'One of our greatest writers': King and Queen send 'most heartfelt sympathy' to Sir Tom Stoppard's family

Charles continued: "A dear friend who wore his genius lightly, he could, and did, turn his pen to any subject, challenging, moving and inspiring his audiences, borne from his own personal history.

"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'."

Frontman of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, also paid tribute to Sir Tom following news of his death.

The Rolling Stones frontman wrote on X: "Tom Stoppard was my favourite playwright. He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him."

TV host Piers Morgan added: "RIP Sir Tom Stoppard, 88. Oscar-winning literary genius and one of the world's greatest dramatists. What a writer! Sad news."

Author Kathy Lette wrote: "Tom Stoppard was one of the wittiest people I ever met. A conversation with him left you reeling from irreverent and imaginative quip-lash. So deeply sad to learn of his death today. To Sabrina and family, I send my heartfelt condolences… and an imaginary blooming bouquet of bon mots."

Sir Tom has been celebrated for his wit, intellectual depth and philosophical flair, and was widely regarded as one of the greatest living playwrights.

Over a career spanning over 60 years, the Czech-born dramatist reshaped British theatre with works that blended linguistic brilliance and sharp humour.

Mr Stoppard first rose to prominence in 1967 with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a wildly inventive reimagining of Hamlet told through the eyes of its minor characters.

The play, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival before transferring to the National Theatre, made him an overnight sensation and established his reputation for structural daring and intellectual playfulness.

Born Tomáš Sträussler in Czechoslovakia in 1937, he fled the Nazis with his family in 1939, eventually settling in India after his father was killed during the war.

His mother later married British Army Major Kenneth Stoppard, and the family relocated to England, where he was raised as a British boy.

Mr Stoppard only discovered the full extent of his Jewish heritage and the fate of relatives killed in the Holocaust much later in life, a revelation that deeply informed his 2020 masterpiece Leopoldstadt.

Before becoming a playwright, he began his career as a journalist and theatre critic in Bristol, developing the observational and linguistic skills that would inform his work.

Mr Stoppard's plays became staples of British theatre, including: Jumpers (1972), a blend of murder mystery and philosophical farce, Travesties (1974), imagining a meeting between Lenin, Joyce and Tristan Tzara, Arcadia (1993), considered one of the greatest plays of the 20th century and The Invention of Love (1997), exploring the life of poet A.E. Housman.

Others include The Coast of Utopia (2002), his classic about Russian intellectuals and Leopoldstad (2020), his most personal and critically lauded late work.

In addition to his stage triumphs, Mr Stoppard found major success in Hollywood.

He co-wrote several acclaimed screenplays, including Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987) and Shakespeare in Love (1998).

He was also an uncredited script doctor on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

His awards cabinet includes one Academy Award, five Tony Awards for Best Play, three Laurence Olivier Awards, a CBE in 1978 and a knighthood in 1997.

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