'Full Monty' star Tom Wilkinson dies aged 75

Two-time Oscar-nominated actor Tom Wilkinson, who starred in "The Full Monty", a film about a group of unemployed steel workers who launch new careers as strippers, died on Saturday aged 75.

The British actor's death was confirmed in a statement released by his agent on behalf of his family.

"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."

Among his numerous accolades was an Academy Award nomination for "In the Bedroom" in 2001, and another for a supporting role in "Michael Clayton" in 2007.

He most recently reunited with his "Full Monty" co-stars Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy in a Disney+ series of the same name.

The original 1997 smash hit about an unlikely group of men stripping won an Oscar for best original musical or comedy score and was nominated in three others categories, including best picture and best director.

Wilkinson played Gerald Cooper, an ex-foreman who was recruited to help the unemployed men dance.

The actor also took home a Best Supporting Actor Bafta for the role.

Carlyle paid tribute to his co-star, calling him a "real titan of an actor, one of the greats of not only his, but of any generation".

Wilkinson, who was born in Leeds to a family of farmers, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and racked up more than 130 film and TV credits, including "Batman Begins", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Shakespeare in Love".

While working on the British mini-series "First Among Equals" in 1986, he met actress Diana Hardcastle, who he married in 1988. The couple had two daughters.

American actor George Clooney, who played alongside Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton", told Variety: "Tom made every project better. Made every actor better. He was the epiTome of elegance and he will be dearly missed by all of us."

"Peaky Blinders" actor Aneurin Barnard, who starred opposite Wilkinson in the 2018 black comedy "Dead in a Week (Or Your Money Back)", said he was sad to hear of his co-star's passing.

"One of our wonderful legends that we say goodbye to. Bye for now Tom x," he wrote on social media.

Wilkinson won a 2009 Golden Globe and 2008 Emmy for his role as American political figure Benjamin Franklin in the HBO series "John Adams", playing opposite Paul Giamatti.

A noted character actor, he also netted roles in a BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel "Martin Chuzzlewit"; the 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility"; the 2014 Wes Anderson comedy drama "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; and 2011 ensemble comedy "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel".

In 2005, Wilkinson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama.

Agence France-Presse