David Seidler, The King’s Speech Screenwriter, Dead at 86

Photo: FilmMagic

David Seidler, the screenwriter best known for 2010’s The King’s Speech, has died at the age of 86. “David was in the place he loved most in the world — New Zealand — doing what gave him the greatest peace which was fly-fishing,” his manager Jeff Aghassi said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “If given the chance, it is exactly as he would have scripted it.”

Seidler, who himself grew up with a stutter, won the Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for The King’s Speech in 2010, which chronicled the true story of King George VI’s struggle with a speech impediment as he prepared to take the throne. Seidler also wrote the 2012 stage adaptation of the film. His other work includes 1988’s Tucker: The Man and his Dream, 1998’s Quest for Camelot, and 1999’s Madeline: Lost in Paris.