Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Shakespeare In Love, has died at the age of 88.
A statement from United Agents said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved client and friend, Tom Stoppard, has died peacefully at home in Dorset, 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.
“It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him.”
Sir Tom’s entertainment career spanned more than six decades, in which he won a host of Tony and Olivier awards, as well as the Golden Globe and Academy Award with Marc Norman for their 1998 screenplay Shakespeare In Love – starring fellow Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow.
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Sir Tom Stoppard and co-writer Marc Norman with their Oscars in 1999. Pic: PA
His work, known to blend intellect, emotion and humour, often explored philosophical and political themes, challenging societal norms to remind audiences of the power of thought.
His other award-winning plays included Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Thing and Travesties.
The playwright also wrote prolifically for TV, radio, and film, including adapting Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina for the 2012 film starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law, and TV series Parade’s End with Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall – adapted from novels by Ford Madox Ford.
He received countless accolades and honours during his career, including being knighted by the late Queen for his services to literature in 1997.
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Queen Elizabeth II shakes Sir Tom’s hand before presenting him with the insignia of a Member of the Order of Merit in 2000. File pic: PA
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Sir Tom meets then-Prince of Wales Charles in 2009. File pic: PA
He won the David Cohen Prize For Literature in 2017, following in the footsteps of laureates Harold Pinter, Hilary Mantel and Seamus Heaney.
Sir Tom released his semi-autobiographical work titled Leopoldstadt in 2020 – set in the Jewish quarter of early 20th century Vienna – which later won him an Olivier award for best new play and also scooped four Tony awards.
The West End play, which featured his son Ed Stoppard, also saw him honoured by PEN America, the literary and human rights organisation, which handed him the Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award.
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Pic: Matt Humphrey/PA
From refugee to playwrighting sensation
Sir Tom was born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia, but fled and changed his name amid the Nazi occupation, finding refuge in Britain in 1946.
He became a journalist in Bristol in 1954 before becoming a theatre critic and writing plays for radio and TV, including The Stand-Ins, later revised as The Real Inspector Hound, and Albert’s Bridge first broadcast by BBC Radio.
His career took off with hit play Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966, before it was produced for the National Theatre and on Broadway, winning four Tony awards in 1968 including best play.
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Sir Tom Stoppard and Dame Judi Dench at a photocall in London in 1999. File pic: PA
Sir Tom began advocating on behalf of Soviet and Eastern Bloc dissidents after writing Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, a play inspired by his friendship with Viktor Fainberg, who had been imprisoned in Czechoslovakia by the Soviets.
Much later, in 2002, his trilogy of plays set in 19th century Russia, The Coast Of Utopia, were staged at the National Theatre.
His most recent plays include Heroes, Rock ‘n’ Roll and The Hard Problem.
