Peter Shaffer
Sir Peter Shaffer CBE | |
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Born | Peter Levin Shaffer 15 May 1926 Liverpool, England |
Died | 6 June 2016 County Cork, Ireland | (aged 90)
Resting place | Highgate Cemetery |
Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Occupations |
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Partner | Robert Leonard (died 1990) |
Relatives | Anthony Shaffer (brother) |
Signature | |
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer
Early life
Shaffer was born to a
He was educated at the
Theatrical career
Shaffer's first play, The Salt Land (1955), was presented on
Shaffer's next piece was a double bill, The Private Ear/The Public Eye, two plays each containing three characters and concerning aspects of love. They were presented in May 1962 at the Globe Theatre, and both starred Maggie Smith and Kenneth Williams. Smith won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Leading Actress at the age of 27.[citation needed]
The
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 and court composer Antonio Salieri 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 and, like Equus, ran for more than a thousand performances.[citation needed]
After the success of Amadeus, Shaffer wrote the play
Screen adaptations
Several of Shaffer's plays have been adapted to film, including
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.[7] His later partner, New York-based voice teacher Robert Leonard, died in 1990 at the age of 49.[8][9][10] Shaffer lived in Manhattan from the 1970s onward.[2]
While on a trip to Ireland shortly after his 90th birthday, Shaffer died on 6 June 2016 at a hospice facility in Curraheen, County Cork.[2][11][12] Leonard and Shaffer are buried together in the east side of Highgate Cemetery.
Awards
In 1993, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) by the University of Bath.[13]
Shaffer's play, Five Finger Exercise won the
Shaffer's play, Equus won the
Shaffer's play Amadeus won the
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 actress after three nominations in 1990. Lettice and Lovage also won best supporting actress for Margaret Tyzack and was nominated for best direction of a play in 1990 Tony Awards.[19]
Honours
Shaffer was appointed a
Selected works
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2016) |
- The Salt Land (Television, 1955)
- Balance of Terror (Television, 1957)
- The Prodigal Father (Radio, 1957)
- Five Finger Exercise (1958)
- The Private Ear (1962)
- The Public Eye (1962)
- The Establishment (1963)
- The Merry Roosters' Panto (1963)
- Tahuantinsuyu.
- Black Comedy (1965)
- The White Liars (1967)
- The Battle of Shrivings (1970)
- Equus (1973)
- Amadeus (1979)
- Black Mischief (1983)
- Yonadab (1985)
- Lettice and Lovage (1987)
- Whom Do I Have the Honour of Addressing? (1990)
- The Gift of the Gorgon
Detective novels co-written as Peter Antony
Shaffer co-wrote three detective novels with his brother Anthony Shaffer under the pseudonym Peter Antony.
- The Woman in the Wardrobe (1951)
- How Doth the Little Crocodile? (1952)
- Withered Murder (1955)
References
- ^ "The Jewish Daily Forward". Forward.com. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- ^ a b c Weber, Bruce; Berkvist, Robert (7 June 2016). "Peter Shaffer Dies at 90; Playwright Won Tonys for 'Equus' and 'Amadeus'". The New York Times. p. B9. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
- ^ "Black Comedy". samuelfrench.com. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ^ "Naked stage role for Potter star". BBC News. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
- ISBN 978-1846971440.
[Anthony] Shaffer, meanwhile, had been impressed by the work of an American composer, Paul Giovanni, whose experimental folk-rock score for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night he had heard at a performance in Washington DC. More crucially perhaps, the composer was the boyfriend of Shaffer's brother, Peter.
- ^ Lawson, Mark (6 June 2016). "Peter Shaffer wanted to make elaborate theatre – and he succeeded". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ Shenton, Mark (3 April 2017). "Mark Shenton's week: Is gay theatre back on form?". Archived from the original on 3 April 2017.
- ^ "Robert Leonard; Voice Teacher, 49". The New York Times. 17 October 1990. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ "Birthdays today". The Telegraph. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
Sir Peter Shaffer, playwright, is 87
- ^ Kennedy, Maev (6 June 2016). "Equus and Amadeus playwright Peter Shaffer dies aged 90". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ^ "Honorary Graduates 1989 to present". bath.ac.uk. University of Bath. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Five Finger Exercise Broadway @ Music Box Theatre". Playbill. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ "Search Past Tony Awards Winners and Nominees". TonyAwards.com. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Past Awards". www.dramacritics.org. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "The 50th Academy Awards | 1978". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ "Search Past Tony Awards Winners and Nominees". TonyAwards.com. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "1990 Tony Award Winners". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ "Hall of Fame: theater veterans get a night in limelight". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.