Days after celebrating his 75th birthday in Dublin it is announced that Harold Pinter is to be awarded the Nobel Prize.
Londoner Harold Pinter had been writing for almost 50 years and was known for plays including 'The Birthday Party' (1957) and 'Betrayal' (1978). He began his career as an actor in Ireland, as a member of Anew McMaster's repertory company in the 1950s and regularly returned to the Dublin stage.
I'm speechless and I remain so. But I'll have to stop being speechless when I get to Stockholm.
The playwright had become increasingly well known in recent years for his political views. According to academic Tony Roche :
Pinter has been outspken in his opposition to American imperialism, the Gulf War and the war in Iraq in the last 10 or 15 years, and his plays have reflected that.
Director of the Gate Theatre Michael Colgan says that Pinter considered the time he had spent at the Gate over the past four days the most memorable of his life.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 13 October 2005. The reporter is Mary Calpin.
