Two-time Oscar-nominated actor Tom Wilkinson has died aged 75, his family has announced.
The British actor, well known for his role in The Full Monty as former steel mill foreman Gerald Cooper, died “suddenly” on Saturday.
His death was confirmed in a statement shared by his agent on behalf of his family.
The statement read: “It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announce that he died suddenly at home on December 30. His wife and family were with him.
“The family asks for privacy at this time.”
The Full Monty and Michael Clayton
Wilkinson was nominated for Academy Awards for actor in a leading role for In The Bedroom in 2001, and actor in a supporting role for Michael Clayton in 2007.
He most recently reunited with his The Full Monty co-stars, Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy, in a Disney+ series of the same name.
The original 1997 comedy about an unlikely group of men stripping won an Oscar for best original musical or comedy score and was nominated for three others, including best picture and best director.
Wilkinson’s character played a critical role in the film as he was recruited to help the unemployed Sheffield men dance ahead of them performing to a Tom Jones version of You Can Leave Your Hat On.
Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson at the premiere of The Debt. Credit: Ian West/PA
He would also take home best supporting actor during the 1998 BAFTA ceremony for his role in the film.
Tributes flow for Wilkinson
Carlyle paid tribute to his co-star, calling him a “real titan of an actor, one of the greats of not only his, but of any generation”.
Wilkinson, who was born in Leeds to a family of farmers, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and racked up more than 130 film and TV credits, including Batman Begins, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Shakespeare in Love.
While working on the British mini-series First Among Equals in 1986, he met actress Diana Hardcastle, who he married in 1988. The couple had two daughters.
American actor George Clooney, who played alongside Wilkinson in Michael Clayton, told Variety: “Tom made every project better. Made every actor better. He was the epitome of elegance and he will be dearly missed by all of us.”
Peaky Blinders actor Aneurin Barnard, who starred opposite Wilkinson in the 2018 black comedy Dead in a Week (Or Your Money Back), said he was sad to hear of his co-star’s passing.
“One of our wonderful legends that we say goodbye to. Bye for now Tom x,” he wrote on social media.
Wilkinson won a 2009 Golden Globe and 2008 Emmy for his role as American political figure Benjamin Franklin in the HBO series John Adams, playing opposite Paul Giamatti.
A noted character actor, he also netted roles in a BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel Martin Chuzzlewit; the 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility; the 2014 Wes Anderson comedy drama The Grand Budapest Hotel; and 2011 ensemble comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
In 2005, Wilkinson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama.
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