Tributes paid to playwright Pinter

Nobel Laureate Pinter, who had been suffering from cancer, died on Christmas Eve.

His second wife, Lady Antonia Fraser, told the Guardian newspaper: "He was a great, and it was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years. He will never be forgotten."

Actor David Bradley, currently appearing in a production of Pinter's No Man's Land with David Walliams and Sir Michael Gambon, said: "I'm very honoured to have known him personally and professionally over the last 10 years," he said. "It's a huge loss. People from Germany, Israel and China would come backstage saying Harold Pinter was so important to them. He wrote about oppression and people taking terrible advantage and oppressing each other on a personal level. Although he did not write the plays in an overtly political way they stood the test of time because they have universal themes. They meant so much to people in different ways."

Pinter was well-known for his left-wing political views and was a critic of US and UK foreign policy, voicing opposition on a number of issues including the bombing of Afghanistan in 2001.

Veteran politician Tony Benn said: "Harold Pinter was a great playwright and a great figure on the political scene. His death will leave a huge gap that will be felt by the whole political spectrum."

Comedian Bill Bailey, who appeared in the collection of sketches Pinter's People, told Sky News: "He really ushered in a whole new era of drama - it didn't have to have a neat ending or even make sense, it conveyed a sense of feeling, an air of menace, you don't know why, and that inspired a new generation."

BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob told BBC News: "He was a unique figure in British theatre. He has dominated the theatre scene since the 1950s."

He won many awards for his plays, the greatest of which was the Nobel Prize for Literature on October 13, 2005.

Along with his wife he leaves a son Daniel with his first wife, actress Vivien Merchant, and six step children.