Tom Wilkinson, the Oscar-nominated British actor known for his roles in “The Full Monty,” “Michael Clayton,” “Batman Begins” and his Oscar-winning breakout “In the Bedroom” and whose work spanned film, TV, and stage, died Saturday. He was 75.
Wilkinson died suddenly at home, according to a statement his representative Nancy Selzer shared on behalf of his family.
Tom Wilkinson arrives at the “Denial” premiere on day 4 of the Toronto International Film Festival at the Princess of Wales Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Toronto. Chris Pizzello/Invision via Associated Press file
“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 statement read.
Wilkinson’s career spanned six decades, beginning with television in his native England. He would go on to a range of leading roles and memorable turns as characters including the steel mill foreman-turned-stripper Gerald Cooper in the film version of “The Full Monty,” Gotham villain Carmine Falcone across from Christian Bale’s caped crusader in “Batman Begins,” bipolar attorney Arthur Edens in “Michael Clayton” and the grief-stricken, vengeful father from “In The Bedroom.” The latter two earned him nominations for Academy Awards.
A versatile character actor, Wilkinson often played intimidating, serious, or menacing roles on screen while telegraphing warmth and humor in interviews.
In a 2014 appearance on Canadian television after the release of the Australian crime thriller “Felony,” Wilkinson said that after years in the business, it was still “unnerving” to see himself on film.
“Increasingly, you know, you look and you think ‘who is that old, fat man? Oh! It’s me!'” Wilkinson joked before turning introspective.
“When I look in the mirror, it’s not what I look like that I’m interested in, it’s who I am,” Wilkinson said. “‘Who is this person I’ve been looking at fairly continuously for a long time?’ He’s still a bit of a mystery.”
Widely recognizable to British film audiences, Wilkinson in the late 1990s scored two BAFTA wins as part of the ensemble for “The Full Monty” and “Shakespeare in Love.” Within three years, he would gain recognition from American audiences as a formidable lead opposite Sissy Spacek in the acclaimed 2001 indie drama “In the Bedroom.”
The film would earn both actors Oscar nominations.
Wilkinson followed his second Oscar-nominated role, 2007’s “Michael Clayton,” with the HBO miniseries “John Adams,” with his portrayal of Benjamin Franklin winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
Thomas Wilkinson Jr. was born on Dec. 12, 1948, in Leeds, England. His father was a farmer, and his mother was a homemaker. The family moved to Canada when he was 5 and stayed for six years before returning to England.
“I was [in North America] between ages 5 and 11, which was just enough time for me to fall in love with [American] pop culture of the 1950s,” Wilkinson told the Los Angeles Times in 2001. “Though I didn’t see a television properly until I was 12 and we were back in England, I read Dell comics, listened to baseball, and went out every Saturday to the movies.”
As a teenager, Wilkinson recalled that the headmistress of his school took a special interest in expanding his education and experiences, even teaching him “which knives and forks to reach for first” and introducing him to the theater. He directed his first production while in high school, Eugène Ionesco’s “Bald Soprano.”
“After the first rehearsals,” he told the Los Angeles Times, “I decided this is what I want to do with my life.” He entered the University of Kent in 1967 to study literature, then was accepted in 1970 to the prestigious Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
He married actress Diana Hardcastle in 1988. They had two daughters, Alice and Molly. Full information on survivors was not immediately available.
On New Year’s Day in 2005, Wilkinson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama, the BBC reported at the time.
Wilkinson continued to make British and Australian films throughout his career, but his American films led to his most prestigious honors.
Wilkinson’s transatlantic upbringing appeared to give him an ear particularly attuned to regional American accents, winning praise for nailing Maine’s distinctive Down East cadence for “In the Bedroom” and a Texas twang playing Secretary of State James Baker in the 2008 television drama “Recount” on the nail-biting weeks after the 2000 presidential election.
Jay Roach, who directed “Recount,” recalled telling the actor the production had offered to hire him an accent coach.
“I was hoping he would say yes,” Roach told USA Today. “But instead, he said, ‘No, no. I’m fine. I have tapes, and I’m practicing in the shower.’ That’s a lovely English way of saying, ‘No, kid. I’ve got it.'”
Wilkinson also said he likes to push himself with parts far out of his own experience, including playing a transgender woman in the 2003 HBO film “Normal.”
In a 2006 interview with the Daily Mail, Mr. Wilkinson described the ease with which he could adapt to new characters and their backstories: “I just have to mentally snap my fingers.”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
