You can now listen to Antigua News articles!
by Mick the Ram
The man who brought the speech problems of King George VI to the big screen has died at the aged of 86.
David Seidler passed away at the weekend whilst – in the words of his long-standing manager – he was in the place he loved most in the world, New Zealand, doing what gave him the greatest peace, fly fishing.
The London-born screenwriter overcame a childhood stutter, which enabled him to craft an empathetic portrayal of the monarch in the stage and screen versions of the King’s Speech.
The massive hit told the true story how King George VI overcame his own speech impediment as he faced the huge task of public speaking at a time when the country was desperate for reassurance at the start of World War II.
It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay at the 2011 Academy Awards.
War took him to the US
Mr Seidler was born in August 1937 in the UK, but moved to the U.S. in the early days of World War II. He attended Cornell University and his early dabbling in the entertainment world included writing Japanese monster-movie translation dubs, before breaking into TV with the 1960s series: Adventures of the Sea-spray.
He won his first Writers Guild award for the 1988 biopic Onassis: The Richest Man In The World starring Raul Julia as the Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis. He also co-wrote Francis Ford Coppola’s 1988 comedy drama Tucker: The Man And His Dream.
Permission refused by Queen Mother
It was however, the King’s Speech that he will always be remembered for. The plot follows the story of King George VI overcoming his severe stammer and the unlikely friendship he developed with Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, as the second World War approached.
Growing up with a stutter himself, Mr Seidler had previously revealed he that had always wanted to write about King George VI’s difficulties and had actually carried out extensive research all the way beck in 1981 in readiness.
He explained that he had written to the Queen Mother and asked her permission to tell the story in a film, but because it was still raw to her despite he dying nearly 30 years prior, she wrote back and asked that the film not be made until after her death.
He said he was crushed at the time, but later realised he wasn’t ready anyway, as it would have meant re-living his own pain and isolation he had felt as a child.
Twenty years late into script
It was after he survived a cancer scare in the early 2000s that he finally felt able to tackle a script. He was quoted at the time as saying: “If you’re not going to write Bertie’s story now, when exactly are you doing to do it?” adding that he was essentially writing about himself.
Awards for all
The 2010 film starred Colin Firth, who would win a best actor Bafta and Oscar for his depiction of the George. Then it hit the West End and went all around the world, translated into more than six different languages including: Japanese, Italian and Spanish.
In February 2011 Seidler received two Bafta awards and a few months later he picked up a Humanitas Prize for his work. He comically thanked Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for: “not putting me in the Tower for using the F word”. The show was to head to Broadway, but was cut short in 2020 by the Covid pandemic.
Just as he would have written
His manager Jeff Aghassi was the person to break the sad news of his passing and in his statement he remarked how even at 86-years-old he still had multiple projects in active development, including documentary, limited series, and feature films.
“David focused on the lessons of life, love, loss, and rebirth,” Aghassi said, before commenting that the location and his activity at the time of his death was quite fitting: “If given the chance, it is exactly as he would have scripted it.”
David Seidler is survived by his adult children, Marc and Maya.
0 Comments