Tom Wilkinson's career in pictures: The Full Monty, Shakespeare in Love, Rush Hour and more

Tom WilkinsonGetty Images
By Emma Petrie
Arts and culture reporter

Tom Wilkinson, one of the UK's most acclaimed and versatile actors, starred in British films like The Full Monty as well as Oscar-winning dramas and Hollywood hits.

First Among Equals TV - 1986 - Jeremy Child, Tom Wilkinson, James Faulkner, David Robb.
ITV/Shutterstock

His breakthrough role was fictional Labour MP Raymond Gould (second left) in the 10-part 1986 TV adaptation of Jeffrey Archer's best-selling novel First Among Equals.

Tom Wilkinson as Seth Pecksniff and Maggie Steed as Mrs Todgers in the 1994 BBC costume drama Martin Chuzzlewit

In 1994, he appeared as Pecksniff in the BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit. He is pictured alongside Maggie Steed.

Tom Wilkinson in The Full Monty
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His career really took off after appearing in the film The Full Monty in 1997. Wilkinson won a Bafta for his portrayal of Gerald, a former factory foreman who joins fellow unemployed workmates in staging a strip show.

Tom Wilkinson in Shakespeare in Love
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Wilkinson played theatre financier Hugh Fennyman in Shakespeare in Love in 1998. The film won seven Oscars, including best picture.

Jackie Chan and Tom Wilkinson in Rush Hour
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He played plenty of villains during his career, including Thomas Griffin, known as Juntao, opposite Jackie Chan in the first Rush Hour film in 1998.

Tom Wilkinson and Minnie Driver in The Governess
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In The Governess, he played a father with an interest in photography who falls for his muse, and governess, played by Minnie Driver. Stephen Holden from the New York Times described the romantic period drama as "ravishingly beautiful".

Tom Wilkinson in The Patriot
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Wilkinson played a British officer in The Patriot, a US film about the Revolutionary War co-starring Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger and Jason Isaacs. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, but was criticised for its lack of historical authenticity.

Tom Wilkinson In the Bedroom
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He received a best actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a bereaved father in Todd Field's 2001 US domestic drama In the Bedroom.

Tom Wilkinson in the Girl with the Pearl Earring
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In Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), Wilkinson played a wealthy patron, Van Ruijven, who lusted after a maid (Scarlett Johansson). His character commissions a portrait of her by Dutch painter Vermeer (Colin Firth). The film, based on Tracy Chevalier's novel, was nominated for three Oscars.

Tom Wilkinson and George Clooney in Michael Clayton
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Tony Gilroy's 2007 legal thriller Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney, was nominated for seven Oscars including best supporting actor for Wilkinson.

Tom Wilkinson in RocknRolla
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He showed his villainous side again as Lenny Cole, an old-school mobster in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla in 2008.

Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
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Wilkinson joined an ensemble cast of British actors including Dame Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel and Dame Maggie Smith for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2011.

Tom Wilkinson in Selma
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In Ava DuVernay's 2014 historical drama Selma, Wilkinson portrayed President Lyndon B Johnson. The film tells of the protest marches held in Alabama in 1965 over voting rights for African Americans.

Tom Wilkinson and wife Diana Hardcastle
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The actor met his wife Diana Hardcastle when she appeared alongside him in First Among Equals. The couple married in 1988 and had two daughters, Alice and Molly.

All photos subject to copyright.

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