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Tom Wilkinson, the actor who could turn a manic lawyer, a steel-foreman-turned-stripper and parts small and large into mesmerizing turns, winning Oscar nominations and plaudits for his performances in movies like \u201cMichael Clayton\u201d and \u201cThe Full Monty,\u201d died on Saturday. He was 75.<\/p>\n
A statement sent by his agent on behalf of Mr. Wilkinson\u2019s family said he died suddenly at home. It did not provide other details.<\/p>\n
Mr. Wilkinson\u2019s range seemed to know no bounds.<\/p>\n
He earned Academy Award nominations for his work in \u201cIn the Bedroom\u201d and \u201cMichael Clayton\u201d and delighted audiences in comedies like \u201cThe Full Monty\u201d and \u201cThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n
He appeared in blockbusters films like \u201cShakespeare in Love\u201d and \u201cBatman Begins\u201d and took on horror in \u201cThe Exorcism of Emily Rose,\u201d history as Benjamin Franklin in the HBO series \u201cJohn Adams\u201d and memory in the movie \u201cEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He often did not have the name recognition or sheer star power of the actors he played opposite \u2014 George Clooney, Sissy Spacek and Ben Affleck among them. But he drew audiences\u2019 eyes and critics\u2019 acclaim through decades of work in television and film and onstage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see myself as a utility player, the one who can do everything,\u201d he told The New York Times in 2002. \u201cI\u2019ve always felt that actors should have a degree of anonymity about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
To many Britons, though, \u201cThe Full Monty,\u201d remains his most beloved performance, as one of the gruff, unemployed steelworkers in Sheffield, England, who scheme to make some money and repair their self-regard by starting a striptease act for the town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Wilkinson played Gerald Cooper, an aging ex-foreman who joins the cadre in part to escape the ornamental gnomes his wife erected on the lawn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
But his range extended far beyond comedy, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for best actor for his performance in \u201cIn the Bedroom,\u201d directed by Todd Field.<\/p>\n
Opposite Ms. Spacek, Mr. Wilkinson played one half of a Maine couple struggling in the aftermath of their son\u2019s murder. Mr. Field said he was drawn to Mr. Wilkinson because of his everyman quality.<\/p>\n