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Tom Stoppard, a towering figure in theater, has died at age 88.

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Stoppard gave us magnificent shows, one after another. From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The Real Inspector Hound to Jumpers to Travesties to Arcadia to The Invention of Love to Leopoldstadt; film from Brazil to Empire of the Sun to Shakespeare in Love. Also was available to help when friends called with a script that needed a hand, even such scripts as in Shindler’s List, and co-wrote (uncredited) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. His catalog is… unstoppable. He received three Olivier awards, five Tony awards, and an Oscar, among other honors, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his theater work.

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He would likely be able to toss off an erudite, beautifully crafted phrase about the loss, but the rest of us are stuck with “He will be missed,” which is about as inadequate as it gets.

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Tom Stoppard (Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)