Tom Wilkinson
☼ Born on 5 December 1948, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK
† Died on 30 December 2023, in Muswell Hill, London, England, UK, cause undisclosed
Biography
Popular British character actor Tom Wilkinson was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and came from a long line of urban farmers. He was the son of Marjorie (Percival) and Thomas Wilkinson. Economic hardships forced his family to move to Canada for a few years when Wilkinson was a child; then, after he had returned to England, he attended and graduated from the University of Kent at Canterbury with a degree in English and American Literature.
Wilkinson first became active in film and television in the mid-1970s, but did not become familiar to an international audience until 1997. That was when he starred as one of six unemployed workers who strip for cash in Best Picture nominee The Full Monty (1997), and went on to win a BAFTA for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. That same year, he was featured in Oscar and Lucinda (1997) and Wilde (1997). Wilkinson was also shown to memorable effect as a theatre financier with acting aspirations in Best Picture winner Shakespeare in Love (1998).
Over the next few years, Wilkinson would become more popular, especially with American audiences, with such roles as General Cornwallis alongside Mel Gibson in the blockbuster The Patriot (2000) and as the grief-stricken father, Matt Fowler, in the critically acclaimed Best Picture nominee In the Bedroom (2001). For his role in that movie, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Since then, Wilkinson has made memorable appearances in Eternal
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Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Batman Begins (2005), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Valkyrie (2008), Duplicity (2009), The Ghost Writer (2010), The Debt (2010) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), among others. Wilkinson also received his second Academy Award nomination for his acclaimed role in Michael Clayton (2007).
Wilkinson won an Emmy Award for his work as Benjamin Franklin in HBO's John Adams (2008) mini-series. The same year, he received an Emmy nomination for his role in HBO movie Recount (2008), and has also received Emmy nominations for Normal (2003) and The Kennedys (2011).
Wilkinson had two children, Alice and Molly, with his wife Diana Hardcastle.
In the role of actor
The Ranger (24/07/2018)
A group of teenage punks find themselves stalked by a psychotic park ranger in The Ranger. After her boyfriend Garth (Granit Lahu) stabs a police officer during a drug raid at a punk rock club, Chelsea (Chloe Levine) and her friends Abe (Bubba Weiler), Jerk (Jeremy Pope), and Amber (Amanda Grace Benitez) are forced to go […]
Belle (08/09/2013)
The issues of race, class, and gender in 18th century Britain are looked at in Amma Asante’s period drama Belle. Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is the illegitimate, bi-racial daughter of a Royal Navy admiral (Matthew Goode). She is left in the care of her uncle Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), who raises her, along with […]
The Lone Ranger (07/07/2013)
From the team that brought you the Pirates of the Caribbean films come this new film adaptation of The Lone Ranger, which began as a radio serial in the 1930s, but is best known for the 1950s TV series. In the film, the Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the story of the Ranger, […]
The Green Hornet (16/01/2011)
I never ever watched The Green Hornet TV series (with the exception of the character crossing over to the Batman series, which was by the same producers) and I only really knew the basics of the character. In fact, it was only recently that I found out that the character began as a 1930s radio […]
Valkyrie (28/12/2008)
It is a shame that there is poor public opinion on Tom Cruise, since I thought Valkyrie was quite a good movie. It would be stretching it to say that it is a film that would receive Oscar recognition, but I thought that the film was a great return to thrillers for director Bryan Singer, […]
RocknRolla (09/10/2008)
Since, the release of Snatch in 2000, Guy Ritchie found difficulty in moving away from the formula the made him famous. 2002 saw the Madonna-staring Swept Away, which loathed by pretty much everyone. Then came Revolver 2005, which took the crime films Ritchie was associated with, removed the comedy, and added a cerebral element that […]