Nobel Prize winner John Nash - whose life was portrayed in the film A Beautiful Mind - has been killed in a taxi crash in New Jersey with his wife Alicia.
The Princeton University mathematician was 86. His wife was 82.
The couple were in a taxi when the driver lost control, crashed into a guard rail and hit another car on the New Jersey Turnpike on Saturday afternoon.
They were ejected from the taxi and died at the scene.
State Police Sergeant Gregory Williams told The Star-Ledger: "It doesn't appear that they were wearing seatbelts."
The cab driver was taken to hospital, and the driver of the other car suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the report said.
Mr Nash was the subject of the Oscar-winning film depicting his groundbreaking work in game theory as well as his struggle with schizophrenia.
Russell Crowe, who starred in the movie, tweeted: "Stunned...My heart goes out to John and Alicia and family.
"An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts."
In a statement on 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 honour telling part of their story".
The Nashes had taken a cab from the airport after returning from receiving an award in Norway, according to mathematician Louis Nirenberg, who had been with them.
"We were all so happy together," Mr Nirenberg said. "It seemed like a dream."
Mr Nash won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994 and his game theory work on human rivalry is considered one of the most influential ideas of the 20th century.
A Beautiful Mind, which came out in 2001, brought Mr Nash's story to a mass audience and won four Oscars including best picture and best director.
Sky News
Oh mine... Till death did them part...RIP
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