Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant (born
July 22,
1929 in
Manchester, England; died
October 3,
1983) was a British actress, who was born
Ada Thompson.
Despite her talent and many film appearances - including
Alfie (
1966) and
Frenzy (
1972), she is probably best remembered as the first wife of the playwright,
Harold Pinter, whom she married in
1956; their son, Daniel, was born in 1958.
[Details about the Pinters' marriage and their family life are provided by Michael Billington, The Life and Work of Harold Pinter. London: Faber and Faber, 1996.]She appeared in many of his works, notably
The Homecoming on stage (1965) and screen (1973) and in the original production of
The Room (1960). Their marriage began disintegrating in the mid-1960s. From 1962-69, Harold Pinter had an affair with
Joan Bakewell, which informs Pinter's dramatic play
Betrayal and his film adaptation, also called
Betrayal. In 1975 Pinter began an affair with historian Lady
Antonia Fraser, the wife of Sir
Hugh Fraser. In 1975 Vivien Merchant filed for divorce.
[Merchant gave interviews to the press about her distress. See "People." Time Archive: 1923 to the Present 11 Aug. 1975. 7 July 2006.] The Frasers' divorce became final in 1977 and the Pinters' in 1980. In 1980 Pinter married Antonia Fraser.
Vivien Merchant never overcame her grief and bitterness at losing "husband" Pinter, dying at the age of 54 on
October 3,
1983, from acute alcoholism.
[According to Billington, Pinter "did everything possible to support" Merchant until her death and regrets that he became estranged from their son, Daniel, after their separation and Pinter's marrying Antonia Fraser. Now nearing fifty, a reclusive "gifted" writer and musician, Daniel does not use the surname Pinter, having adopted as his surname "his maternal grandmother's maiden name" Brand after his parents separated (Life and Work 276; 255).]
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