Tom Stoppard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tom Stoppard
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Stoppard in 2022
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| Born | Tomáš Sträussler 3 July 1937 Zlín, Czechoslovakia (present day Czech Republic) |
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| Education | Pocklington School Mount Hermon School, Darjeeling |
| Period | 1953–present |
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| Notable awards | Full list |
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| Partner | Felicity Kendal (1991–1998) |
| Children | 4, including Ed |
Sir Tom Stoppard (born Tomáš Sträussler, 3 July 1937) is a famous writer from Britain. He was born in what is now the Czech Republic. He writes plays for the stage, movies, radio, and TV shows. He is especially known for his plays.
Stoppard's stories often explore big ideas like human rights, freedom, and how society works. He has been a main writer for the Royal National Theatre in London. Many people around the world consider him one of the most important playwrights of his time. In 1997, Queen Elizabeth II made him a "Sir" (knighted him) for his amazing work in theatre.
When he was a child, Stoppard had to leave his home in Czechoslovakia. His family was fleeing from the Nazis. After World War II, in 1946, his family settled in Britain. Before that, he spent three years (1943–1946) at a boarding school in Darjeeling, India. He went to schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire. Later, Stoppard became a journalist and a theatre critic before starting to write plays in 1960.
Some of his most famous plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972), and Arcadia (1993). He also wrote screenplays for popular movies like Brazil (1985) and Shakespeare in Love (1998). He even directed the movie version of his own play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990).
Stoppard has won many important awards. These include an Academy Award (Oscar), three Laurence Olivier Awards, and five Tony Awards. In 2008, a newspaper called The Daily Telegraph said he was one of the most powerful people in British culture. His most recent play, Leopoldstadt, opened in 2020. It won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Tom Stoppard was born Tomáš Sträussler in Zlín, a city in Czechoslovakia. His father, Eugen Sträussler, was a doctor who worked for a shoe company. His parents were Jewish, but they did not strictly follow their religion.
Fleeing the Nazis
Just before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the shoe company helped its Jewish employees move to other countries. On March 15, 1939, the day the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, the Sträussler family escaped to Singapore. The shoe company had a factory there.
Before Japan took over Singapore, Tom, his brother, and their mother went to India. Stoppard's father stayed in Singapore to help as a British army doctor. When Tom was four, his father died. For a long time, Tom thought his father had died as a prisoner of war. But later, he found out his father drowned when his ship was bombed by Japanese forces in 1942. He was trying to escape Singapore.
In 1941, when Tomáš was five, he, his brother Petr, and their mother moved to Darjeeling, India. The boys went to Mount Hermon School, an American school. There, Tomáš and Petr started using the English names Tom and Peter.
Moving to England
In 1945, his mother, Martha, married a British army major named Kenneth Stoppard. He gave the boys his English last name. In 1946, the family moved to England. Tom's stepfather believed that being born English was like winning a lottery. He told Tom, "Don't you realize that I made you British?" This made Tom want to become "an honorary Englishman."
Stoppard has said that sometimes he feels like he doesn't quite belong. He might make a small mistake, like how he says a word or a detail about English history. Then he feels like an outsider. He sees this feeling in his characters, who are often called by the wrong name. Stoppard went to Dolphin School in Nottinghamshire. He finished his schooling at Pocklington School in Yorkshire, which he did not enjoy.
Starting a Career
Stoppard left school at 17 and did not go to university. He started working as a journalist for the Western Daily Press in Bristol. He later wished he had gone to university. But at the time, he loved his job as a journalist. He worked there from 1954 to 1958. Then, the Bristol Evening World offered him a job as a feature writer, humor columnist, and theatre critic. This job led him into the world of theatre.
At the Bristol Old Vic theatre, Stoppard became friends with director John Boorman and actor Peter O'Toole. They were all starting their careers. In Bristol, he was known more for his funny but sometimes awkward humor and his simple clothes than for his writing.
Career Highlights
Early Works
Stoppard wrote short radio plays in 1953–54. By 1960, he finished his first stage play, A Walk on the Water. It was later renamed Enter a Free Man (1968). He said this play was inspired by works from other famous writers. His first play was performed in Hamburg and shown on British TV in 1963.
From 1962 to 1963, Stoppard worked as a theatre critic in London. He wrote reviews and interviews. In 1964, he received a grant that allowed him to write in Berlin for five months. There, he wrote a one-act play called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet King Lear. This play later became his famous Tony-winning play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
In the next few years, Stoppard wrote many works for radio, TV, and theatre. On April 11, 1967, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead opened at the Old Vic theatre. It was a huge success and made Stoppard famous overnight.
His play Jumpers (1972) is a murder mystery with a philosophy professor and gymnasts. Travesties (1974) imagined what would happen if famous people like Vladimir Lenin, James Joyce, and Tristan Tzara were all in Zürich during World War I. Stoppard also wrote one novel, Lord Malquist and Mr Moon (1966). It is a funny story set in London with unusual characters.
1980s Success
In the 1980s, Stoppard translated many plays into English. These included works by Polish and Czech writers. He was influenced by their "absurdist" style of theatre.
In 1982, Stoppard's play The Real Thing premiered. It is about a relationship between an actress and a man fighting for a soldier's freedom. The play explores what is real and what is fake, using a "play within a play." Many people consider it one of Stoppard's most popular and personal plays.
The play moved to Broadway in 1984. It was a big hit and won five Tony Awards, including Best Play. This was Stoppard's third Tony Award for Best Play.
In 1985, Stoppard helped write the screenplay for the movie Brazil. It is a science-fiction comedy that was praised by critics. Stoppard and his co-writers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He also wrote scripts for Steven Spielberg's movies Empire of the Sun (1987) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Spielberg later said Stoppard wrote almost all the dialogue for Indiana Jones.
1990s Achievements
In 1993, Stoppard wrote Arcadia. This play connects two groups of people: modern academics and people living in an English country house in the early 1800s. The play explores ideas like science, romantic literature, and garden design.
Arcadia premiered at the Royal National Theatre and won the 1993 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. It later moved to Broadway and was well-received. It was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play.
Stoppard gained even more fame with the movie Shakespeare in Love (1998), which he co-wrote. This romantic comedy tells a fictional story about William Shakespeare and a young woman who inspires his play Romeo and Juliet. The movie was a huge success, winning seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Stoppard won his first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. He also won a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for the screenplay.
2000s and Beyond
The Coast of Utopia (2002) was a group of three plays Stoppard wrote. They were about the ideas of Russian revolutionary figures in the late 1800s. The plays were very long, lasting nine hours in total. They premiered at the Royal National Theatre. In 2006, the plays came to Broadway and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Play. This was Stoppard's fourth win in that category.
Rock 'n' Roll (2006) was set in England and Prague. It explored 1960s rock music and the political challenges faced by a Czech band. It showed the difference between free society in England and the strict government in Czechoslovakia.
Stoppard has also helped with important causes. He is a supporter of the Shakespeare Schools Festival. This charity helps school children across the UK perform Shakespeare in real theatres. He was also the president of the London Library for many years.
In 2012, Stoppard wrote a five-part TV series called Parade's End. It was about a love story set in England. The series was highly praised by critics. Stoppard was nominated for a British Academy Television Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for the series.
His most recent play, Leopoldstadt, opened in January 2020. It is set in the Jewish community of early 20th-century Vienna. The play won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. It then moved to Broadway in October 2022 and won four Tony Awards, including Best Play.
Screenwriting
Besides his plays, Stoppard has co-written many movie screenplays. These include Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). He also helped with the dialogue for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Tim Burton's film Sleepy Hollow, though he wasn't officially credited for these. In 2013, he wrote a radio play called Darkside for BBC Radio 2. It celebrated the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon.
Themes in His Work
Exploring Big Ideas
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966–67) was Stoppard's first big play. It tells the story of Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters. The play uses clever jokes and explores deep ideas about life, similar to the writer Beckett. People started using the word "Stoppardian" to describe works that are witty and funny while also dealing with philosophical ideas.
Some critics used to say Stoppard's plays were just clever shows without much meaning. They felt his plays hid his own views instead of showing them. Stoppard himself once joked that he should stop making his plays useful for society. He admitted he started out loving language and playing with ideas. He thought journalism was better for making political change than writing plays.
Human Rights and Freedom
Over time, Stoppard's work became more focused on social issues. From 1977, he became personally involved in human rights, especially for people who were speaking out against governments in Eastern Europe. In 1977, he visited the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries. He met Václav Havel, a playwright who was a dissident (someone who opposes the government) and later became president of Czechoslovakia. Stoppard greatly admired Havel's writing.
Stoppard became involved with groups like Index on Censorship and Amnesty International. He wrote articles and letters about human rights. He also helped translate Havel's plays into English. Many of Stoppard's plays and TV shows from this time, like Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977) and Rock 'n' Roll (2006), deal with themes of censorship, unfair treatment, and government control.
Connecting Heart and Mind
Stoppard's later works started to explore deeper human feelings while still being intellectually playful. He has said that around 1982, he moved away from plays that were mostly about arguments and more towards plays about emotions. He became "less shy" about showing feelings. He explained that he used to focus on making "fireworks" with language. But now, he realizes his plays are "really about human beings, it's not really about language at all."
The Real Thing (1982) uses a play-within-a-play structure to explore the pain of unfaithfulness. Arcadia (1993) combines ideas from science, history, and garden design. Stoppard loves writing for theatre because it's always changing and growing through rehearsals. He also enjoys writing for film because it lets him "play God" and control the creative world. It often takes him four to five years to create a play, as he works hard to make his research very accurate.
Personal Life
Tom Stoppard has been married three times. His first marriage was to Josie Ingle (1965–1972). His second marriage was to Miriam Stern (1972–1992). He later had a relationship with actress Felicity Kendal. He has four sons: Oliver, Barnaby, the actor Ed Stoppard, and Will. In 2014, he married Sabrina Guinness.
Family History
Stoppard's mother passed away in 1996. His family had not talked much about their past. Neither Tom nor his brother knew what happened to their relatives who stayed in Czechoslovakia. In the early 1990s, after communism ended, Stoppard learned the truth. All four of his grandparents were Jewish and had died in concentration camps like Terezin and Auschwitz. Three of his mother's sisters also died in the camps.
In 1998, after his parents died, he visited Zlín, his birthplace, for the first time in over 50 years. He feels sad about losing his father and his family's past. But he also feels incredibly lucky that he did not have to experience what they did. He calls his life "charmed."
In 2013, Stoppard asked Hermione Lee to write his biography. The book was published in 2020.
Political Views
In 1979, Stoppard said he was a "conservative with a small c." He meant he held traditional views in politics, literature, education, and theatre. In 2007, he described himself as a "timid libertarian." This means he believes in individual freedom and limited government.
The Tom Stoppard Prize was created in 1983. It is given to Czech writers. In 2014, Stoppard supported a campaign called "Hacked Off." This group wants to make sure the press is fair and protects vulnerable people.
Legacy and Awards
Awards and Recognition
In July 2013, Stoppard received the PEN Pinter Prize. This award is given to writers who show "determination to tell things as they are."
In July 2017, Stoppard was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy. This is a high honor for people in the humanities and social sciences in the UK. He also became a visiting professor at St Catherine's College, Oxford, for the 2017–2018 school year.
Stoppard's image has been captured in art. He posed for sculptor Alan Thornhill, and a bronze head of him is now in a public collection. It is kept with Stoppard's papers at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Another bronze statue of him, made by his friend Angela Conner, is on display at Chatsworth House.
His Archive
Tom Stoppard's writings and other materials are kept at the Harry Ransom Center in Texas. He started this collection in 1991, and it continues to grow. The collection includes his handwritten and typed drafts, notes, and production materials like cast lists and set drawings. It also has theatre programs, posters, letters, photos, and other important documents from his career.
Published Works
- Novel
- 1966: Lord Malquist and Mr Moon
- Theatre
- 1964: A Walk on the Water
- 1965: The Gamblers – based on a novel by Dostoevsky
- 1966: Tango – adapted from another play
- 1966: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
- 1968: Enter a Free Man – developed from A Walk on the Water
- 1968: The Real Inspector Hound
- 1969: Albert's Bridge
- 1969: If You're Glad I'll Be Frank
- 1970: After Magritte
- 1971: Dogg's Our Pet
- 1972: Jumpers
- 1972: Artist Descending a Staircase
- 1974: Travesties
- 1976: Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land
- 1976: 15-Minute Hamlet
- 1977: Every Good Boy Deserves Favour – written for an orchestra
- 1978: Night and Day
- 1979: Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth – two plays performed together
- 1979: Undiscovered Country – an adaptation of a play by Arthur Schnitzler
- 1981: On the Razzle – based on another play
- 1982: The Real Thing
- 1982: The (15 Minute) Dogg's Troupe Hamlet – a revised version of a 1979 play
- 1983: English words for the opera The Love for Three Oranges
- 1984: Rough Crossing – based on another play
- 1986: Dalliance – an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's Liebelei
- 1987: Largo Desolato – a translation of a play by Václav Havel
- 1988: Hapgood
- 1993: Arcadia
- 1995: Indian Ink – based on his radio play In the Native State
- 1997: The Invention of Love
- 1997: The Seagull – a translation of a play by Anton Chekhov
- 2002: The Coast of Utopia – a group of three plays: Voyage, Shipwreck, and Salvage
- 2004: Enrico IV (Henry IV) – a translation of an Italian play
- 2006: Rock 'n' Roll
- 2010: The Laws of War – a contribution to a play for Human Rights Watch
- 2015: The Hard Problem
- 2020: Leopoldstadt
- Original works for radio
- 1964: The Dissolution of Dominic Boot
- 1964: 'M' is for Moon Amongst Other Things
- 1966: If You're Glad I'll be Frank
- 1967: Albert's Bridge
- 1968: Where Are They Now?
- 1972: Artist Descending a Staircase
- 1982: The Dog It Was That Died
- 1991: In the Native State – later became the stage play Indian Ink (1995)
- 2007: On Dover Beach
- 2012: Albert's Bridge, Artist Descending a Staircase, The Dog It Was That Died, and In the Native State were published together as Tom Stoppard Radio Plays
- 2013: Darkside – written for BBC Radio 2
- Television plays
- A Separate Peace (1966)
- Teeth
- Another Moon Called Earth
- Neutral Ground
- Professional Foul
- Squaring the Circle
- 1970: The Engagement, a TV version of The Dissolution of Dominic Boot
- Film and television adaptations of plays and books
- 1975: Three Men in a Boat – adapted for BBC Television
- 1975: The Boundary – co-written for the BBC
- 1978: Despair – screenplay for a film based on a novel
- 1979: The Human Factor – a film adaptation of a novel
- 1985: Brazil – co-written, nominated for an Academy Award
- 1987: Empire of the Sun – first draft of the screenplay
- 1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – final rewrite of the screenplay
- 1990: The Russia House – screenplay for a film based on a novel
- 1990: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead – also directed, won the Golden Lion award
- 1998: Shakespeare in Love – co-written, won an Academy Award
- 1998: Poodle Springs – TV adaptation of a novel
- 2001: Enigma – film screenplay of a novel
- 2005: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – helped with dialogue
- 2005: The Golden Compass – a draft screenplay, not produced
- 2012: Parade's End – TV screenplay for a series of novels
- 2012: Anna Karenina – film screenplay of a novel
- 2014: Tulip Fever – film screenplay of a novel
See also
In Spanish: Tom Stoppard para niños
