As the theater industry and admirers around the world mourn Tom Stoppard, the community that gave the 3x Olivier Award winner his start is paying tribute.
Following Stoppard’s death at age 88, the Olivier Awards announced that West End theaters will dim their lights in his honor for two minutes on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 7pm.
“Over a distinguished career spanning six decades, he won three Laurence Olivier Awards and five Tony Awards, and received an Academy Award for his screenplay for Shakespeare in Love,” the association wrote in a statement. “That recognition attests to the remarkable range and enduring impact of his work on both stage and screen. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues, and all whose lives he enriched.”
United Agents announced on Saturday that Stoppard died “peacefully” at his Dorset, England home, where he was surrounded by family.
“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,” the statement reads, according to the Associated Press. “It was an honor to work with Tom and to know him.”
Stoppard previously won Olivier Awards for Arcadia (1994), Heroes (2006) and Leopoldstadt (2020). He also earned Tony Awards for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968), Travesties (1976), The Real Thing (1984), The Coast of Utopia (2007) and Leopoldstadt (2023).
