English playwright and screenwriter Sir Peter Shaffer died on Monday while on a trip in Ireland. Shaffer was 90 years old.
Along with winning an Oscar for Amadeus, he also won awards for the play Equus, starring Daniel Radcliffe.
Radcliffe paid tribute to Shaffer after his death, penning, “Peter Shaffer was and remains one of the UK’s greatest playwrights. He created challenging, moving and fantastically theatrical work and was also an incredibly kind, generous and funny man.”
The 26-year-old actor is most recognized for his role as Harry Potter in the popular franchise written by J.K. Rowling. At the height of his fame for that role, he starred in the New York and London productions of Shaffer’s play in the lead role of Alan Strong.
Radcliffe was grateful that Shaffer graced him with such a role, adding, “In my career Equus remains one of the most important and valuable things I’ve ever done in terms of how much I learnt from it. I will forever be grateful to him for trusting me to play the character of Alan Strang at a time when I had extremely limited experience on stage. I feel very privileged to have worked with him and will miss him.”
Elizabeth I. McCann, who produced Amadeus, also remembered the late playwright. “He always went back in and looked at everything again. If something wasn’t working for an actor, he’d change it. He was a thorough professional.”
Shaffer’s career included writing more than 18 plays, several which were adapted into films. Amadeus was released in 1984 and won eight Academy Awards, along with a Golden Globe Award for Best Screen Play in 1985.