Oscar Winner and Playwright David Seidler Passes Away at 86

Playwright and film and TV writer David Seidler has passed away at age 86.

Seidler was best known for writing the screenplay for the film The King's Speech, and the script for the stage version. Seidler won the Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for The King's Speech. 

In addition to The King's Speech, Seidler's writing credits include The King and I (1999), Quest for Camelot, and more. 

His televison credits include Goldrush: A Real Life Alaskan Adventure, Come On, Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story, Son of the Dragon, and many more.

For The King's Speech, Seidler was also awarded the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Screenplay, Original; and was awarded by the British Independent Film Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, San Francisco Film Critics Circle, Satellite Awards, St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association, Humanitas Prize, National Society of Film Critics Awards, and more. 

“I felt a deep sadness to hear of David’s passing.  In his seventies, he completed such a very personal story about a reluctant monarch overcoming his stammer.  All of us, when traveling with the film were overwhelmed by how global audiences were so very touched by David’s dramatic gifts for empathy and striving for one’s better self.”
 
-Geoffrey Rush