Full Monty actor Tom Wilkinson dies aged 75

British Oscar-nominated actor Tom Wilkinson, best known for his role in The Full Monty, has died aged 75, his family have announced.

He played the character Gerald Arthur Cooper in the 1997 comedy, which tells the story of a group of six unemployed steelworkers from Sheffield on their journey to set up an all-male striptease act.

For his role in the film, he received the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

He also featured in the 1998 romcom Shakespeare In Love, the 2003 film Girl with a Pearl Earring, the 2005 Christopher Nolan blockbuster, Batman Begins and the 2011 film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

In 2009, he won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Benjamin Franklin in the 2008 HBO series John Adams.

Born in Yorkshire in 1948, Wilkinson became fascinated with acting and directing with the drama society at the University of Kent, where he studied Literature. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 1973.

More to follow….