Editing Anthony Shaffer (writer)

{{Short description|English writer}}
{{For|the U.S. intelligence officer|Anthony Shaffer (intelligence officer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Anthony Shaffer
| image = 
| caption = 
| birth_name = Anthony Joshua Shaffer
| birth_date = 15 May 1926
| birth_place = [[Liverpool]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2001|11|6|1926|5|15}}
| death_place = [[London]], England
| resting_place = [[Highgate Cemetery]], London
| occupation = Playwright, screenwriter, novelist, barrister, advertising executive
| spouse = {{marriage|Henrietta J. Glaskie|1954||end=divorced}}<br />{{marriage|Carolyn Soley||end=divorced}}<br />{{marriage|[[Diane Cilento]]|1985}}
| children = 2
| relatives = [[Peter Shaffer]] (brother)
}}
'''Anthony Joshua Shaffer''' (15 May 1926{{spaced ndash}}6 November 2001)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Paul |title=Anthony Shaffer, 75, Author Of Long-Running 'Sleuth,' Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/12/theater/anthony-shaffer-75-author-of-long-running-sleuth-dies.html |access-date=3 January 2020 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=12 November 2001 |pages=F7}}</ref> was an English playwright, screenwriter, novelist, barrister, and advertising executive. He is best remembered for his [[Tony Award]] winning play ''[[Sleuth (play)|Sleuth]]'', and its acclaimed [[Sleuth (1972 film)|1972 film adaptation]]. His screenplays included [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Frenzy]]'' and [[folk horror]] ''[[The Wicker Man]]''.

==Early life==
Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in [[Liverpool]], the son of Reka (née Fredman) and Jack Shaffer, who was an [[estate agent]] with his wife's family.<ref>[http://www.filmreference.com/film/95/Anthony-Shaffer.html Film Reference bio]</ref><ref>[http://www.forward.com/articles/14301/ www.forward.com]</ref> He was the identical twin brother of writer and dramatist [[Peter Shaffer]], and they had another brother, Brian. He graduated with a law degree from [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].

==Career==
Shaffer worked as a barrister and advertising copywriter before becoming a full-time writer.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/nov/07/news.nigelfountain Obituary] in [[The Guardian]], 7 November 2001</ref>

Shaffer's most notable work was the play ''[[Sleuth (play)|Sleuth]]'' (1970), which won the [[Tony Award for Best Play]]. The play was later adapted for the [[Sleuth (1972 film)|film version]] starring [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Michael Caine]]. He received [[Edgar Award]]s from the [[Mystery Writers of America]] for both versions: for Best Play in 1971, and Best Screenplay in 1973.

His other major screenplays include the [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcock]] thriller ''[[Frenzy]]'' (1972) and the British cult thriller ''[[The Wicker Man (1973 film)|The Wicker Man]]'' (1973) with whose director, [[Robin Hardy (film director)|Robin Hardy]], Shaffer had previously set up a television production company Hardy, Shaffer & Associates.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Allan|title=Inside the Wicker Man: How Not to Make a Cult Classic|date=2012|publisher=Birlinn|location=New York|isbn=9780857902177}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Grave of Anthony Shaffer in Highgate Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Grave of Anthony Shaffer in the east side of [[Highgate Cemetery]]]]
Shaffer was married three times – to Henrietta Glaskie, Carolyn Soley (with whom he had two children, Claudia and Cressida), and Australian actress [[Diane Cilento]].

Shaffer met Cilento in 1973, when she appeared in ''The Wicker Man''. He moved to Australia in 1975 and married Cilento in 1985. Together they built a house (''The Castle'') and a theatre (''The Karnak Playhouse''). Shaffer was legally domiciled in Australia (where he owned land and a restaurant, paid taxes and voted in elections), although he did maintain a flat in [[London]].<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1453901/Shaffers-lover-fails-in-battle-over-his-estate.html "Shaffer's lover fails in battle over his estate"]. Article of 10 February 2004 by Sean O'Neill in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''</ref>

In the last years of his life Shaffer had an extramarital relationship with Marie Josette "JoJo" Capece-Minutolo when in London. Cilento did not accompany Shaffer to England but remained in Australia. After Shaffer's death, Capece-Minutolo made a claim on his estate in the British High Court, arguing that Shaffer had intended to divorce Cilento and marry her and that he had given her an engagement ring. The Shaffer estate argued that Shaffer had no desire to end his marriage to Cilento. The judge found that despite Shaffer's being in "an intimate and loving relationship" with Capece in London,  Shaffer and his estate were not legally domiciled in the United Kingdom at the time of his death, and that therefore Capece-Minutolo had no legal claims on his estate, other than any bequest in Shaffer's will, which had been changed in 1999.<ref>{{cite news |title=Playwright's family fight off mistress's claim to share legacy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/10/arts.artsnews |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 February 2004 |access-date=14 March 2017}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Novels===
* {{cite book
| first1=Peter
| last1=Anthony
| date=1951
| title=Woman In The Wardrobe
| publisher=British Library Crime Classics
| isbn=978-0712353465
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=Peter
| last1=Anthony
| date=1952
| title=[[How Doth the Little Crocodile?|How Doth The Little Crocodile]]
| publisher=Evans Brothers Limited
| isbn=
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=A. & P.
| last1=Shaffer
| date=1955
| title=[[Withered Murder]]
| publisher=Macmillan
| isbn=978-1135775995
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=A. & P.
| last1=Shaffer
| date=1979
| title=Absolution
| publisher=Corgi Transworld Pub
| isbn=978-0552110822
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| first2=Robin
| last2=Hardy
| date=1979
| title=[[The Wicker Man (novel)|The Wicker Man]]
| publisher=Crown Publishers
| isbn=978-0517532591
}}

===Plays===
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| date=1963
| title=The Savage Parade
| publisher=Amber Lane
| isbn=978-0906399873
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| date=1970
| title=[[Sleuth (play)|Sleuth]]
| publisher=S. Frech
| isbn=978-0573140198
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| date=1975
| title=[[Murderer (play)|Murderer: A Play in Two Acts]]
| publisher=Marion Boyars Publishers, Ltd.
| isbn=978-0714525440
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| date=1977
| title=[[Whodunnit (play)|Whodunnit]]
| publisher=Samuel French, Ltd.
| isbn=978-0714525440
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| date=1986
| title=Widow's Weeds or For Years I Couldn't Wear My Black
| publisher=Samuel French, Inc.
| isbn=978-0573690808
}}
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| date=2001
| title=The Thing in the Wheelchair
| publisher=
| isbn=
}}

===Memoir===
* {{cite book
| first1=Anthony
| last1=Shaffer
| date=2001
| title=So What Did You Expect?: A Memoir
| publisher= Picador
| isbn=978-0330390439
}}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1971
| ''[[Mr. Forbush and the Penguins]]''
| rowspan="12" | Screenwriter
| a.k.a. ''Cry of the Penguins''
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1972
| ''[[Frenzy]]''
| 
|-
| ''[[Sleuth (1972 film)|Sleuth]]''
| 
|-
| 1973
| ''[[The Wicker Man (1973 film)|The Wicker Man]]''
| 
|-
| 1974
| ''[[Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film)|Murder on the Orient Express]]''
| Uncredited<ref>{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Paul|title=Anthony Shaffer, 75, Author Of Long-Running 'Sleuth,' Dies|date=12 November 2001|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/12/theater/anthony-shaffer-75-author-of-long-running-sleuth-dies.html|access-date=22 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=THpkAgAAQBAJ&q=anthony+shaffer+murder+on+the+orient+express&pg=PA249|title =Jolly Good Detecting: Humor in English Crime Fiction of the Golden Age| isbn = 9781476613963 | last1 =Shaw| first1 =Bruce|year=2013|publisher =McFarland}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1978
| ''[[Death on the Nile (1978 film)|Death on the Nile]]''
| 
|-
| ''[[Absolution (1978 film)|Absolution]]''
| 
|-
|1980
|[[Rough Cut (1980 film)|''Rough Cut'']]
|Uncredited<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anthony Shaffer - Playwright |url=https://anthonyshaffer.com |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Anthony Shaffer - Playwright |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 1982
| ''[[Evil Under the Sun (1982 film)|Evil Under the Sun]]''
| rowspan="3" | Co-Writer
|-
|1985
|[[Flesh and Blood (1985 film)|''Flesh+Blood'']]
|-
| 1988
| ''[[Appointment with Death (film)|Appointment with Death]]''
|-
| 1993
| ''[[Sommersby]]''
|
|}

== Television ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1969
|Pig In The Middle
|Writer
|Broadcast by Harlech Television (HTV)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anthony Shaffer - Playwright |url=https://anthonyshaffer.com |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Anthony Shaffer - Playwright |language=en}}</ref>
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0787289|Anthony Shaffer}}
*[https://anthonyshaffer.com/ The Life & Work of Anthony Shaffer]
*[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1361694/Anthony-Shaffer.html telegraph.co.uk]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,3604,589481,00.html Obituary] in ''[[The Guardian]]'' (8 November 2001)
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/12/theater/anthony-shaffer-75-author-of-long-running-sleuth-dies.html nytimes.com]

{{Anthony Shaffer}}
{{Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffer, Anthony}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English identical twins]]
[[Category:Edgar Award winners]]
[[Category:Jewish English writers]]
[[Category:English male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Jewish dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Writers from Liverpool]]
[[Category:English twins]]
[[Category:English male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century English dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Burials at Highgate Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]