A Beautiful Mind Mathematician, Wife Die in Crash

John Forbes Nash, the Nobel-winning Princeton mathematician known for his work in game theory and as the inspiration behind A Beautiful Mind, died yesterday in a crash in New Jersey. Also killed was his wife and partner of nearly six decades, Alicia Nash. The Nashes were riding in a taxi on the New Jersey Turnpike when the driver lost control of the vehicle, and hit a guardrail; both were ejected from the car. "It doesn't appear that they were wearing seatbelts," a police rep tells NJ.com. The Nashes were 86 and 82, respectively.

Russell Crowe, who portrayed Nash in the 2001 film, was among those mourning the Nashes, tweeting, "Stunned...my heart goes out to John & Alicia & family. An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts." A colleague tells the AP that the Nashes had taken a cab home from the airport, where they'd all chatted. "We were all so happy together," he said. "It seemed like a dream." (More car crash stories.)