Brief Biography

Born:  May 15, 1926

“Peter Shaffer Interview.”  Interview by Mike Wood.  Camera by Greg Matthias.  Edit by Steve Worley.  February 27, 1992.  New York, New York.  Site hosted by The William Inge Center for the Arts.  Video hosted by Wichita State University.  

Mr. Shaffer was born May 15, 1926 in Liverpool, England and was educated at St. Paul's School, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge. Before finding his career in the theatre, he worked at such diverse jobs as a coal miner (during World War II), assistant in the New York Public Library, and editor for the symphonic department of an English publishing firm. In 1954 he completed his first play The Salt Land, which was produced on television by the BBC in 1955. Five Finger Exercise, which opened in 1958 in London under the direction of John Gielgud, established Shaffer's reputation as a playwright and won the Evening Standard Drama Award. It opened in New York in 1959 and won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. This was followed in 1963 by the double bill of The Private Ear and The Public Eye, with Maggie Smith playing the female in both. In October of 1965 The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Mr. Shaffer's drama about the fall of the Inca Empire, opened on Broadway and the following year saw his farce set entirely in the dark, Black Comedy, which played on a double bill with another one-act, White Lies. Shaffer's next play, The Battle of Shrivings, opened in London in 1970. Equus opened on Broadway in 1974, and won the 1975 Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The story of a boy who is being treated by a psychiatrist because he blinded six horses at the stable where he worked, Equus ran for over 1000 performances. Shaffer's next play, Amadeus, was inspired by the rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.  It won the 1981 Tony Award and also played over 1000 performances. The playwright won an Academy Award for his screenplay adaptation of this work. Shaffer's next play was Yonadab, a piece set in the time of King David. Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage marked his seventh play to be produced on Broadway. He earned a fourth Tony nomination for Best Play and Maggie Smith won the Tony for best actress in the production.