Tom Stoppard, Oscar-winning playwright, dies at 88

Tom Stoppard, the celebrated playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter, has died at the age of 88. 

He won an Academy Award for co-writing the 1998 hit Shakespeare in Love.

According to his talent agency, United Agents, Stoppard passed away peacefully at his home in Dorset, England, surrounded by his family. 

“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 statement read on X.

The agency added: “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 was an honour to work with Tom and to know him.”

Born Thomas Straussler in Zlin, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) in 1937, Stoppard’s early life was marked by upheaval. 

His family fled to Singapore during World War II, and he later moved to India after Japan invaded. His father died in Japanese captivity, and his mother remarried an English army major, who brought Stoppard to England, where he adopted his stepfather’s surname.

Stoppard is also known for acclaimed plays including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Travesties, and Leopoldstadt.

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