David Seidler Dies: Academy Award-Winning Writer For ‘The King’s Speech’ Was 86
He was not on the list.
David Seidler, best known for his Academy Award-winning writing on The King’s Speech, died on Saturday, March 16 while on a fly-fishing expedition in New Zealand. He was 86 and no cause was given.
“David was in the place he loved most in the world – New Zealand – doing what gave him the greatest peace which was fly-fishing. If given the chance, it is exactly as he would have scripted it,” said longtime manager Jeff Aghassi.
Seidler’s The King’s Speech went on to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The film focused on the story of King George VI (Colin Firth) overcoming his severe stutter, and his unexpected friendship with speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) in the lead up to World War II.
The project, which he also intended as a stage play, was a labor of love for the screenwriter, who had a profound stutter as a child. Seidler also received two BAFTAs and the Humanitas Prize for the work.
Aghassi said Seidler was a passionate teller of stories – whether it was among friends gathered for a meal, often also cooked by Seidler, or the audiences whose attention he captured through his scripts and plays. The stage version of The King’s Speech has been translated to more than a half-dozen languages and has been performed on four continents.
Having previously been performed on the London’s West End, its build-up to Broadway was cut short in 2020 by the COVID pandemic.
Seidler’s other work included Onasiss: The Richest Man in the World (1988) and Tucker: The Man and his Dream (1988).
He continued to work on ideas that drew his interest, and at the time of his death he had multiple projects in active development, including documentaries, limited series, and feature films.
Seidler is survived by his adult children, Marc and Maya.
Writing credits
Year Title Notes
1965–1967 Adventures
of the Seaspray 6 episodes
1981 Another
World 1 episode
1985 Malice in
Wonderland TV film
1988 Onassis:
The Richest Man in the World TV film
1988 My Father, My
Son TV film
1988 Tucker: The Man
and His Dream Feature film
(co-credit with Arnold Schulman,)
1993 Whose Child Is
This? The War for Baby Jessica TV
film, co-written with Jacqueline Feather
1995 Dancing
in the Dark TV film (co-written
with Jacqueline Feather)
1997 Lies He Told TV film (co-written with Jacqueline
Feather)
1997 Time to Say
Goodbye? Feature film
(co-written with Jacqueline Feather)
1998 Goldrush:
A Real Life Alaskan Adventure TV
film (co-written with Jacqueline Feather)
1998 Quest for
Camelot Feature film
(co-written with Jacqueline Feather)
1999 The King and I Feature film (co-written with
Jacqueline Feather)
1999 Come On, Get
Happy: The Partridge Family Story TV
film (co-written with Jacqueline Feather)
1999 Madeline:
Lost in Paris Direct-to-video
film (co-written with Jacqueline Feather)
2000 By Dawn's Early
Light TV film (co-written with
Jacqueline Feather)
2003 Soraya [it] TV film (co-written with Jacqueline
Feather)
2006 Son of the
Dragon 2 episodes (co-written
with Jacqueline Feather)
2008 Kung Fu Killer TV film (co-written with Jacqueline
Feather)
2010 The King's
Speech Feature film
2016 Queen of Spades Feature film
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