Sir Tom Stoppard, one of the UK’s best-known playwrights, has died aged 88, his agents have announced.
Sir Tom, winner of an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the screenplay of Shakespeare In Love, “died peacefully at his home in Dorset, surrounded by his family.”
His other stage works included The Real Thing and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
“He will be remembered for his works, for his brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his deep love of the English language,” United Agents added.
“It was an honor to work with Tom and get to know him.”
The playwright captured the hearts of audiences for more than six decades with works that explored philosophical and political themes.
Paying tribute to his “favourite playwright”, Sir Mick Jagger posted on social media: “He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and entertaining work. I will always miss him.”
He also wrote for film, television and radio. He adapted Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina for the 2012 film starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law.
In 2020, he released his new semi-autobiographical work titled Leopoldstadt, set in the Jewish quarter of early 20th century Vienna, which later earned him an Olivier Award for Best New Play and four Tony Awards.
Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia, he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain.
He later learned from his relatives that his four grandparents had been Jewish and had died in Nazi concentration camps.
“I feel incredibly lucky that I didn’t have to survive or die. It’s a visible part of what you could call a charmed life,” he told the American magazine Talk in 1999, while reflecting on his return to his birthplace, Zlin, in what is now the Czech Republic.
He worked as a journalist in Bristol in 1954 before becoming a theater critic and writing plays for radio and television.
“I wanted to be a great journalist,” he said, quoted by the Reuters news agency. “My first ambition was to lie on the floor of an African airport while machine gun bullets passed over my typewriter. But I was of little use as a reporter. I felt I had no right to ask people questions.
“I always thought they would throw the kettle at me or call the police.”
Sir Tom’s career as a playwright did not take off until the 1960s, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was later performed at the National Theater and Broadway.
The play focuses on two secondary characters from Hamlet. It won several awards, including four Tony Awards in 1968, including best play.
He received many honors and accolades throughout his career, including being knighted by the late Queen for his services to literature in 1997.
