British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won Academy Award for 'Shakespeare In Love,' dies at 88

"LONDON -- British playwright Tom Stoppard, a playful, probing dramatist who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998's "Shakespeare In Love," has died. He was 88. In a statement Saturday, United Agents said Stoppard died "peacefully" at his home in Dorset in southern England, surrounded by his family. "He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity,"

"His brain-teasing plays ranged across Shakespeare, science, philosophy and the historic tragedies of the 20th century. Five of them won Tony Awards for best play: "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" in 1968; "Travesties" in 1976; "The Real Thing" in 1984; "The Coast of Utopia" in 2007; and "Leopoldstadt" in 2023. Stoppard biographer Hermione Lee said the secret of his plays was their "mixture of language, knowledge and feeling. ... It's those three things in gear together which make him so remarkable.""

Tom Stoppard died peacefully at 88 at his Dorset home, surrounded by family. He won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998's Shakespeare In Love and multiple theater honors, including five Tony Awards for best play: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968), Travesties (1976), The Real Thing (1984), The Coast of Utopia (2007) and Leopoldstadt (2023). His brain‑teasing plays ranged across Shakespeare, science, philosophy and 20th‑century historic tragedies. The secret of his plays was described as a mixture of language, knowledge and feeling. He was born Tomás Sträussler in 1937 to a Jewish family in Zlín.

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