Peter Shaffer

Peter Shaffer (1926- ), British playwright, born in Liverpool. He was educated at Cambridge University. From 1956 to 1957 he was literary critic on Truth and then music critic for Time and Tide (1961-1962).

He began writing novels with his brother Anthony, but it was his play Five Finger Exercise (1958) that first brought him critical acclaim in the form of the Evening Standard Drama Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best foreign play. The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), about the Spanish destruction of the Inca civilization of Peru, premiered at the National Theatre, moved to New York, and was made into a film in 1969. Equus (1973), the story of a psychoanalyst's attempt to understand the mysterious faith of a young delinquent, won the New York Drama Critics' and Antoinette Perry Awards, and was filmed in 1979. Another critical success followed in 1979 with Amadeus, about the rivalry between the composers Mozart and Salieri, which won a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for the film adaptation in 1984. His other major dramatic works which have enjoyed critical acclaim and successful West End runs are Lettice and Lovage (1987), winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy, and The Gift of the Gorgon (1992).

Shaffer has also written plays for television and radio, including The Salt Land (1955), Balance of Terror (1957), and Whom Do I Have the Honour of Addressing? (1989). He received a knighthood in the 2001 New Year's Honours.