According to the BBC, British actor Tom Wilkinson, who appeared in films such as “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Full Monty,” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” died on Saturday. He was seventy-five years old.
The Wilkinson family mournfully reveals their loved one’s untimely death at home on December 30. In a statement to the BBC, his family said that “his wife and family were with him.”
He won a BAFTA for supporting actor for his portrayal of an unemployed steel worker who chooses to “go the full Monty” and join a male striptease dancing ensemble in order to acquire money. In the most recent Disney+ series, Wilkinson, who played Gerald in “The Full Monty,” reprised the role 26 years later.
Wilkinson was nominated for an Oscar for his roles as Todd Field’s “In the Bedroom” doctor spouse Sissy Spacek and the manic-attacking lawyer in “Michael Clayton.”.
“In an about-face from his fine turn as the arrogant Gen. Cornwallis in ‘The Patriot,’ Wilkinson gives enormously sympathetic shadings to Matt, who comes off as an ideal father and quite a good husband, Ruth’s later objections notwithstanding; it’s a large, warm-blooded performance,” Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote about his “In the Bedroom” part in a 2001 evaluation.
Read More
George Clooney honoured Wilkinson in the suspense thriller “Michael Clayton,” directed by Tony Gilroy and released in 2007. Wilkinson was hailed by Clooney as “the epitome of elegance” and a gifted performer.
“Tom made every project better. enhanced each artist, “Clooney told Variety. “He was the height of elegance, and we will all miss him terribly.”
In films like Rush Hour and The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wilkinson also played the evil British envoy. He also starred in the films Batman Begins, The Green Hornet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
He portrayed James A. Baker in “Recount,” for which he was nominated for an Emmy, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. in “The Kennedys,” and Benjamin Franklin in “John Adams” on television.
In Ava DuVernay’s film “Selma,” he played a historical American once more.
Before making his television debut in 1995 in series like “Martin Chuzzlewit” and, for a brief period of time, “Sense and Sensibility,” Yorkshireman Wilkinson attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Wilkinson’s wife, the actress Diana Hardcastle, and two daughters survive him.
Share this content:
