Oscar-winning UK playwright Tom Stoppard dies aged 88
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Tom Stoppard, seen here in 2017, is best remembered for cinema work that included the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises and an Oscar in 1999 for his screenplay for Shakespeare In Love.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Playwright Tom Stoppard, known for "Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead" and "Shakespeare In Love," has died at 88, his agency announced.
- Stoppard fled Czechoslovakia during Nazi occupation, later becoming a celebrated writer for theatre, film, TV and radio.
- Tributes poured in, including from Mick Jagger, honouring Stoppard’s brilliance, humanity, and contributions to literature.
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LONDON - British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won an Oscar for the screenplay of the 1998 movie Shakespeare In Love, has died at the age of 88, United Agents announced on Nov 29.
Stoppard, who first made his name with Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead – an absurdist tragi-comedy about two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet – developed a distinctive style combining serious ideas with comedy.
“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,” the talent agency 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,” it said.
Rock legend Mick Jagger led the tributes on social media.
“Tom Stoppard was my favourite playwright,” Jagger posted on X.
“He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him,” added the Rolling Stones frontman.
To non-theatre-goers, Stoppard is best remembered for cinema work that included the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises and an Oscar in 1999 for his screenplay for Shakespeare In Love.
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain.
After leaving school, Stoppard became a journalist and later a playwright.
Over a six-decade career, he wrote for the theatre, TV and radio, as well as film, winning multiple awards.
In 1997, he was knighted for his services to literature.
Stoppard was married three times and had four sons, one of whom Ed Stoppard, is an actor. AFP
