Sir Tom Stoppard, a titan of modern theater and film, whose award-winning works balanced wit and brio with a true curiosity for the depth of human emotion, has died at the age of 88.
The news of the Czech-born British playwright’s death was shared by his representatives at United Agents, who said he died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset, England, surrounded by his family.
“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,” the statement read. “It was an honor to work with Tom, and to know him.”
Born Tomáš Straüssler in Zlín, Czechoslovakia in 1937, Stoppard was a child when he fled his home during the Nazi occupation—first to Singapore, then to India, before finding refuge in Britain. He first became a journalist at the age of 17—forgoing university to work at local newspapers in Bristol—and later a theater critic. It was through frequenting the Bristol Old Vic, and forming friendships with actor Peter O’Toole and director John Boorman in the early stages of their own careers, that the world of theater unfurled for him.
Stoppard broke through in 1966 with his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an ambitious tragicomedy that reimagines the lives of two minor characters in Shakespare’s Hamlet, and which became a landmark moment in British theater. First premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the play was later performed at the National Theatre and on Broadway, where it won four Tonys, including best play.