Tom Wilkinson, OBE, born December 12, 1948, is a British actor. Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, he moved with his family to Canada for several years when he was young, but returned to the UK, where he graduated from the University of Kent.
Wilkinson made his television debut in the mid-1970s and worked on several British television series, first gaining critical acclaim with his appearance as Mr Pecksniff, in the BBC's 1994 adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit. He made only the occasional movie (including a brief appearance in 1995's Sense and Sensibility, until he hit it big with the international hit The Full Monty in 1997. That success was followed up by Oscar and Lucinda, Wilde, Shakespeare in Love, The Patriot, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Normal and In the Bedroom, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
In the New Year's Honours List published 31 December 2004 he was created an OBE for services to drama.
Tom Wilkinson is also the name of a proficient quarterback that played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL.
