The award winning British playwright most famous for Equus and Amadeus, has died aged 90.

Peter Shaffer, was born in Liverpool in 1926 and died in Ireland on 6 June after a short illness.

Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, said: “Peter Shaffer was one of the great writers of his generation, and the National Theatre was enormously lucky to have had such a fruitful and creative relationship with him.”

To celebrate Shaffer’s eightieth birthday, the National staged a revival of The Royal Hunt of the Sun in 2006. The theatre was already planning the first revival of Amadeus for October this year.

Norris continued: “The plays he leaves behind are an enduring legacy.”

Shaffer won Tony awards for both Equus and Amadeus, and an Oscar for the latter.

Equus told the tale of a relationship between a psychoanalyst and a boy who blinded horses. Amadeus was a biopic based on the life of Mozart.

Shaffer was appointed CBE in 1997 and knighted in 2001.

Image credit: Laura Bittner on Flickr