Tom Stoppard (1937–2025): Charlie Rose's Interview with the Legendary Playwright

Sir Tom Stoppard, the Czech-born British playwright in a nation of brilliant playwrights, made an incredible contribution to the world’s theatre. Stoppard died on November 29 at his home in England. He was 88. Stoppard was taken from then Czechoslovakia in 1939 to Singapore to be with his father a doctor who died during WWII. His mother later married a British journalist, Kenneth Stoppard, and the family moved to England in 1946 Stoppard became a journalist which led him to writing short plays for the stage. His breakthrough play about 2 minor characters from Hamlet was “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”​ It won a Tony award for Best Play and set Stoppard on a brilliant career. Stoppard took on the most complex subjects like math and philosophy and made them theatrical magic. Among his plays were “Jumpers” (1972), about acrobatics and moral philosophy; “Travesties” (1974), on Joyce, Lenin, and modernism; “The Real Thing” (1982), an inquiry into betrayal; and “Arcadia” (1993), on Romanticism, science, and loss.​ Some consider it his masterpieceHe continued into the 21st century with “The Coast of Utopia” (2002) about Russian intelligensia, and “Rock ’n’ Roll” (2006), which linked Cambridge and Prague. In “Leopoldstadt” (2020), he turned to identity with a portrait of Jewish family in Vienna facing war and hadthe author consider his own Jewish history. The writing and conceptual gifts of Stoppard were also expressed in a number of films. He received an Oscar for screenwriting for “Shakespeare in Love” (1998) and continued to make contributions in other film projects.Tom Stoppard was frequently described as the greatestIiving playwright writing in the English language. He wasKnighted in 1997. He legacy of plays is a tribute to his talent, intellect and confidence to make difficult subjects compelling to an audience, all born of the central idea that playwright and audience shared a passionate curiosity.Tom Stoppard is survived by his third wife, Sabrina Guinness and 4 sons.