Peter Shaffer story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and court composer Antonio Salieri who, overcome with jealousy at hearing the "voice of God" coming from an "obscene child", sets out to destroy his rival. When the show moved to Broadway it won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play and, like "Equus", ran for more than a thousand performances. After the success of "Amadeus", Shaffer wrote the play "Lettice and Lovage" specifically for Dame Maggie Smith in 1986, for which he was nominated for another Tony Award and Dame Maggie Smith eventually won the Tony Award for best actress after three nominations in
Vernon S. Shaffer Vernon S. Shaffer Vernon Spitler Shaffer (February 20, 1884 – May 3, 1958) was an American farmer and Republican politician who represented Shenandoah County part-time in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1950 until his death in 1958. Shaffer was born in Page County, Virginia and educated in its public schools. He married Mary Leah Stover (1885–1973) and they lived in Maurertown, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley region. They had at least two sons: William Robert Shaffer (1916-pre-2001) and John Vernon Shaffer (1924–2001). A chicken farmer and Republican, Shaffer was president of the Shenandoah Commercial Hatchery, Inc. He also served