Stoppard, playwright for ‘Shakespeare In Love,’ dies at 88
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LONDON -- British playwright Tom Stoppard, a playful, probing dramatist who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998's "Shakespeare In Love," has died. He was 88.
In a statement Saturday, United Agents said the Czech-born Stoppard -- often hailed as the greatest British playwright of his generation -- died "peacefully" at his home in Dorset in southwest England, surrounded by his family.
"He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language," they said. "It was an honor to work with Tom and to know him."
Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger was among those paying tribute, calling Stoppard "a giant of the English theater, both highly intellectual and very funny in all his plays and scripts.
"He had a dazzling wit and loved classical and popular music alike which often featured in his huge body of work," said Jagger, who produced the 2001 film "Enigma," with a screenplay by Stoppard. "He was amusing and quietly sardonic. A friend and companion and I will always miss him."
Theaters in London's West End will dim their lights for two minutes on Tuesday in tribute.
Over a six-decade career, Stoppard's brain-teasing plays for theater, radio and screen ranged from Shakespeare and science to philosophy and the historic tragedies of the 20th century.
Five of them won Tony Awards for best play: "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" in 1968; "Travesties" in 1976; "The Real Thing" in 1984; "The Coast of Utopia" in 2007; and "Leopoldstadt" in 2023.
Stoppard biographer Hermione Lee said the secret of his plays was their "mixture of language, knowledge and feeling. ... It's those three things in gear together which make him so remarkable."