Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, screenwriter, and novelist. He is best known for the plays '' Equus'' and '' Amadeus'', the latter of which was adapted for the screen by

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech Americans, Czech-American film film director, director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the Uni ...

, with an Academy Award–winning screenplay by Shaffer.

Early life

Shaffer was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, the son of Reka (née Fredman) and estate agent Jack Shaffer. He grew up in London and was the identical twin brother of fellow playwright Anthony Shaffer. He was educated at the Hall School,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, and

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

, and subsequently he gained a scholarship to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, to study history. Shaffer was a Bevin Boy coal miner during World War II, and took a number of jobs including bookstore clerk, and assistant at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, before discovering his dramatic talents.

Career

Theatre

Shaffer's first play, ''The Salt Land'' (1955), was presented on ITV on 8 November 1955. Encouraged by this success, Shaffer continued to write and established his reputation as a playwright in 1958, with the production of '' Five Finger Exercise'', which opened in London under the direction of

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

and won the Evening Standard Drama Award. When ''Five Finger Exercise'' moved to New York City in 1959, it was equally well received and landed Shaffer the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Foreign Play. Shaffer's next piece was a double bill, ''The Private Ear and The Public Eye'', two plays each containing three characters and concerning aspects of love. They were presented in May 1962 at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...

, and both starred

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...

and

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...

. Smith won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Leading Actress. The National Theatre was established in 1963, and virtually all of Shaffer's subsequent work was done in its service. His canon contains a mix of philosophical dramas and satirical comedies. '' The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' (1964) presents the conquest and killing of the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

ruler Atahuallpa by the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

in Peru, while ''

Black Comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

'' (1965) takes a humorous look at the antics of a group of characters feeling their way around a pitch-black room – although the stage is actually flooded with light. '' Equus'' (1973) won Shaffer the 1975

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Play as well as the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. A journey into the mind of a seventeen-year-old stableboy who had plunged a spike into the eyes of six horses, ''Equus'' ran for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway. It was revived by

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

' Berkshire Theatre Festival in the summers of 2005 and 2007, by director Thea Sharrock at London's

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

in February 2007, and on Broadway (in the Sharrock staging) in September 2008. The latter production, which ran in New York City until February 2009, required the stableboy to appear naked; its star, Daniel Radcliffe, was still associated with the ''Harry Potter'' film series intended for general audiences, and this led to mild controversy. Shaffer followed this success with '' Amadeus'' (1979) which won the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics' Award for the London production. This tells the story of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and court composer

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...

who, overcome with jealousy at hearing the "voice of God" coming from an "obscene child", sets out to destroy his rival. When the show moved to Broadway it won the 1981

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

and, like ''Equus'', ran for more than a thousand performances. After the success of ''Amadeus'', Shaffer wrote the play '' Lettice and Lovage'' specifically for Dame Maggie Smith in 1986, for which he was nominated for another Tony Award and for which Smith eventually won the Tony Award for best actress after three nominations in 1990. ''Lettice and Lovage'' also enabled Margaret Tyzack to win the award for best featured actress, and the production was nominated for best direction of a play, at the 1990 Tony Awards.

Screen work

Several of Shaffer's plays have been adapted to film, including '' Five Finger Exercise'' (1962); '' The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' (1969); ''The Public Eye'' (1962), from which he adapted the 1972 film '' Follow Me!'' (1972); '' Equus'' (1977); and '' Amadeus'' (1984), which won eight

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

, including Best Picture. For writing the screenplay for ''Equus'', Shaffer was nominated for an Academy Award for his adapted screenplay, but the award went to Alvin Sargent, who wrote the screenplay for '' Julia''. For writing the screenplay for ''Amadeus'', Shaffer was awarded a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. Grave of Peter Shaffer in Highgate Cemetery

Grave of Peter Shaffer in Highgate Cemetery

Personal life and death

Shaffer was gay. In the 1970s, Shaffer was in a relationship with Paul Giovanni, musician and composer of '' The Wicker Man''. His later partner, New York-based voice teacher Robert Leonard, died in 1990 at the age of 49. Peter Shaffer's final relationship was with the drama and music teacher Kevin Shancady. Shaffer was given a Memorial Tribute on Broadway in 2017. He lived in Manhattan from the 1970s onward. While on a trip to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

shortly after his 90th birthday, Shaffer died on 6 June 2016 at a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

facility in Curraheen,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. Leonard and Shaffer are buried together in the east side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

Selected works

*' (Television, 1955) *'' Five Finger Exercise'' (1958) *' (1962) *' (1962) *'' The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' (1964 but completed by 1958), a theatre piece on

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

, the last emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu. *''

'' (1965) *'' The White Liars'' (1967) *'' Equus'' (1973) *'' Amadeus'' (1979) *' (1985) *'' Lettice and Lovage'' (1987) *' (1992)

Detective novels co-written as Peter Antony

Shaffer co-wrote three detective novels with his brother Anthony Shaffer under the pseudonym . *' (1951) *'' How Doth the Little Crocodile?'' (1952) *'' Withered Murder'' (1955)

Awards and honours

In 1989 the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

-based Alfred Toepfer Foundation awarded Shaffer its annual Shakespeare Prize in recognition of his life's work. In 1993, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) by the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. Shaffer's play, ''Five Finger Exercise'' won the Evening Standard Drama Award when it premiered in London and then won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Foreign Play when it moved to New York City. Shaffer's play, ''Equus'' won the

and the New York Drama Critics' Circle that year as well. His screenplay adaptation of the play was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. Shaffer's play ''Amadeus'' won the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics' Award for its initial London production. Upon moving to Broadway, ''Amadeus'' won the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Tony Award for Best Play. His screenplay adaptation of the play won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar as well as the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay in 1984. Shaffer's play ''Lettice and Lovage'' was nominated for another Tony Award, and for her performance in it, Dame Maggie Smith won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress after three nominations in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. ''Lettice and Lovage'' also won Best Featured Actress for Margaret Tyzack and was nominated for Best Direction of a Play at the 1990's ceremony . Shaffer was appointed a CBE in 1987 and named

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the 2001 New Year's Honours. In 2007, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Obituary
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (6 June 2016) * *
Transcript and clips of an interview by Mike Wood for the William Inge Center for the Arts.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffer, Peter 1926 births 2016 deaths 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners Bevin Boys English gay writers English identical twins Burials at Highgate Cemetery Jewish English writers English dramatists and playwrights English expatriates in the United States English male dramatists and playwrights English male screenwriters English screenwriters Fellows of St Catherine's College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Jewish dramatists and playwrights Knights Bachelor Gay Jews New York Drama Critics' Circle Award winners People educated at St Paul's School, London People educated at The Hall School, Hampstead Tony Award winners English twins Writers from Liverpool Writers from London Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire