Tom Wilkinson (actor)

Tom Wilkinson OBE
Wilkinson at the premiere of Belle at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013
Born	Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (1948-02-05) 5 February 1948 (age 68) Wharfedale, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Diana Hardcastle (m. 1998)

Thomas Geoffrey "Tom" WilkinsonOBE (born 5 February 1948) is an English actor. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, for his roles in In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton. In 2009, he won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Film for playing Benjamin Franklin in John Adams.

Wilkinson was born in Wharfedale, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Marjorie and Thomas Wilkinson, a farmer. At the age of four, he moved with his family to Canada, where they lived for several years before returning to the United Kingdom and running a pub in Cornwall. Wilkinson graduated from the University of Kent, where he was a member of T24 Drama Society (then named UKCD) and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Wilkinson made his acting debut in 1976 and worked on several British television series, most notably the mini-series First Among Equals (1986). He first gained critical acclaim with his appearance as Mr Pecksniff, in the BBC's 1994 adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit. Wilkinson made only the occasional film, including a brief appearance in 1995's Sense and Sensibility and a villain in The Ghost and the Darkness (1996). After becoming part of the ensemble cast of the comedy-drama The Full Monty in 1997, a role which earned him a BAFTA, he began to take film roles more frequently, including supporting roles in Oscar and Lucinda, Wilde, Shakespeare in Love, and The Patriot. He also starred with Jackie Chan in the 1998 film Rush Hour, as the evil British Ambassador/Juntao.