well, contributing scripts (often adaptations) for The Servant (with James Fox), The French Lieutenant's Woman (with Meryl Streep), Turtle Diary (based on a Russell Hoban book, with Glenda Jackson), and the 2007 remake of Sleuth (with Jude Law and Michael Caine). His work was the subject of a 1967 NBC Experiment in Television episode, "Pinter People" (directed by Gerald Potterton). On occasion, Pinter acted, from roles in his own work and a 2006 staging of Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape to a key supporting part in the 1970s film The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (with John Cleese) as a David Frost-style talk show host.
References[]
- The insert for the 1984 computer game Welcome Aboard boasts that the entertainment amenities on the SS Microship include "the latest plays of Harold Printer."
- Miss Piggy, in a 1984 interview on the Australian talk show Sounds, says her plans include performing straight plays including those of Harold Pinter and other stage noteworthies.
Connections[]
- F. Murray Abraham played Tzelniker and Rudin in The Man in the Glass Booth (Broadway, 1968)
- Graham Brown played Sam in The Man in the Glass Booth (Broadway, 1968)
- Michael Caine played Mr. Sands in The Room (West End, 1960)
- Michael Connolly understudied Stephen and Jeff in Otherwise Engaged (directed by Pinter on Broadway, 1977)
- Lindsay Duncan played Rebecca in Ashes to Ashes (West End and off-Broadway, 1996) and Rose in The Room (West End, 2000)
- Michael Gambon played Davies in The Caretaker (West End, 2000)
- John Gielgud played Spooner in No Man's Land (West End, 1975)
- Ernesto Gasco played a waiter in Betrayal (Broadway, 1980)
- Tom Hiddleston played Robert in Betrayal (Broadway, 2019)
- Ian Holm played Lenny in The Homecoming (West End, 1965; Broadway, 1967; 1973 film) and Bert Hudd in The Room (West End, 1989)
- John Hurt played Mick in The Caretaker (West End, 1972)
- Jeremy Irons played Mick in The Caretaker (West End, 1973)
- Raúl Juliá played Jerry in Betrayal (Broadway, 1980)
- Ian McShane played Max in The Homecoming (Broadway, 2008)
- Michael McKean played Sam in The Homecoming (Broadway, 2008)
- Ian McKellen played Spooner in No Man's Land (Broadway, 2013)
- Bryan Pringle played Stanley in The Birthday Party (West End, 1964)
- Nicholas Selby played Ben in The Dumb Waiter (1960) and Gidney in A Night Out (TV, 1960)
- Patrick Stewart played Davies in The Caretaker (Broadway, 2003) and Hirst in No Man's Land (Broadway, 2013)