The British actor has died at the age of 75 Tom Wilkinson, known for films such as ‘Full Monty’, ‘Shakespeare In Love’ and ‘Marigold Hotel’. Wilkinson was born in Wharfedale on 5 February 1948 to a peasant family, but spent his youth in Canada before returning to Great Britain to graduate in English and American literature at the University of Kent in Canterbury, and later enter the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art of London. After various experiences in the theater and on TV found worldwide popularity with the character of the penniless improvised stripper in The Full Monty, which earned him a Bafta. He then reprized his role as Gerald when a Disney+ streaming series revisited his characters 26 years later. He received a total of six Bafta nominations – winning one – and two Oscar nominations, for Michael Clayton and In The Bedroom, and won a Golden Globe and an Emmy. He died on Saturday at home with his wife and family, we read in a statement.
With more than 130 films and TV credits, Wilkinson found himself at home in costume dramas such as 1995’s Sense and Sensibility and 2013’s Belle, as well as playing criminal masterminds in films such as Rush Hour alongside Jackie Chan in 1998 , or Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla in 2008. He also won an Emmy for playing US political figure Benjamin Franklin in the 2008 miniseries John Adams and an Emmy nomination as John F. Kennedy’s father Joe in The Kennedys. His films include The Patriot (2000), In the Bedroom (2002), which earned him his first Oscar nomination for best leading actor, Girl with a Pearl Earring (2004) and The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005). In 2005 he played the role of mafia boss Carmine Falcone in the film Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan. Then the lawyer Arthur, co-starring with George Clooney in the legal thriller Michael Clayton, which earned him his second Oscar nomination in 2008 (this time for best supporting actor). In 2010 he starred in the film The Debt. In 2015 he participated in the film Little Boy.
His death was confirmed in a statement shared by his agent on behalf of his family. “It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announces that he passed away suddenly at home on December 30. His wife and family were with him,” the statement read. “The family requests privacy at this time.” Wilkinson was , according to the Encyclopaedia of British Film, “a leading figure, with an extraordinary gift – one among many – for conveying inner pain.”