"Shakespeare In Love" Screenwriter and Award-Winning Playwright Tom Stoppard Passes Away at 88

Tom Stoppard, the Oscar-Winning screenwriter behind Shakespeare In Love and a 5-time Tony award winning playwright has passed away at the age of 88. 

His representatives announced earlier today (November 29th) that he had died peacefully at his home in Dorset, England, surrounded by family. 

A statement from United Agents regarding Stoppard reads, “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 honor to work with Tom and to know him.”

Stoppard wrote short radio plays in ‘50s, moving to stage productions in 1960, when he completed his first play - A Walk on the Water [Enter a Free Man]. The play hit the stage in Germany in 1963. It was several years later in 1966 when he debuted his play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead that his career really took off. 

In the 80s, Stoppard penned several films, but Disney fans might know his work best with his uncredited contributions on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and his uncredited work as script doctor on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, as well as his (also uncredited) work on the sequel to the original live-action adaptation of 101 Dalmatians, 102 Dalmatians. 

His film, Shakespeare in Love - for which he won an Oscar - was originally distributed by Disney-owned Miramax before getting worldwide distribution through Universal. 

Also worth pointing out, Stoppard’s play, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, retells the story of Hamlet from the perspective of other minor characters. Many consider this play to have directly influenced the structure and concept of the direct-to-video sequel to The Lion King (itself having many correlations with Hamlet), The Lion King 1 ½, which retells the story of the original from the perspective of Timon and Pumbaa. 

Stoppard is survived by his wife, Sabrina Guinness, four sons, including actor Ed Stoppard, and several grandchildren. He is also survived by his two daughters from his first marriage and his two sons from his second marriage.