With their charm and light banter of sibling rivalry ('Mom liked you best!'), they lampooned politicians, decried the war in Vietnam, and made fun of network censors. 'No, we thought of ourselves as folk singers,' Tom told 'Sunday Morning' in 2022.īut the pair – Dick playing bass and straight man, Tom (two years older) on guitar and cracking wise – were a hit with their late '60s variety show, 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.' With guest stars like comedian George Carlin and anti-war activist Pete Seeger, and a writing staff that included Steve Martin and Rob Reiner, the show was a counterculture hit that tweaked the powers-that-be, whether in the White House or at CBS' headquarters at Black Rock. Tom Smothers (February 2, 1937-December 26, 2023), one-half of the duo The Smothers Brothers, said they didn't think of themselves as comedians. Tom and Dick Smothers during rehearsal for 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' Decemin Los Angeles. He recently reunited with 'Full Monty' co-stars Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy in a Disney+ series of the same name. It was followed by 'Shakespeare in Love,' 'The Patriot,' 'Girl with a Pearl Earring,' 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,' 'Batman Begins,' 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose,' 'Valkyrie,' 'The Debt,' 'The Kennedys,' 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,' 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,' 'Belle,' 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Selma.' Then came his breakout role, in the 1997 comedy 'The Full Monty,' as an unemployed steel mill foreman who seeks a new career as a male stripper. He also earned a best actor Academy Award nomination for Todd Field's 2001 drama 'In the Bedroom,' playing a father grieving over the murder of his son.Ī Yorkshire native born into a farming family, Wilkinson attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and appeared on stage and in such films and TV programs as 'Sylvia,' 'Prime Suspect,' 'In the Name of the Father,' 'Sense and Sensibility,' 'The Ghost and the Darkness,' 'Oscar and Lucinda,' 'Martin Chuzzlewit' and 'Rush Hour,' His come-to-Jesus moment of clarity about his complicity sets off a chain reaction that threatens the high-priced law firm hired to clean up the chemical company's mess.Įdens (Tom Wilkinson): 'I have blood on my hands.'Ĭlayton (George Clooney): 'You are the senior litigating partner of one of the largest, most respected law firms in the world. Wilkinson earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his performance in 'Michael Clayton' (2007), as an attorney who appears to fall apart owing to his experience litigating a multi-billion-dollar class action lawsuit over a carcinogenic weed killer. He won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance as Benjamin Franklin in the HBO series 'John Adams.' Rarely playing a lead role, his characters infused the films he was in with gravity, tragedy and sardonic humor. The Associated Press contributed to this gallery.īritish actor Tom Wilkinson (February 5, 1948-December 30, 2023) was a scene-stealer of the highest order.

| Jim Spellman-Wireimage/Getty ImagesĪ look back at the esteemed personalities who left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.īy senior producer David Morgan. Actor Tom Wilkinson in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of 'The Night of the White Pants,' April 27, 2006.

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