Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter dies at 78

Pinter, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2005, was a vocal opponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, likening U.S. President George W. Bush's administration to the Nazis and calling former British Prime Minister Tony Blair a "mass murderer".

His plays, including "The Caretaker" and "The Homecoming", were regarded as among the finest of the last half century and enjoyed a recent renaissance as modern audiences tapped into his dark studies of tedious lives balancing on the edge of chaos.

Pinter's second wife, Lady Antonia Fraser, told the Guardian newspaper he was "a great".

"It was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years. He will never be forgotten," she said.

Pinter's work influenced a generation of British dramatists, defined the "kitchen sink" drama and introduced a new word to the English language. "Pinteresque" perfectly describes taught silences peppered with half-stated insights.

His plays exuded tension, were spiced with erotic fantasies and were full of obsession, jealousy and hatred. Critics dubbed Pinter's chilling masterpieces "the theatre of insecurity".

But the son of a working-class Jewish tailor never helped audiences to unravel the meaning of his plays, telling them: "There are no hard distinctions between what is real and unreal."

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