Entertainment
British playwright Tom Stoppard, known for “Shakespeare in Love” screenplay, dies at 88
British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998’s “Shakespeare In Love,” has died. He was 88.
United Agents said in a statement Saturday that Stoppard died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset in southern England, surrounded by his 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. It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him,” the statement said.
Steve Eichner/WWD via Getty Images
Stoppard was born in the Czech Republic in 1937. His family fled to Singapore after Nazi Germany’s invasion in 1939. He, his brother and their mother fled again when Japanese forces closed in on the city in 1941. His father died trying to leave the city. His mother married an English officer in 1946, and the family moved to postwar Britain. The 8-year-old Tom “put on Englishness like a coat,” he later said, growing up to be a quintessential Englishman who loved cricket and Shakespeare.
Stoppard first worked as a journalist before turning to theater in the 1960s. Stoppard was often hailed as the greatest British playwright of his generation and was garlanded with honors, including a shelf full of theater gongs.
His brain-teasing plays ranged across Shakespeare, science, philosophy and the historic tragedies of the 20th century. Five of them won Tony Awards for best play: “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” in 1968; “Travesties” in 1976; “The Real Thing” in 1984; “The Coast of Utopia” in 2007; and “Leopoldstadt” in 2023.
He wrote plays for radio and television including “A Walk on the Water,” televised in 1963, and made his stage breakthrough with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” which reimagined Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from the viewpoint of two hapless minor characters.
Stoppard was a strong champion of free speech who worked with organizations including PEN and Index on Censorship. He claimed not to have strong political views otherwise, writing in 1968: “I burn with no causes. I cannot say that I write with any social objective. One writes because one loves writing, really.”
That was especially true of his late play “Leopoldstadt,” which drew on his own family’s story for the tale of a Jewish Viennese family over the first half of the 20th century. Stoppard said he began thinking of his personal link to the Holocaust quite late in life, only discovering after his mother’s death in 1996 that many members of his family, including all four grandparents, had died in concentration camps.
“Leopoldstadt” premiered in London at the start of 2020 to rave reviews; weeks later all theaters were shut by the COVID-19 pandemic. It eventually opened on Broadway in late 2022, going on to win four Tonys.
Dizzyingly prolific, Stoppard also wrote many radio plays, a novel, television series including “Parade’s End” (2013) and many film screenplays. These included dystopian Terry Gilliam comedy “Brazil” (1985), Steven Spielberg-directed war drama “Empire of the Sun” (1987), Elizabethan romcom “Shakespeare in Love” (1998) — for which he and Marc Norman shared a best adapted screenplay Oscar — code breaking thriller “Enigma” (2001) and Russian epic “Anna Karenina” (2012).
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his services to literature.
Tech billionaire and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has expressed concerns about the H-1B visa programme, stating that it is being “gamed” by select outsourcing firms in the US.
The tech tycoon emphasised that authorities should address the misuse of the H-1B visa system rather than dismantling it entirely.
What is H-1B visa?
H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to hire skilled foreign workers, and are mostly used by Indian citizens, particularly in the technology and healthcare sectors.
During a recent podcast with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, Musk highlighted that America has “long benefitted” from the contributions of talented Indian migrant workers, while acknowledging the issues around the “misuse” of the H-1B programme.
Manipulation in H-1B visa lottery system
Outsourcing firms have faced backlash for manipulating the lottery system, including submitting multiple applications for the same worker and hiring low-cost contract employees instead of filling speciality roles, BBC reported.
Musk firmly stated, “We need to stop the gaming of the system,” but he disagreed with those advocating for the complete shutdown of the H-1B system, arguing that such a move would be detrimental to the U.S. economy.
Recent data from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) indicates that approvals for H-1B visas from Indian outsourcing companies have dropped to their lowest level in a decade, with a significant decline in initial employment petitions.
Besides H-1B visas, Musk also commented on former President Trump’s tariff policies, which he believes distort markets, noting that negotiations for a trade deal between the U.S. and India are ongoing, with an agreement expected by year-end.
Duchess of Edinburgh was reportedly left in a state of shock as she witnessed a painful accident, nearly breaking royal protocol as it happened.
The 60-year-old royal, who has earned a prominent position with King Charles as his ‘secret weapon’ for the monarchy, has been dragged in an unfortunate court case about an 81-year-old woman, who lost her life in 2023.
A woman named Helen Holland had been crossing the street at Old Bailey when she was hit by the speeding officer, PC Christopher Harrison, part of the motorcycle convoy that was escorting Sophie as she left the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office.
The officer was given a ‘not guilty’ verdict which garnered an emotional reaction from Helen’s family. One of the family members had yelled, “You ruined our family with no consequences.”
Prince Edward’s wife has remained quiet amid the legal process. She had only released a statement at the time to express her sympathies with the family. She could not comment further due to the ongoing court case.
In a new report by DailyMail, never-before-shared details about Sophie’s reaction were shared in which she nearly broke the protocol for the pedestrian.
For the first time they have detailed the horrific injuries Helen sustained during what Harrison described in court as “a tragic accident”. They also shared that in moments after the collision, the Duchess of Edinburgh tried to leave her vehicle to rush towards Helen.
Meanwhile, Helen’s son Martin and her daughter-in-law, Lisa, are pursuing another legal action not for any compensation but to prove that the beloved great-grandmother “did nothing wrong”.
Duchess of Edinburgh statement via Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace released a short statement on Duchess Sophie’s behalf in May 2023.
“The Duchess’s heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the injured lady and her family,” it read.
“She is grateful for the swift response by the emergency services and will keep abreast of developments. Further comment at this time would not be appropriate while the incident is being investigated.”
Sadie Sink has opened about her character Max Mayfield in the Stranger Things new season.
In season 4, Max was left in coma after a psychic encounter with Vecna. The first volume of the fifth season has shown that her consciousness is trapped in the upside down.
While talking about her character, Sink said that there always has been something that anchored her to the role like the environment, the bands, the skateboard or the clothes.
“But this season, there was nothing. It was clothes that didn’t feel like Max, crazy hair that was grown out and tangled, and dirt all over my face”, she told The Hollywood Reporter.
She continued, “She’s in a rough, feral state. It was pretty bizarre. It was weird to feel like Max and then look like that and be in that environment.
Stranger things 5 the first volume depicts how Max’s fate has been kept a mystery after Holly Wheeler is taken by Vecna and she crosses paths with a young girl.
Responding to her character’s fate, Sadie added that “Max is a really caring person” and accepts Holly as an ally instead of seeing her as just a small girl.
The Spider-Man actress said, “I feel like we’ve left it all out on the table, and it’s at a good closing point, but I don’t know. I could do it again. Because I love that set so much, and I love the character.”
Stranger Things 5 second volume is set to premiere on December 25.
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