British actor Danny Dyer has publicly revealed that following the death of his mentor, the esteemed playwright Harold Pinter, he descended into a tumultuous period marked by destructive behaviors and emotional anguish. Appearing on a BBC radio show, Dyer described learning about Pinter’s passing from a newspaper and shared that the loss triggered what he called a “spiral of madness” that affected him for years.
Danny Dyer explained that he found out about Pinter’s death while coming home from a night out.
“I’d been on a bender and I was coming home and I was going, I think I was going to buy cigarettes at the petrol garage, and I see it in the paper: ‘Pinter dead’.”
This moment left him overwhelmed by guilt and sorrow, fueling a downward trajectory in his personal and professional life.
Recalling earlier memories, Danny Dyer looked back on a challenging period when he performed in Harold Pinter’s play “Celebration” and stayed at the playwright’s home. Dyer admitted to turning up to a performance after a long night of drug use, which led to him forgetting his lines and suffering a panic attack on stage. In a significant act of support, Pinter comforted him:
“He put his arm around me and made me feel better about it.”
Dyer remembered,
“And then Harold came up to me after and he sort of gave me a cuddle and that made me worse, made me cry… And he went, ‘If ever there’s an ensemble piece, it’s this, Danny’.”
The actor also spoke candidly about periods of substance abuse during his time working on EastEnders, mentioning prescription drugs and heavy drinking on set before show bosses intervened.
“I was off my nut for a lot of that job, I’ve got to say. I was on a lot of valium and diazepam,”
he admitted, reflecting the severity of his ongoing struggles following Harold Pinter’s death.
As Danny Dyer continues to confront the impact of this difficult chapter, he is reportedly channeling his experiences into a new creative project, with plans to develop a play exploring his relationship with Pinter. This frank exposure of personal turmoil after the loss of a mentor may foster a broader discussion about support in the arts and the long-lasting effects of grief on performers navigating high-pressure careers.
