Playwright Peter Shaffer dies aged 90

Playwright Peter Shaffer, who wrote award-winning hits included Equus and Amadeus, has died at the age of 90.

Playwright Peter Shaffer, whose durable, award-winning hits included Equus and Amadeus, has died at the age of 90.

Shaffer's agent, Rupert Lord, said Shaffer died on Monday while on a visit to southwest Ireland with friends and family.

Shaffer's 18 plays included Amadeus, a drama about the rivalry between Mozart and less-talented composer Salieri that was turned into an Academy Award-winning film in 1984.

The play is to be revived this year at Britain's National Theatre, with which Shaffer had a long association.

His 1973 play Equus, about a stable boy who inexplicably blinds a horse, was revived in 2007 as the stage debut for Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe.

Shaffer was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001 and inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007.