1. Robert William Hoskins was an English actor and film director.
29 Facts About Bob Hoskins
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Bob Hoskins subsequently played acclaimed lead roles in the films The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mermaids and The Good Pope: Pope John XXIII.
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Bob Hoskins portrayed Mario in the 1993 film Super Mario Bros.
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Bob Hoskins directed two feature films: The Raggedy Rawney and Rainbow.
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Bob Hoskins won a Canadian Genie Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Felicia's Journey.
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Bob Hoskins retired from acting in 2012 owing to Parkinson's disease after being diagnosed the previous year.
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Robert William Bob Hoskins was born in Bury St Edmunds on 26 October 1942, the son of Elsie, a cook and nursery school teacher, and Robert Bob Hoskins, a bookkeeper and lorry driver.
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Bob Hoskins attended Stroud Green Secondary School, where he was written off as "stupid" on account of his dyslexia.
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Bob Hoskins left school at 15 with a single O-Level and worked as a porter, lorry driver, plumber, and window cleaner.
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Bob Hoskins started but did not complete a three-year accountancy course.
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Bob Hoskins spent six months on a kibbutz in Israel and two years tending to the camels of a Bedouin tribe in Syria.
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Bob Hoskins's acting career began in 1968 at the Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, in a production of Romeo and Juliet in which he played a servant named Peter.
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Bob Hoskins portrayed the character Alf Hunt, a removal man who had problems reading and writing.
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Bob Hoskins later played Iago in Jonathan Miller's BBC Television Shakespeare production of Othello.
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In 1983, Bob Hoskins voiced an advert for Weetabix and, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, he appeared in advertising for British Gas and British Telecom.
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Bob Hoskins had a small role as the protagonist's rock and roll manager in The Wall and, in 1997, had a cameo as Ginger Spice's disguise in the Spice Girls' film, Spice World.
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Bob Hoskins directed two films that he starred in: The Raggedy Rawney and Rainbow, and produced Mrs Henderson Presents alongside Norma Heyman, for which he was nominated as Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.
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Bob Hoskins experienced hallucinations for months after production on the film had ended.
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Bob Hoskins was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won a British Evening Standard Award for his performance.
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Bob Hoskins was slated to be the last-minute replacement in case Robert De Niro refused the role of Al Capone in The Untouchables.
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Bob Hoskins told The Guardian in 2007 that he regretted starring as Mario in Super Mario Bros.
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Bob Hoskins was injured several times on set, spent most of the time with co-star John Leguizamo getting drunk to escape boredom, and was not aware that the film was based on a video game until he was informed later by his son.
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In 2007, Bob Hoskins appeared in the music video for Jamie T's single "Sheila".
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On 8 August 2012, Bob Hoskins announced his retirement from acting, having been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.
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Bob Hoskins divided his time between the Hampstead area of London and Chiddingly, East Sussex.
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Bob Hoskins said that his wife persuaded him to go sober.
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Bob Hoskins often made light of his similarities with film actor Danny DeVito, who he joked would play him in a film about his life.
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On 29 April 2014, Bob Hoskins died of pneumonia at a London hospital, aged 71.
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Bob Hoskins was survived by his wife Linda and his four children.