Some sad news to report this evening as it has been announced that Oscar-nominated British actor Tom Wilkinson, best known for his role in the classic British comedy The Full Monty, has passed away aged 75.
“It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announce that he died suddenly at home on December 30,” reads a statement issued by his family. “His wife and family were with him. The family asks for privacy at this time.”
Wilkinson made his acting debut in the 1970s but it wasn’t until the 1990s that he began rising to prominence, with appearances in the likes of In the Name of the Father, the BBC’s Martin Chuzzlewit and Sense and Sensibility leading to his major breakthrough in 1997’s The Full Monty, for which he received the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Post-Monty, Wilkinson would go on to work frequently on both sides of the Atlantic across both film and television; he would receive Oscar nominations for his work in In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton, and also won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for the 2009 miniseries John Adams.
Some of Wilkinson’s other notable credits among the 130 plus on his resume include the likes of Shakespeare in Love, Rush Hour, The Patriot, Batman Begins, RocknRolla, Burke & Hare, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma and Snowden, while his last big screen appearance came in 2021’s SAS: Red Notice. He was however most recently seen reprising his role as Gerald Cooper for Disney’s The Full Monty sequel series, which aired earlier this year.