Tom Stoppard

Born Thomas Straussler July 3rd Zlin, Czechoslovakia, second son of Dr. Eugene Straussler, a doctor employed by the Bata shoe company.

Family moved to Singapore to escape the Nazis.

Evacuated to India with his mother and brother before the Japanese invasion. His father remained behind and died in enemy hands

Tom's mother married Kenneth Stoppard, a major in the British army in India. The family moved to England

Tom attended school, first in Nottinghamshire and then public school in Yorkshire

On leaving school at 17, Stoppard became a journalist on the Western Daily Press in Bristol

Joined the Bristol Evening World as news reporter, feature writer, theatre and film critic

Gave up his job, and contracted to write two weekly columns to support him, wrote his first play A Walk on the Water - later called Enter a Free Man

Wrote short stories and was commissioned to write a novel. A Walk on the Water was televised in Britain and performed on stage in Hamburg, Germany

BBC Radio broadcast his The Dissolution of Dominic Boot and M is for Moon Among Other Things

Married Josie Ingle: they had two sons and divorced in 1971. He wrote 70 episodes of A Student's Diary about an Arab student in London for BBC World Service. His play The Gamblers was performed at Bristol University

If You're Glad I'll Be Frank broadcast on BBC Radio;
A Separate Peace on BBC TV.
Tango A co-translation of a work by Slawomir Mrozek was presented by the RSC in London
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead received its first performance, by the Oxford Theatre Group, as part of the Edinburgh Festival fringe.
The novel Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon was published

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead presented by the National Theatre at the Old Vic;
Teeth and Another Moon Called Earth broadcast on BBC TV;
Albert's Bridge was broadcast on BBC Radio, and won the prestigious Prix Italia in 1968.
Stoppard was presented with the John Whiting Award and an Evening Standard Drama Award for rosencrantz

The Real Inspector Hound was the first Stoppard to open in London's West End;
Enter A Free Man was also performed in the West End;
Neutral Ground was televised by Thames TV

After Magritte was presented at a lunch-hour theatre club in London;
Where Are They Now? written for and broadcast by BBC Schools Radio

dogg's our pet staged at almost free theatre

Jumpers staged by the National Theatre (NT) at the Old Vic
Artist Descending A Staircase broadcast on BBC Radio.
Tom married Dr. Miriam Moore-Robinson; they divorced in the early 1990's

Stoppard's adaptation of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba was performed at the Greenwich Theatre
Stoppard directed a production of Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday at the same theatre

Travesties staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) at London's Aldwych Theatre

Stoppard contributed a piece co-written with Clive Exton to the BBC's series of half-hour plays written, produced and performed live all within a week. Their play was called The Boundary, a very funny piece in the After Magritte mould.
The Romantic Englishwoman was a film directed by Joseph Losey for which Stoppard wrote the screenplay; it was based upon a novel by Thomas Wiseman who collaborated on the script.

Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land were written for Ed Berman and directed by Stoppard at the Almost-Free Theatre opening on 6th April to coincide with his British naturalization; transferred to the Arts theatre in the West End.
He also adapted Shakespeare for Ed Berman viz. The Dogg's Troupe 15-Minute Hamlet

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour co-written with composer/conductor André Previn, was performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London with the full London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Previn. It was later televised
Professional Foul was televised by the BBC. Both works concern the treatment of dissidents in Eastern Europe; in fact in Every Good Boy the ‘treatment’ is in an insane asylum

Night and Day was Stoppard's first play written for ‘The West End’, rather than for the RSC, NT, or small theatre groups like Ed Berman's. Its stars were Diana Rigg and John Thaw and it discussed the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists.
Despair a film script for director Rainer Werner Fassbinder based upon Vladimir Nabakov's novel

Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth performed at Warwick University.
The NT presented Stoppard's Undiscovered Country, an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's Das Weite Land

Wrote the film script for Graham Greene's The Human Factor. The film was directed by Otto Preminger

On the Razzle a play adapted from an Austrian original Einen Jux will er sich machen by Johann Nestroy was presented by the National Theatre. It was later adapted for television

The Real Thing ‘a marital tragi-comedy’ produced at the Strand Theatre in London.
The Dog It Was That Died broadcast on BBC radio. It was also televised in 1984

Rough Crossing a musical play produced at the NT adapted from Molnar's Play at the Castle. Not successful with critics or most audiences, though we enjoyed it!
Squaring the Circle a television play directed by Mike Hodges set in Poland about Solidarity and its leader Lech Walesa

Brazil screenplay co-written with Charles McKeown and the film's director Terry Gilliam

Dalliance a play adapted from Schnitzler for the NT.
Largo Desolato adapted from Vacláv Havel for production at Bristol Old Vic

Empire of the Sun screenplay for director Steven Spielberg based upon J G Ballard's novel

Hapgood staged by the RSC at the Aldwych

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Steven Spielberg's film starring Harrison Ford and Sean Connery included an uncredited writing contribution from Stoppard

The Russia House screenplay from John Le Carré's novel. directed by Fred Schepisi.
Stoppard directed a movie version of his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It starred Gary Oldman and Tim Roth, with Richard Dreyfuss as the First Player

In The Native State BBC Radio play starring Felicity Kendal and Peggy Ashcroft

Billy Bathgate screenplay for director Robert Benton based upon E L Doctorow's novel, starring Dustin Hoffman and Nicole Kidman

Arcadia produced at the NT, transferring to the West End and US

Indian Ink a stage adaptation of In the Native State opened in the West End with Felicity Kendal

The Invention of Love produced at the NT

Shakespeare in Love Stoppard co-wrote the screen play for the movie with Marc Norman. It won the 1999 Oscar for best screenplay. The movie is directed by John Madden and stars Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Poodle Springs was a TV movie which Stoppard based upon Raymond Chandler. It was directed by Bob Rafelson and starred James Caan as Philip Marlowe. Unusually Tom Stoppard was supposed to appear in an acting rôle, but when we watched it on TV, we didn't spot him.
Not a good movie.

Vatel screenplay co-written with Jeanne Labrune for director Roland Joffé
Enigma screenplay based upon Robert Harris's novel set among the World War II codebreakers at Britain's Bletchley Park. The movie was directed by Michael Apted and starred Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott

Stoppard chosen as member of the Order of Merit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Membership of the Order is a personal gift of the Queen, unlike knighthoods which are awarded on the advice of government ministers. The order is limited to twenty-four members at a time.

The Coast of Utopia a trilogy written for The National Theatre about romantics and revolutionaries in Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century. Actors Will Keen, Eve Best and Guy Henry outstanding

Jumpers revived at the NT starring Simon Russell-Beale and Essie Davis

Rock and Roll about the fall of Communism in Stoppard's country of birth, Czechoslovakia

The Coast of Utopia trilogy wins a record seven Tony Awards for its Broadway run including best play, best director for Jack O'Brien and best leading actors: Billy Crudup and Jennifer Ehle.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy has been adapted for the screen by Stoppard. The film stars Keira Knightley and Jude Law, and is directed by Joe Wright.
Parade's End is a TV series set for 2012 Based upon a novel by Ford Madox Ford, it is reportedly adapted by Stoppard.