Vivien Merchant

Vivien Merchant

​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.

  • Title: Vivien Merchant
  • Popularity: 3.02
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1929-07-22
  • Place of Birth: Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Ada Brand Thomson
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Vivien Merchant Movies

  • 1972
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    Frenzy

    Frenzy

    7.1 1972 HD

    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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  • 1966
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    A Month in the Country

    A Month in the Country

    1 1966 HD

    An adaptation Turgenev's play of the same name.

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  • 1977
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    The Man in the Iron Mask

    The Man in the Iron Mask

    6.2 1977 HD

    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,...

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  • 1973
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    The Offence

    The Offence

    6.8 1973 HD

    A burned-out British police detective finally snaps while interrogating a suspected child molester.

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  • 1972
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    Under Milk Wood

    Under Milk Wood

    6.2 1972 HD

    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...

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  • 1966
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    Alfie

    Alfie

    6.4 1966 HD

    A young man leads a promiscuous lifestyle until several life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life.

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  • 1969
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    Alfred the Great

    Alfred the Great

    4.3 1969 HD

    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...

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  • 1967
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    Accident

    Accident

    6.2 1967 HD

    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,...

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  • 1973
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    The Homecoming

    The Homecoming

    5.8 1973 HD

    In a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence and...

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  • 1963
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    The Lover

    The Lover

    1 1963 HD

    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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  • 1965
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    Tea Party

    Tea Party

    1 1965 HD

    Mysteries abound. What is going on between the wife and her brother? Are they indeed brother and sister? Sisson has his doubts about that … ....

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  • 1975
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    The Maids

    The Maids

    5.3 1975 HD

    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...

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  • 1968
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    Funeral Games

    Funeral Games

    1 1968 HD

    Pringle, leader of the Brotherhood, recieves an anonymous letter accusing his wife of adultery. He employs a private investigator, Caulfield, who...

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  • 1973
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    The Common

    The Common

    1 1973 HD

    A social comedy about the relationship between two couples with different political beliefs. Edward and Jane Noble are right wing, but with some...

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  • 1960
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    A Night Out

    A Night Out

    1 1960 HD

    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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  • 1972
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    A War of Children

    A War of Children

    7.2 1972 HD

    A Protestant and a Catholic family's friendship is threatened by the sectarian violence in Belfast. When the daughter of the Catholic family falls...

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  • 1960
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    Night School

    Night School

    1 1960 HD

    The plot focuses on a man returning home from prison to find his room being rented out to a tenant.

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  • 1970
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    The Collection

    The Collection

    1 1970 HD

    An elderly homosexual and a married woman are both intrigued by the same man.

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  • 1967
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    Opus

    Opus

    5 1967 HD

    Impressions of contemporary British arts and fashion. Summary of art through the ages taking in every thing from Mary Quant to the Marat/Sade...

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  • 1962
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    Studio 4

    Studio 4

    5 1962 HD

    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...

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  • 1962
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    Studio Four

    Studio Four

    6 1962 HD

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  • 1977
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    Secret Army

    Secret Army

    7.6 1977 HD

    World War II drama about covert organisation Lifeline helping allied airmen escape after being shot down in occupied Europe, working with the...

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  • 1980
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    A Tale of Two Cities

    A Tale of Two Cities

    5 1980 HD

    Mini-series based on the novel by Charles Dickens.

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  • 1967
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    NBC Experiment in Television

    NBC Experiment in Television

    1 1967 HD

    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...

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