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Two-time Oscar-nominated actor Tom Wilkinson has died aged 75, his family have announced.
The British film star, best known for his role in The Full Monty as former steel mill foreman Gerald Cooper, died ‘suddenly’ on Saturday.
Wilkinson was awarded a Bafta for best supporting actor in the 1997 comedy about a group of redundant steelworkers from Sheffield who decide to set up an all-male striptease act to earn a living.
Across a glittering career spanning nearly 50 years, Wilkinson also starred in 1998 romcom Shakespeare in Love, Christopher Nolan’s 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins and 2011 action thriller Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
His tragic death was confirmed in a statement shared by his agent on behalf of his family.
Tom Wilkinson was best known for his role in The Full Monty as former steel mill foreman Gerald Cooper (pictured)
Wilkinson is pictured with his actress wife Diana Hardcastle at The Park Theatre in London on July 17, 2017
Wilkinson was nominated for Academy Awards for actor in a supporting role for Michael Clayton in 2007. He starred alongside George Clooney
(L-R) Tom Wilkinson, Robert Carlyle, Steve Huison, Hugo Speer, Paul Barber and Mark Addy appear in a scene from The Full Monty
The statement read: ‘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 family asks for privacy at this time.’
Wilkinson, who hailed from Yorkshire before moving to Canada and then Cornwall in childhood, is survived by his actress wife Diana Hardcastle and their two daughters Alice and Mollie.
The couple tied the knot in 1988 and would go on to play husband and wife in The Kennedys in 2011 as well as the 2014 film Good People.
Wilkinson was nominated for Academy Awards for actor in a leading role for In The Bedroom in 2001, and actor in a supporting role for Michael Clayton in 2007.
He also won a 2009 Golden Globe and 2008 Emmy for his role as American political figure Benjamin Franklin in HBO series John Adams opposite Paul Giamatti.
The actor featured in a star-studded cast alongside Dame Judi Dench, Dame Penelope Walton and Bill Nighy in the 2011 film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
And he most recently reunited with his The Full Monty co-stars, Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy, in a Disney+ series of the same name.
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In the original film, Wilkinson’s character played a critical role in the film as he was recruited to help the unemployed Sheffield men dance ahead of them performing to a Tom Jones version of You Can Leave Your Hat On.
Actor Tom Wilkinson holds his award at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills in 2009. He won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a series, mini-series, or motion picture made for television for his role in ‘John Adams’
Wilkinson was nominated for an Academy Award for actor in a leading role for In The Bedroom in 2001
Tom Wilkinson is pictured after he collected an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 2005
He most recently reunited with his The Full Monty co-stars, Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy, in a Disney+ series of the same name (pictured)
Tom Wilkinson and his wife Diana arriving for the Orange British Academy Film Awards at the Odeon cinema in London’s Leicester Square in 2002
The film won an Oscar for best original musical or comedy score and was nominated for three others, including best picture and best director.
He was also known for his roles in a BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit, the 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense And Sensibility and the 2014 Wes Anderson comedy drama The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Born to farmers in the Yorkshire valley of Wharfedale in 1948, Wilkinson moved to Canada as a young boy but would return five years later.
Across a glittering career spanning nearly 50 years, Wilkinson also starred in Christopher Nolan’s 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins (pictured)
He attended the University of Kent, where he studied English and American literature and developed a passion for acting and directing.
He first appeared on screens in 1976 and would go on to star in several shows, including the 1986 political drama First Among Equals.
But it was his unforgettable role in The Full Monty that saw Wilkinson shoot to fame in 1997.
He would go on to star in a string of Hollywood films and dramas that further cemented his status as an acting great.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
