Actor Tom Wilkinson, who notably starred in The Full Monty, a film about a group of unemployed steel workers who embark on careers as strippers, died on Saturday at the age of 75. The death of the British comedian was confirmed in a statement released by his agent on behalf of his family. “It is with great sadness that Tom Wilkinson’s family announces that he passed away suddenly at his home on December 30. His wife and family were by his side,” his agent said.
Among his many awards, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his performances in In the Bedroom in 2001 and Michael Clayton in 2007. Tom Wilkinson recently reunited with Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy, two actors who also starred in The Full Monty, in a Disney series of the same name. The hit 1997 film about an unlikely group of men who striptease won the Oscar for best original score for a musical or comedy film and was nominated in three other categories, including best picture and best director.
In The Full Monty, Tom Wilkinson plays Gerald Cooper, a former foreman recruited to help unemployed workers dance. The actor also received a Bafta for best supporting role for his performance. Robert Carlyle paid tribute to his co-star, calling her “a true acting titan, one of the greatest not only of her generation, but of all generations.”
Tom Wilkinson, who was born in Leeds into a farming family, studied at the Royal Academy of Drama in London and has amassed over 130 films and television series, including Batman Begins, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Shakespeare in Love. In 1986, on a film set, he met actress Diana Hardcastle, whom he married in 1988. The couple had two daughters.
American actor George Clooney, who starred alongside Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton, told Variety: “Tom made every project better. He made every actor better. He was the epitome of elegance and we will all miss him.” In 2005, Tom Wilkinson was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama.
