Fans paid tribute to great actor Tom Wilkinson, who died at 75
Tom Wilkinson, one of the great British character actors of his generation, died at the age of 75.
BBC reported a family statement that Wilkinson died at his home on Saturday.
A decorated actor who won a BAFTA, an Emmy and a Golden Globe and was nominated for two Academy Awards, Wilkinson brought a stirring gravity to any role he played.
After appearances in films like In the Name of the Father and Sense and Sensibility, Wilkinson broke out to global audiences with his BAFTA-winning role in The Full Monty.
From then on, he became as recognizable a face as one could find in theaters, making memorable turns in Shakespeare in Love, Rush Hour, The Patriot, In the Bedroom (which earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Girl with a Pearl Earring and Batman Begins.
However, Wilkinson’s defining role would be his Oscar-nominated performance as guilt-ridden corporate lawyer Arthur Edens in 2007’s Michael Clayton. In that film, Wilkinson delivered one of the great monologues of the 2000s opposite George Clooney that culminated in perhaps the most notable line reading of his career: “I am Shiva, the God of Death.”
He won his Emmy and Golden Globe for his HBO miniseries role on 2008’s John Adams as Benjamin Franklin. In the 2010s, Wilkinson appeared in films like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Selma.
Fittingly, one of Wilkinson’s final screen credits would be reprising his role in 2023’s The Full Monty television sequel. IMDB lists one upcoming film, a drama titled Bone in the Throat, as being in post-production.
With the news of his death, many shared tributes to the actor’s striking career.