British playwright Tom Stoppard, Oscar winner for screenplay Shakespeare in Love (1998), died at age 88this Saturday, November 29th, the Associated Press. According to United Agents, the writer died at home in Dorset, “surrounded by his family”.
In a statement, the agency said Stoppard “he will be remembered for his works, for his brilliance and humanity, and for his humor, irreverence, generosity of spirit and deep love for the English language”. “It was an honor to work with Tom and get to know him,” he added.
The news generated numerous reactions in the United Kingdom. Mick Jagger, from the Rolling Stones, described Stoppard as his favorite playwright and highlighted that he “leaves a majestic body of intellectual and entertaining work”, in a message published in X accompanied by three photographs.
London’s West End theaters will turn off their lights for two minutes on Tuesday at 7pm in honor of the author. Recognized as one of the greatest British playwrights of his generation, Stoppard racked up awards over six decades, including five Tony Awards for plays such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968), Travesties (1976) e Leopoldstadt (2023).
Born Tomás Sträussler, in 1937, in what was then Czechoslovakia, Stoppard fled with his family during the Second World War and ended up arriving in the United Kingdom in 1946, a country where he began a career in journalism before establishing himself in theater, radio and cinema. Among his most striking works are Arcadia, The Real Thing e The Coast of Utopiaas well as arguments for films such as Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987) e Anna Karenina (2012).
Stoppard was also an active defender of freedom of expression and collaborated with organizations such as PEN and Index on Censorship. He was married three times and leaves four children, including actor Ed Stoppard, and several grandchildren.