In this Sept. 4, 2012 file photo, British playwright Tom Stoppard poses as he arrives for the world premiere of "Anna Karenina," in London. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
British playwright Tom Stoppard, known for “Shakespeare in Love” and many award-winning stage works, has died at the age of 88. His agents, United Agents, said he died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset, surrounded by family.
In a statement they said, “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.”
Who was Tom Stoppard?
Stoppard, born Tomás Sträussler in 1937 in what is now the Czech Republic, was widely regarded as one of Britain’s leading playwrights. Over his long career, he received major theatre honours, including five Tony Awards for best play.
Tom Stoppard poses with the award for best play for “Leopoldstadt” in the press room at the 76th annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2023, at the Radio Hotel in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
His plays, AP said, explored Shakespeare, science, history and human behaviour. Works such as “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” “Travesties,” “The Real Thing,” “The Coast of Utopia” and “Leopoldstadt” made him a central figure in modern theatre.
Biographer Hermione Lee told AP that Stoppard’s gift came from a “mixture of language, knowledge and feeling,” calling this blend the key to his impact.
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Stoppard was born to a Jewish family in Zlín. When Nazi Germany invaded in 1939, the family fled to Singapore and later to India as the Japanese advanced. His father was killed while trying to leave Singapore.
His mother later married British officer Kenneth Stoppard, and the family moved to England. Stoppard said he “put on Englishness like a coat,” growing up to love cricket and Shakespeare. He did not attend university and instead became a journalist at 17.
How he became a leading playwright
Stoppard wrote for radio and television before breaking through with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” in 1966, reimagining Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from the viewpoint of two minor characters. It was staged at the National Theatre and later moved to Broadway.
He went on to write a long list of plays, including:
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The Real Inspector Hound
Jumpers
Travesties
Every Good Boy Deserves Favor
The Real Thing
Arcadia
The Invention of Love
Stoppard explored his own Jewish background in his late play “Leopoldstadt”, which tells the story of a Jewish family in Vienna.
British play writer Tom Stoppard listens at a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival, in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, India, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
He learned only after his mother’s death in 1996 that many of his relatives, including all four grandparents, were killed in concentration camps.
However, He also wrote the TV series “Parade’s End” and directed a film version of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” He translated several works, including plays by Václav Havel.
Stoppard was knighted in 1997 for services to literature. He was married three times and is survived by four children, including actor Ed Stoppard, and several grandchildren.
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In this Sept. 4, 2012 file photo, British playwright Tom Stoppard poses as he arrives for the world premiere of "Anna Karenina," in London. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
