Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88

"The playwright Tom Stoppard, whose playful erudition dazzled the theatregoing world for decades, has died aged 88. One of a select band of writers from any discipline to earn his own adjective Stoppardian in the Oxford English Dictionary, he delighted in the most improbable juxtapositions: philosophy and gymnastics in Jumpers (1972); early 19th-century landscape gardening and chaos theory in Arcadia (1993); rock music, dissident Czech academics and the love poetry of Sappho in Rock 'n' Roll (2006)."

"A new Stoppard play has been an international event ever since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, featuring two obscure Shakespearean courtiers, was spotted on the Edinburgh fringe in 1966 and developed by the National Theatre. He combined more than 30 plays for the theatre with a steady stream of works for television and radio, and with screenplays including an adaptation of John le Carre's The Russia House, Terry Gilliam's Brazil and a joint credit for the Oscar-winning screenplay of Shakespeare in Love."

"But his influence went far further than his on-screen credits would suggest: he was the go-to writer for blockbusters in need of a bit of spit and polish (including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the Star Wars adventure Revenge of the Sith). Steven Spielberg once dragged him out of the shower with an urgent phone call to discuss a problem with Schindler's List."

Tom Stoppard died aged 88. He was known for playful erudition and earned the adjective Stoppardian in the Oxford English Dictionary. He delighted in improbable juxtapositions, exemplified by Jumpers (philosophy and gymnastics), Arcadia (landscape gardening and chaos theory) and Rock 'n' Roll (rock music, Czech dissidents and Sappho). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead launched his international reputation after the 1966 Edinburgh fringe. He wrote more than 30 plays and numerous works for television and radio, and contributed screenplays including The Russia House, Brazil and a joint credit on Shakespeare in Love. Filmmakers sought his polish, including Indiana Jones and Star Wars projects. He was thrice married and famously sociable, and was born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia; his Jewish parents fled to Singapore in 1939.

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