LONDON: British playwright Tom Stoppard, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Shakespeare in Love and some of the celebrated dramatists of the previous six a long time, has died at 88, his company United Brokers stated on Saturday (Nov 29).
Stoppard, who rose to prominence with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Lifeless, was recognized for mixing sharp wit, philosophical depth and playful experimentation in works that reshaped trendy theatre. His breakout play, an absurdist tragicomedy centred on two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, turned a transatlantic success and established him as a serious literary voice.
“We’re deeply saddened to announce that our beloved consumer and good friend, Tom Stoppard, has died peacefully at residence in Dorset, surrounded by his household,” United Brokers stated. “He will probably be remembered for his brilliance, humanity, wit and profound love of the English language.”
WIDE-RANGING TRIBUTES
Rock legend Mick Jagger led tributes, calling Stoppard his “favorite playwright” and praising “an imposing physique of mental and amusing work”. London’s Olivier Awards stated West Finish theatres would dim their lights for 2 minutes on Tuesday night in his honour.
His writer, Faber Books, hailed him as “some of the good and feted playwrights of the final 60 years”.
A 3-time Olivier winner and five-time Tony Award recipient, Stoppard additionally received the 1999 Academy Award for Greatest Unique Screenplay for Shakespeare in Love. His contributions to cinema included work on the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises, and his 1990 movie adaptation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Lifeless received the Golden Lion on the Venice Movie Competition.
A LIFE IN LANGUAGE AND STORY
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, Stoppard fled the Nazi occupation as a toddler and finally resettled in Britain. He started his profession as a journalist earlier than turning to playwriting, producing an enormous physique of labor for theatre, movie, tv and radio.
Knighted in 1997 for his providers to literature, Stoppard remained a towering determine in British tradition. He’s survived by 4 sons, together with actor Ed Stoppard.
