People
Tom Wilkinson
Acting · follow into films and chains
Biography
Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (February 5, 1948 – December 30, 2023) was an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2005, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Wilkinson trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before making his West End debut portraying Horatio in Hamlet (1980) for which he received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He returned to the West End playing Dr. Stockmann in the Henrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People (1988) receiving a Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival nomination. Wilkinson received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Full Monty (1997) as well as two Academy Award nominations, one for Best Actor for In the Bedroom (2001) and Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clayton (2007). He became known as a character actor, acting in numerous films such as In the Name of the Father (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Patriot (2000), Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Batman Begins (2005), Valkyrie (2008), The Ghost Writer (2010), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Belle (2013), Selma (2014), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Denial (2016). In 2009 he won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for playing Benjamin Franklin in the HBO limited series John Adams (2008). His other Emmy-nominated roles were as Roy/Ruth Applewood in the HBO film Normal (2003), James Baker in the HBO film Recount (2008), and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. in the limited series The Kennedys (2011).
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Appears in a KinoChain journey
The Full Monty
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Batman Begins
As Carmine Falcone
Martin Chuzzlewit
As Seth Pecksniff
Rush Hour
As Griffin
The Grand Budapest Hotel
As Author
The Patriot
As Gen. Cornwallis
Good People
As DI John Halden
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
The Hypnotic Gaze
From Woody Allen's comic hypnosis to the chilling mechanics of control, this chain traces cinema's fascination with the mind's susceptibility.
8 films
Rewinding the Reel: How VHS Championed British Independents
From Thatcher's Britain to the video shop era, discover how VHS gave gritty, daring British films a second life and a devoted audience.
9 films
Topics
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Related people
Collaborators & neighbours
Acted
The Full Monty
2023 · Gerald Arthur Cooper
Watership Down
2018 · Threarah (voice)
The Titan
2018 · Prof. Martin Collingwood
The Choice
2016 · Dr. Shep
Jenny's Wedding
2015 · Eddie
Unfinished Business
2015 · Timothy McWinters
Selma
2014 · President Lyndon B. Johnson
Good People
2014 · DI John Halden
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014 · Author
The Lone Ranger
2013 · Cole
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012 · Graham Dashwood
The Gruffalo's Child
2011 · The Fox (voice)
The Green Hornet
2011 · James Reid
The Gruffalo
2009 · Fox (voice)
Duplicity
2009 · Howard Tully
Cassandra's Dream
2007 · Howard
Michael Clayton
2007 · Arthur Edens
Batman Begins
2005 · Carmine Falcone
A Good Woman
2004 · Tuppy
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004 · Dr. Mierzwiak
The Importance of Being Earnest
2002 · Dr. Chasuble
The Patriot
2000 · Gen. Cornwallis
Ride with the Devil
1999 · Orton Brown
Shakespeare in Love
1998 · Hugh Fennyman
Rush Hour
1998 · Griffin
The Full Monty
1997 · Gerald Arthur Cooper
The Ghost and the Darkness
1996 · Sir Robert Beaumont
Martin Chuzzlewit
1994 · Seth Pecksniff