Tom Wilkinson obit

 

Tom Wilkinson: The Full Monty actor dies at 75

He was not on the list.

British actor Tom Wilkinson, known for films like The Full Monty, Shakespeare In Love and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, has died aged 75.

Wilkinson won a Bafta for 1997's The Full Monty, and reprised the role of Gerald when a Disney+ streaming series revisited the characters 26 years on.

He received six Bafta nominations in total as well as two Oscar nominations, for Michael Clayton and In The Bedroom.

He died suddenly at home with his wife and family, they said in a statement.

With more than 130 film and TV credits in total, Wilkinson was as comfortable in period dramas like 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2013's Belle, as he was playing criminal masterminds in movies like Rush Hour opposite Jackie Chan in 1998, or Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla in 2008.

He also earned an Emmy for playing US political figure Benjamin Franklin in 2008 mini-series John Adams and an Emmy nomination as John F Kennedy's father Joe in The Kennedys. He played President Lyndon B Johnson in 2014's Selma, and appeared in The Grand Budapest Hotel and Girl with a Pearl Earring.

His death on Saturday was confirmed in a statement shared by his agent on behalf of his family.

Wilkinson was, according to the Encyclopaedia of British Film, "a major character star, with a remarkable gift - one among several - for conveying inner pain".

In a tribute on X, formerly Twitter, British actor Phil Davis called him "powerful and delicate and hugely intelligent - one of the very best", while singer and actor Will Young described him as "British acting royalty".

US film maker Scott Derrickson said Wilkinson was "an amazing talent" and recalled a time when the actor gave him a surprise kiss on the lips on the set of The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Born in Leeds before moving to Canada and then Cornwall in childhood, he found his calling at the age of 18 when he was asked to direct a play.

"For the first time in my life, I started doing something I knew how to do," he said.

"I realised it wasn't necessarily just these southern middle-class types that got to be actors; it could possibly be people like me. And once I knew, I never changed my mind."

He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) before following the well-worn path to theatre and television work. In 1986, he got his first major screen role in mini-series First Among Equals, based on Jeffrey Archer's best-selling novel.

Playing alongside him was Diana Hardcastle. The couple married in 1988, and also went on to play husband and wife in The Kennedys in 2011, and in 2014 action film Good People. The couple had two daughters, Alice and Molly.

When he portrayed Pecksniff in Martin Chuzzlewit for the BBC in 1994, Wilkinson said: "I looked at it and I thought, I can't get it any better than that. It came out exactly as I meant it to come out. It won a couple of prizes and I thought, I can act, there's no question."

Three years later, he was cast as a former factory foreman who joins fellow unemployed workmates in staging a strip show in The Full Monty.

"I was simultaneously offered the lead in a TV series and a possible part in a low-budget movie," he told The Guardian.

"I remember phoning a friend and he said, 'Take the TV, take the TV'. But I didn't follow his advice, and the TV turned out to be crap."

The low-budget movie, meanwhile, turned out to be the highest-grossing British film up to that point, and took his career to a new level on both sides of the Atlantic.

Wilkinson received high critical acclaim for Todd Field's 2001 US domestic drama In the Bedroom, in which he played a bereaved father. He was nominated for an Oscar for best actor.

He hoped the film would do two things for him, he later said. "One, [prove] I could play the lead role in a movie. Two, I could play an American lead role. And it did both of those things."

The actor earned his second Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Tony Gilroy's 2007 legal thriller Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney.

Wilkinson's other credits included Batman Begins, The Patriot, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Gathering Storm, Black Knight, Valkyrie, The Lone Ranger and Denial.

He also provided the voice of the fox in the TV adaptation of children's best-seller The Gruffalo.

His long term agent Lou Coulson has described him in interviews as "one of the best".

Off screen, Wilkinson was known for being down-to-earth and keeping a relatively low profile. He said in an interview: "I like to go to Waitrose and not be recognised."

In the 2005 New Year Honours, Wilkinson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama.

 

Filmography

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1976    Smuga cienia    Chef Ransome            Wajda's adaptation of The Shadow Line

1984    Parker            Tom    

1985    Sylvia            Keith Henderson       

Wetherby            Roger Braithwaite      

1990    Paper Mask   Dr Thorn  

1993    In the Name of the Father  Grant Richardson      

1994    Priest            Father Matthew Thomas           

A Business Affair    Bob     

Prince of Jutland            Hardvendel     

1995    Sense and Sensibility            Mr Dashwood       

1996    The Ghost and the Darkness            Robert Beaumont        

1997    Smilla's Sense of Snow            Prof. Loyen  

The Full Monty            Gerald Cooper           

Wilde            Marquess of Queensberry    

Oscar and Lucinda            Hugh Stratton           

1998    The Governess            Charles Cavendish       

Rush Hour            Thomas Griffin/Juntao   

Shakespeare in Love    Hugh Fennyman        

1999    Ride with the Devil            Orton Brown 

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien Brother Joseph Dutton 

2000    Essex Boys    John Dyke   

The Patriot            General Lord Cornwallis       

Chain of Fools            Robert Bollingsworth   

2001    In the Bedroom            Matt Fowler

Another Life            Mr Carlton

Black Knight            Sir Knolte of Malborough     

2002    The Importance of Being Earnest            Dr. Frederick Chasuble         

Before You Go            Frank  

2003    Girl with a Pearl Earring Pieter Van Ruijven     

Normal Jane Anderson        

2004    If Only            Taxi driver  

Piccadilly Jim            Bingley Crocker          

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind            Howard Mierzwiak    

Stage Beauty            Betterton       

A Good Woman            Tuppy 

2005    Ripley Under Ground            John Webster          

Batman Begins            Carmine Falcone        

The Exorcism of Emily Rose            Father Moore 

Separate Lies            James Manning          

2006    The Night of the White Pants            Max Hagan 

The Last Kiss            Stephen         

2007            Dedication        Rudy Holt     

Cassandra's Dream            Howard         

Michael Clayton            Arthur Edens  

2008            RocknRolla    Lenny Cole    

Valkyrie            Colonel General Friedrich Fromm

Recount            James Baker  

2009            Duplicity            Howard Tully 

44 Inch Chest            Archie 

2010    The Ghost Writer            Paul Emmett

Burke & Hare            Dr. Robert Knox   

Jackboots on Whitehall            Albert and Joseph Goebbels            Voice

2011    The Green Hornet            James Reid    

The Conspirator            Reverdy Johnson        

The Debt            Stefan Gold    

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol            IMF Secretary            Uncredited

2012    The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel            Sir Graham Dashwood       

Fury     Xavier            aka The Samaritan

2013    The Lone Ranger            Latham Cole    

Belle     Lord Mansfield        

Felony            Detective Carl Summer           

2014    The Grand Budapest Hotel            Author 

Good People            DI John Halden

Selma            President Lyndon B. Johnson           

2015            Unfinished Business            Timothy McWinters   

Bone in the Throat  Charlie

Little Boy            Fr Oliver  

Jenny's Wedding            Eddie  

2016    The Choice Dr. Shep   

Snowden            Ewen MacAskill        

Denial   Richard Rampton         

This Beautiful Fantastic            Alfie Stephenson      

2018    The Catcher Was a Spy      Paul Scherrer          

Burden Tom Griffin  

Dead in a Week or Your Money Back            Leslie  

The Happy Prince   Fr Dunne 

The Titan            Professor Martin Collingwood    

2021    Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets            Dr. Bird      Voice

SAS: Red Notice  William Lewis  

Television

Year     Film            Role            Notes

1979    Crime and Punishment            Cadet            Episode: "Part 1"

1983            Panorama        Czuma            Episode: "Two Weeks in Winter: How the Army Took Over Poland"

Spyship            Martin Taylor  6-part BBC television miniseries

1984            Strangers and Brothers            George Passant 2 episodes

Sharma and Beyond            Vivian            Television film

Squaring the Circle            Rulewski

1985    A Pocket Full of Rye            Detective Inspector Neele

Travelling Man            "Granny" Jackson            Episode: "On the Hook"

Happy Families            Jack            Episode: "Cassie"

1986    First Among Equals            Raymond Gould            10-episode miniseries

1988    The Woman He Loved  Ernest Aldrich Simpson            Television film

The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank            Silberbauer

The Ruth Rendell Mysteries            Robert Hathall  3 episodes

1989    First and Last            Stephen            Television film

1990            Inspector Morse            Music Master Jake Normington            Episode: "The Infernal Serpent"

TECX  Hugo Gillon            Episode: "The Wine Business"

Counterstrike            Unknown        2 episodes

1990–1996            Screen Two     David Hanratty / Father McAteer / Dr. Middleton            4 episodes

1991    Parnell & the Englishwoman            Sir Charles Russell            Episode: "The Libel"

Lovejoy            Ashley Wilkes            Episode: "One Born Every Minute"

Prime Suspect            Peter Rawlins            2 episodes

1992            Underbelly       Paul Manning            Miniseries

Resnick: Lonely Hearts            Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick            Television film

1993    Stay Lucky   Allon            Episode: "Gilding the Lily"

Resnick: Rough Treatment            Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick            Television film

1994    The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries            Gerald Lacklander            Episode: "Scales of Justice"

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales            Buckingham (voice)            Episode: "King Richard II"

Performance            Duke Vincentio            Episode: "Measure for Measure"

Martin Chuzzlewit            Seth Pecksniff            Miniseries

1996    Eskimo Day      Hugh Lloyd            Television film

1997    Cold Enough for Snow   Hugh Lloyd

1999    David Copperfield            Narrator (Old David Copperfield)

2002    The Gathering Storm   Sir Robert Vansittart

An Angel for May     Sam Wheeler

2003    Normal            Roy/Ruth Applewood

2008    John Adams            Benjamin Franklin            Miniseries

Recount            James Baker            Television film

A Number            Salter

2009    The Gruffalo            Fox (voice)

2011    The Kennedys            Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.            Miniseries

The Gruffalo's Child            Fox (voice)            Television film

2017    The Kennedys: After Camelot            Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.            Cameo; The Kennedys Sequel

2018            Watership Down            Threarah (voice)            Miniseries

2020            Belgravia            Peregrine, Earl of Brockenhurst   

2023    The Full Monty            Gerald Cooper           

 

Theatre

Year     Film            Role            Notes

1980    Hamlet            Horatio            Aldwych Theatre, West End

1988    An Enemy of the People  Dr. Stockmann            Playhouse Theatre, West End

 

Video games

Year     Film            Voice role      Notes

2005    Batman Begins            Carmine Falcone        

2012            Sleeping Dogs            Superintendent Thomas Pendrew