Vivien Merchant

Vivien Merchant

Born: July 22, 1929
Died: October 3, 1982
in Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  

Vivien Merchant (born Ada Thompson 22 July 1929 – 3 October 1982) was a British actress. She performed in many stage productions and several films, including Alfie (1966) and Frenzy (1972). Her performance in Alfie earned her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She was the first wife of the playwright Harold Pinter, whom she met when working as a repertory actress and married in 1956. Their son, Daniel, was born in 1958. Having performed the role of Rose in a production of his first play, The Room (1957) at the Hampstead Theatre in 1960, she also appeared in many of Pinter's subsequent works, including as Ruth in The Homecoming (1964) on stage (1965) and screen (The Homecoming, 1973). The last of his plays in which she performed was Old Times (1971) as Anna.

Their marriage began disintegrating in the mid-1960s. From 1962 to 1969, Harold Pinter had a clandestine affair with Joan Bakewell, which informs Pinter's play Betrayal and his film adaptation, also called Betrayal.

In 1975 Pinter began a serious affair with the historian Lady Antonia Fraser, the wife of Sir Hugh Fraser, which he confessed to his wife that March. At first, Merchant took it very well, saying positive things about Fraser, according to her friend artist Guy Vaesen (as cited by Billington); but, Vaesen recalled, after "a female friend of Vivien's trotted round to her house and poisoned her mind against Antonia ... Life in Hanover Terrace [where the Pinters then lived] gradually became impossible". Pinter left, and Vivien Merchant filed for divorce and gave interviews to the tabloid press, expressing her distress.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 Pinter, dying at the age of 53 on 3 October 1982, from acute alcoholism

Description above from the Wikipedia article Vivien Merchant ,  licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Vivien Merchant...

Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Released: October 5, 1980
Type: TV
Mini-series based on the novel by Charles Dickens.
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Title: Secret Army
Character: Mlle. Gunet
Released: September 7, 1977
Type: TV
World War II drama about covert organisation Lifeline helping allied airmen escape after being shot down in occupied Europe, working with the Resistance and hiding from the Gestapo.
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The Man in the Iron Mask
Title: The Man in the Iron Mask
Character: Reine Maria Theresa
Released: July 17, 1977
Type: Movie
The story of Louis XIV of France and his attempts to keep his identical twin brother Philippe imprisoned away from sight and knowledge of the public, and Philippe's rescue by the aging Musketeers, led by D'Artagnan.
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The Maids
Title: The Maids
Character: Madame
Released: April 21, 1975
Type: Movie
A film version of Genet's play. Two maids, Solange and Claire, hate their employers and, while they are out, take turns at dressing up as Madame and insulting her.
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The Homecoming
Title: The Homecoming
Character: Ruth
Released: October 29, 1973
Type: Movie
In a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence and introduces the four men - father, uncle and two brothers - to his wife.
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The Common
Title: The Common
Character: Jane Noble
Released: October 21, 1973
Type: Movie
A social comedy about the relationship between two couples with different political beliefs. Edward and Jane Noble are right wing, but with some liberal leanings, whereas Sean and Marcia are more radical and left wing.
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The Offence
Title: The Offence
Character: Maureen Johnson
Released: January 11, 1973
Type: Movie
A burned-out British police detective finally snaps while interrogating a suspected child molester.
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A War of Children
Title: A War of Children
Released: November 18, 1972
Type: Movie
A Protestant and a Catholic family's friendship is threatened by the sectarian violence in Belfast. When the daughter of the Catholic family falls in love a British soldier the situation worsens ...
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Frenzy
Title: Frenzy
Character: Mrs. Oxford
Released: May 25, 1972
Type: Movie
After a serial killer strangles several women with a necktie, London police identify a suspect—but he claims vehemently to be the wrong man.
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Under Milk Wood
Title: Under Milk Wood
Character: Mrs. Pugh
Released: January 27, 1972
Type: Movie
The delightful if peculiar story of a day in the life of a small, Welsh fishing village called "Llareggub" in which we meet a host of curious characters (and ghosts) through the 'eyes' of Blind Captain Cat.
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Alfred the Great
Title: Alfred the Great
Character: Freda
Released: October 8, 1969
Type: Movie
While Old England is being ransacked by roving Danes in the 9th century, Alfred is planning to join the priesthood. But observing the rape of his land, he puts away his religious vows to take up arms against the invaders, leading the English Christians to fight for their country. Alfred soundly defeats the Danes and becomes a hero. But now, although Alfred still longs for the priesthood, he is torn between his passion for God and his lust for blood.
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Funeral Games
Title: Funeral Games
Character: Tessa
Released: August 26, 1968
Type: Movie
Pringle, leader of the Brotherhood, recieves an anonymous letter accusing his wife of adultery. He employs a private investigator, Caulfield, who discovers things are not quite that straightforward. Joe Orton's last play for television: a farce.
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Accident
Title: Accident
Character: Rosalind
Released: February 9, 1967
Type: Movie
Stephen is a professor at Oxford University who is caught in a rut and feels trapped by his life in both academia and marriage. One of his students, William, is engaged to the beautiful Anna, and Stephen becomes enamored of the younger woman. These three people become linked together by a horrible car crash, with flashbacks providing details into the lives of each person and their connection to the others in this brooding English drama.
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Opus
Title: Opus
Character: Ruth (The Homecoming)
Released: January 2, 1967
Type: Movie
Impressions of contemporary British arts and fashion. Summary of art through the ages taking in every thing from Mary Quant to the Marat/Sade production. Made for the Montreal "Expo '67" exhibition.
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Alfie
Title: Alfie
Character: Lily Clamacraft
Released: March 29, 1966
Type: Movie
A young man leads a promiscuous lifestyle until several life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life.
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A Month in the Country
Title: A Month in the Country
Released: March 20, 1966
Type: Movie
An adaptation Turgenev's play of the same name.
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Tea Party
Title: Tea Party
Released: March 25, 1965
Type: Movie
Mysteries abound. What is going on between the wife and her brother? Are they indeed brother and sister? Sisson has his doubts about that … . Why does Sisson feel that there must be something wrong with his eyes, although he knows that he can see clearly and his eye doctor has assured him that his vision is perfect? He forces his secretary to tie a chiffon scarf over his eyes, and then he is able to make a pass at her, in response to one of her many come-ons. Ordinary events assume a sinister tinge. Sisson's two sons, giving him the deadpan treatment that little boys have been inflicting on their elders from time immemorial, seem as eerie as characters out of a ghost story. Always the questions remain. Is there a conspiracy against Sisson. Wikipedia
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The Lover
Title: The Lover
Character: Sarah
Released: March 28, 1963
Type: Movie
A sophisticated suburban couple try to enliven their marriage with erotic role-playing, but find their new games even more repressive than before.
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Title: Studio Four
Character: Olivia
Released: January 22, 1962
Type: TV
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Title: Studio 4
Character: Olivia
Released: January 22, 1962
Type: TV
Studio 4 is a BBC drama anthology series, filmed at the BBC TV Centre's Studio Four, and screening over two seasons in 1962. The series was envisaged as a sequel to Storyboard, an anthology series which had been transmitted the previous year.
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Night School
Title: Night School
Character: Sally Gibbs
Released: July 21, 1960
Type: Movie
The plot focuses on a man returning home from prison to find his room being rented out to a tenant.
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A Night Out
Title: A Night Out
Character: Girl
Released: April 24, 1960
Type: Movie
Against the wishes of his domineering mother, Albert Stokes attends a work party. But the evening is not the escape he was hoping for.
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The Collection
Title: The Collection
Character: Stella
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
An elderly homosexual and a married woman are both intrigued by the same man.
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Title: NBC Experiment in Television
Character: vocie
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: TV
An attempt by NBC to emulate the success of the CBS hit The Twilight Zone, this hour-long anthology series showcased different actors, stories and creative talent each week.