Tony-winning playwright Tom Stoppard dead at 88
by Karen Butler · UPINov. 29 (UPI) -- Tony-winning playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Stoppard has died at the age of 88.
The scribe was best known for his stage dramas, The Real Thing, Travesties and Ronsencrantz and Guidlenstern Are Dead, as well as the film, Shakespeare in Love.
His representatives told the BBC Saturday that Stoppard died peacefully at home in Dorset, England, surrounded by his family.
No specific cause was disclosed.
Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla said in a statement to The Standard: "A dear friend who wore his genius lightly, he could and did, turn his pen to any subject, challenging, moving and inspiring audiences, borne from his own personal history.
"We send our most heartfelt sympathy to his beloved family," the Royal couple added. "Let us all take comfort in his immortal line, 'Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.'"
"Tom Stoppard was my favorite playwright. He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him," Mick Jagger wrote on X.
"We are devastated to hear of the death of Tom Stoppard. As a corner stone of the National Theatre for 50 years, Tom's influence on British theatre has been simply immense," Britain's National Theatre said in a statement.
"Tom Stoppard was one of Britain's most celebrated playwrights, renowned for his sharp intellect, inventive narrative structures, and a blend of highbrow humor with profound philosophical inquiries. Over the decades, his works have become staples of the British theatre scene."
"West End theatres will dim their lights for two minutes at 7pm on Tuesday 2 December in remembrance of renowned playwright Tom Stoppard who has died aged 88," the official Olivier Awards X account said.
"Over a distinguished career spanning six decades, he won three Laurence Olivier Awards and five Tony Awards, and received an Academy Award for his screenplay for Shakespeare in Love. That recognition attests to the remarkable range and enduring impact of his work on both stage and screen. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues, and all whose lives he enriched."
Drama critic Ben Brantley added: "Farewell to Tom Stoppard, who as a playwright made words dance, explode, soar to the heavens and acknowledge their own limitations as they did so. And always glowing within the cerebral fireworks was a questing, rueful, empathic wonder. He took us to Arcadia and Utopia and back."
"We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of playwright Tom Stoppard, whose play Travesties was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974 and which went on to transfer to New York in 1975 where it won a Tony Award for Best Play," the Royal Shakespeare Company said.
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Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff performs during The Climate Rally concert in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, in Washington on April 25, 2010. Cliff, a Grammy winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee died best known for "The Harder They Come," died at the age of 81 on November 24. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo