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Bob Hoskins Has Died Aged 71

Actor, best known for The Long Good Friday, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mona Lisa, suffered from pneumonia.

Much loved actor Bob Hoskins has died aged 71 from pneumonia, his agent Lindy King has confirmed.

In a statement his family said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Bob.  Bob died peacefully at hospital last night surrounded by family, following a bout of Pneumonia.

"We ask that you respect our privacy during this time and thank you for your messages of love and support”.

Hoskins was best known roles in films such as 'The Long Good Friday', ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, ‘Mona Lisa’, ‘Hook’, Nixon’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’. His final performance was ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’.

["I apologise for f***ing nothing!" - Bob Hoskins' funniest quotes]

The actor announced in 2012 that he had retired from acting on 8 August 2012, due to his ongoing battle with Parkinson's

disease.
Hoskins was famous for a gruff, cockney persona, and was renowned for his hilarious, foul-mouthed interviews.


Describing his work
on the ‘Super Mario Bros.’ movie, he said: “The worst thing I ever did? 'Super Mario Bros.' It was a f**kin' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks, their own agent told them to get off the set! F**kin' nightmare. F**kin' idiots."

He also once described himself as “about as sexy as a bag of Brussel sprouts”.

Born in Bury St Edmunds, West Suffolk in 1942, Hoskins’ big break was the critically renowned Dennis Potter drama 'Pennies from Heaven'.

It lead to a breakthrough film role in British gangster classic ‘The Long Good Friday’ – which proved a passport to Hollywood for Hoskins.

Supporting parts in the likes of ‘Brazil’ and gangster film ‘The Cotton Club’ followed in the mid-80s, before Hoskins gave perhaps his most critically well-received performance of his career in ‘Mona Lisa’.

A George Harrison-produced drama
about an ex-con (Hoskins) who becomes entangled in with a high-class prostitute, it would earn the actor an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA win.

His most famous role was perhaps the live-action/animation masterpiece ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, which saw Hoskins cavorting with cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse. It earned him another BAFTA nomination but he didn’t enjoy the experience, saying: “It really [was] a barmy, awful experience. Everything is blue. Things start to lose their meaning.”

The actor was busy throughout the next two decades, with 'Mermaids', ‘Hook’, a Golden Globe-nominated turn in ‘Mrs Henders

on Presents’ (which he co-produced), ‘Enemy at the Gates’ and another critically-acclaimed performance in the Jimmy McGovern drama ‘The Street’ the highlights.

In the mid-90s, Bob also made a regular appearance in our living rooms when he fronted a popular BT ad campaign - reminding us all "It's good to talk". You can watch the best of Bob's adverts, here:


His final role w

as in 2012’s ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, where he played one of the seven dwarves.

Hoskins retired the same year after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, saying in a statement that he had a “wonderful career” and would spend time with his family.

Bob Hoskins is survived by his wife Linda Banwell and four children (two from his first marriage to Jane Livesey).

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