Bob Hoskins
Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor and film director.[1] Known for his intense but sensitive portrayals of "tough guy" characters,[2][3] he began his career on stage before making his screen breakthrough playing Arthur Parker on the 1978 BBC Television serial Pennies from Heaven. He subsequently played acclaimed lead roles in the films The Long Good Friday (1980), Mona Lisa (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and Mermaids (1990).
This article is about the actor. For other uses, see Bob Hoskins (disambiguation).
Bob Hoskins
29 April 2014 (aged 71)
Highgate Cemetery, London
Actor, director
1968–2012
4
Hoskins had supporting roles in Pink Floyd The Wall (1982), The Honorary Consul (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Brazil (1985), Hook (1991), Nixon (1995), Enemy at the Gates (2001), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), A Christmas Carol (2009), Made in Dagenham (2010), and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). He portrayed Mario in the 1993 film Super Mario Bros., based on the video game of the same name, and voiced Boris Goosinov in the animated film Balto (1995). Hoskins also directed two feature films: The Raggedy Rawney (1988) and Rainbow (1996).
He received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his role in Mona Lisa. Hoskins won a Canadian Genie Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Felicia's Journey. In 2009, he won an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his appearance on the BBC One drama The Street. Hoskins retired from acting in 2012 owing to Parkinson's disease after being diagnosed the previous year. He died in April 2014 from pneumonia.
Early life[edit]
Robert William Hoskins was born in Bury St Edmunds on 26 October 1942, the son of Elsie (née Hopkins), a cook and nursery school teacher, and Robert Hoskins, a bookkeeper and lorry driver.[4] One of his grandmothers was Romani.[5] From two weeks old, he was brought up in the Finsbury Park area of London.[6] He attended Stroud Green Secondary School, where he was written off as "stupid" on account of his dyslexia.[7] He left school at 15 with a single O-Level and worked as a porter, lorry driver, plumber, and window cleaner. He started but did not complete a three-year accountancy course.[8][9] He spent six months on a kibbutz in Israel and two years tending to the camels of a Bedouin tribe in Syria.[9]
Personal life[edit]
When asked in an interview which living person he most despised, Hoskins named Tony Blair and said, "He's done even more damage than Thatcher." He hated Blair to the point that he decided in 2010, for the first time in his life, not to vote for Labour, by then led by Gordon Brown.[34][35]
Hoskins often made light of his similarities with film actor Danny DeVito, who he joked would play him in a film about his life.[35]
With his first wife Jane Livesey, Hoskins had two children: Alex (b. 1968) and Sarah (b. 1971). With his second wife, Linda Banwell, he had two more children: Rosa (b. c. 1983) and Jack (b. c. 1986).[36] Hoskins divided his time between the Hampstead area of London[37] and Chiddingly, East Sussex.[38]
Later in life, Hoskins gave up drinking alcohol. He said that his wife persuaded him to go sober.[39]