Movie’s inspiration dies in taxicab crash
Mathematician’s story told in ‘A Beautiful Mind.’
John Forbes Nash Jr., a mathematical genius whose struggle with schizophrenia was chronicled in the 2001 movie “A Beautiful Mind,” has died along with his wife in a car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. He was 86.
Nash and Alicia Nash, 82, of Princeton Township, N.J., were killed in a taxi crash Saturday, state police said. A colleague who had received an award with Nash in Norway earlier in the week said the couple had just flown back to the United States and were riding home from the airport when the wreck occurred.
Russell Crowe, who portrayed Nash in “A Beautiful Mind,” tweeted that he was “stunned.”
“An amazing partnership,” he wrote. “Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts.”
In a statement Sunday, his co-star in the film, Jennifer Connelly, called the couple “an inspiration,” and the film’s director, Ron Howard, tweeted that “it was an honor telling part of their story.”
Known as brilliant and eccentric, Nash was associated with Princeton University for many years, most recently serving as a senior research mathematician. He won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1994 for his work in game theory, which offered insight into the dynamics of human rivalry. It is considered one of the most influential ideas of the 20th century.
Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber said the Nashes were special members of the university community.
“John’s remarkable achievements inspired generations of mathematicians, economists and scientists who were influenced by his brilliant, groundbreaking work in game theory, and the story of his life with Alicia moved millions of readers and moviegoers who marveled at their courage in the face of daunting challenges,” Eisgruber said in a statement.
In an autobiogra- phy written for The Nobel Foundation website, Nash said delusions caused him to resign as a faculty member at MIT. He spent several months in New Jersey hospitals on an involuntary basis.
However, Nash’s schizophrenia diminished through the 1970s and 1980s as he “gradually began to intellectually reject some of the delusionally influenced lines of thinking,” he wrote.
The 2001 film “A Beautiful Mind” won four Oscars, including best picture and best director, and generated interest in Nash’s life story.
New Jersey State Police say the Nashes were thrown out of the taxi when it crashed around 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Monroe Township, about 12 miles from their home.