Tom Wilkinson, "The Full Monty" actor, dies at 75

Two-time Oscar-nominated actor Tom Wilkinson, who starred in "The Full Monty" about a group of unemployed steel workers who launched new careers as strippers died "suddenly" on Saturday, his publicist said in a statement.

"His wife and family were with him," the statement said, and that his "family asks for privacy at this time."

Wilkinson was nominated for Academy Awards for actor in a leading role for "In The Bedroom" in 2001 and for a supporting role in "Michael Clayton" in 2007.

Actor Tom Wilkinson / Credit: AP Photo
Actor Tom Wilkinson / Credit: AP Photo

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 for three others, including best picture and best director.

Wilkinson's character played ex-foreman Gerald Cooper who was recruited to help the unemployed men dance.

The actor also took a home best supporting actor Bafta for the role.

Wilkinson acted in more than 130 film and TV credits in total, the BBC reported, including many U.S. political figures. He played President Lyndon B Johnson in 2014's Selma, and he earned an Emmy for playing US political figure Benjamin Franklin in 2008 mini-series John Adams.

He was also known for his 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".

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