Sir Tom Stoppard, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the screenplay for Shakespeare In Love, “died peacefully at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family”, his agents said on Saturday.
Tributes have poured in from around the world for the playwright who captivated audiences for more than six decades with work that explored philosophical and political themes.
The King and Queen added they were “deeply saddened” by his passing and sent their condolences to his family.
“We send our most heartfelt sympathy to his beloved family. Let us all take comfort in his immortal line: ‘Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else’.”
The line is from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, one of his most notable stage works which also include The Real Thing.
Paying tribute to his “favourite playwright”, Sir Mick Jagger posted on social media: “He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him.”
Author Robert Harris, a friend of Sir Tom’s, praised his talent and joy for life.
“He lived one of the most enviable lives I can think of. He was immensely talented, he was a very happy man, very witty and he enjoyed life. He came to lunch here in the summer and he was still smoking and indeed he was making notes in the summer for writing,” the Times reported.
Australian-British author of the 1979 novel Puberty Blues, Kathy Lette, remembered Sir Tom as “one of the wittiest people I ever met”.
Sharing a picture of them on social media, she wrote: “A conversation with him left you reeling from irreverent & imaginative quip-lash.”
