The author of The King’s Speech David Seidler has died at the age of 87, his former manager has announced.
The Academy Award winner was fly fishing in New Zealand when he died on Saturday, with no reason given.
David wrote the stage and film versions of the critically acclaimed play, which went on to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor at the Oscars for the 2010 film.
Speaking to Deadline on Sunday, David’s longtime manager Jeff Aghassi announced the news of his death.
“David was in the place he loved most in the world – New Zealand – doing what gave him the greatest peace: fly fishing,” he said.
The author of The King’s Speech David Seidler has died at the age of 87, his former manager announced on Sunday
“If he had the chance, it’s exactly how he would have written it.”
The King’s Speech focused on the story of King George VI (Colin Firth) overcoming his severe stutter.
His unexpected friendship with speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) in the run-up to World War II was another major theme of the film.
David himself grew up with a stutter and previously revealed that he had always wanted to write about George VI and tell his story.
The film, for which David also received two BAFTAs and the Humanitas Prize, was always intended as a film and a play.
David dedicated his Oscar win to “all the stutterers around the world,” and thanked “Her Majesty The Queen for not putting me in the Tower for using the F-word.”
When The Social Network won for best editing halfway through the ceremony, someone from the King’s Speech team exclaimed, ‘well, that’s it, we’ve lost it’.
The Academy Award winner was fly fishing in New Zealand when he died on Saturday, with no reason given
David wrote the stage and film versions of the critically acclaimed play, going on to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor at the Oscars.
The film, for which David also received two BAFTAs and the Humanitas Prize, was always intended as a film and a play.
Colin Firth played George VI in the film and joked that his career had peaked when he accepted his Oscar for the role.
He thanked “all the people who sent me home,” and his wife “Livia, for putting up with my fleeting delusions about royalty.”
Tom Hooper, the 38-year-old director of The King’s Speech, also won a prize for best director.
David began researching the story as early as 1981. He discovered how the Queen Mother tracked down Logue, who was working in London in the 1920s, and begged him to help Bertie, who froze every time he was called upon to make a speech.
Colin Firth portrayed Geogre VI in the film and joked that his career had peaked when he accepted his Oscar for the role
David began researching the story in 1981 and discovered how the Queen Mother tracked down Logue
“I wrote and asked her permission to tell the story in a film,” David told the Mail in 2010.
“But it was still so raw for her: the whole thing of having to relive what her husband and her family went through, with the abdication and him becoming king.
“It was too much and still painful, so she wrote and asked that the film not be made until after her death.”