Harold Pinter was a British playwright, screenwriter, and director who was born in 1930 in London. He wrote 29 plays and directed nearly 50 productions for stage, film, and television. Some of his most famous plays include The Birthday Party and The Caretaker. Pinter is known for his use of ambiguous language and situations that escalate from mundane to menacing in a way that reflects everyday speech. His works often explore themes of isolation, power relations, and the inability to communicate. Pinter was diagnosed with cancer in 2001 but continued working until his death in 2008, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.