- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGeoffrey Thomas Wilkinson
- Height6′ 1″ (1.86 m)
- 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 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.
- IMDb mini biography by: TrendEkiD@aol.com
- SpouseDiana Hardcastle(January 5, 1988 - December 30, 2023) (his death, 2 children)
- ChildrenAlice WilkinsonMolly Wilkinson
- ParentsMarjorie Wilkinson
- Was offered a role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but didn't like the prospect of a year long production keeping him away from his family.
- Graduated from the University of Kent at Canterbury with a degree in English and American Literature. Was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University in 2001.
- He was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Drama.
- He has appeared in eight films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: In the Name of the Father (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Full Monty (1997), Shakespeare in Love (1998), In the Bedroom (2001), Michael Clayton (2007), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Selma (2014). Shakespeare in Love (1998) won in the category.
- Attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
- There are no acting challenges in a good script, only in a bad script.
- All good actors are easy to work with. It's the ones that aren't very good who tend to be very difficult.
- I'm temperamentally suited to the business of acting. I'm quite fatalistic. If it's not happening, it's not happening, and there's very little you can do.
- Surprise is perhaps the storyteller's greatest weapon.
- [on deciding which roles to take]: "You just follow your nose. You ask those simple really instinctive questions like you know: Can I shine in this role?, Can I do this role better than anybody in the world?, Is there something in it that I recognize?... Its really not to do with the money, or the director, or the other members of the cast. The first simple thing is: Am I going to enjoy playing this character?... Its a purely instinctive decision."
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