Bob Hoskins

Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor.[1] His work included lead roles in Pennies from Heaven (1978), The Long Good Friday (1980), Mona Lisa (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Mermaids (1990), and Super Mario Bros. (1993), and supporting performances in Brazil (1985), Hook (1991), Nixon (1995), Enemy at the Gates (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), A Christmas Carol (2009), Made in Dagenham (2010), and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). He also directed two feature films: The Raggedy Rawney (1988) and Rainbow (1996).

Bob Hoskins
Hoskins in 2007, during the filming of Ruby Blue
Born
Robert William Hoskins

(1942-10-26)26 October 1942
Died29 April 2014(2014-04-29) (aged 71)
London, England
Burial placeHighgate Cemetery
OccupationActor
Years active1968–2012
Spouse(s)
Jane Livesey
(m. 1967; div. 1978)

Linda Banwell
(m. 19822014)
Children4

Hoskins 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. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the same role. In 2009, Hoskins won an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his appearance on the BBC One drama The Street. Hoskins retired from acting in 2012 due to Parkinson's disease, with which he had been diagnosed the previous year, and died from pneumonia on 29 April 2014, at age 71.

Early life

Hoskins was born in Bury St Edmunds, West Suffolk, on 26 October 1942 to Robert Hoskins, a bookkeeper and a lorry driver, and Elsie (née Hopkins) Hoskins, a cook and nursery school teacher.[2][3] His grandmother was Romani.[4] From two weeks old he was brought up in Finsbury Park, London.[5] He attended Stroud Green Secondary School where he was written off as stupid on account of his dyslexia.[6] 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.[7][8] He spent half a year in Israel on a kibbutz, and two years in Syria tending the camels of a Bedouin tribe.[8]

Career

Hoskins filming Ruby Blue in 2006

Hoskins' 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.[9] A year later, while waiting in the bar at Unity Theatre, London, for his friend the actor Robert Frost, Hoskins found himself being auditioned for a play after being handed a script and told "you're next."[10] His audition was successful and Frost became his understudy. Frost considered Hoskins "a natural", recalling that "he just got up on stage and was brilliant."[11] Hoskins's London theatre career included a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh at the Aldwych Theatre in 1976, as Rocky the bartender, opposite Patrick Stewart.[12] In 1981, he starred with Helen Mirren in The Duchess of Malfi at the London Roundabout, and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.[13]

His first major television role was in On the Move (1975–1976), an educational drama series directed by Barbara Derkow intended to tackle adult illiteracy.[14] He portrayed the character Alf Hunt, a removal man who had problems reading and writing. According to producer George Auckland, up to 17 million people watched the series.[15] His breakthrough in television came later in the original BBC version of Dennis Potter's innovative 6-part fantasy-drama Pennies from Heaven (1978), in which he portrayed adulterous sheet music salesman Arthur Parker. He went on to play Iago (opposite Anthony Hopkins) in Jonathan Miller's BBC Television Shakespeare production of Othello (1981).[16] In 1983 Hoskins voiced an advert for Weetabix and during the late 1980s and early 1990s, he appeared in advertising for British Gas and British Telecom (now BT Group).[17][18] Other television work included Flickers, portraying Wilkins Micawber in David Copperfield (1999), and The Wind in the Willows (2006).

British films such as The Long Good Friday (1980) and Mona Lisa (1986) won him the wider approval of critics, the latter film winning him a Cannes Award, Best Actor Golden Globe, BAFTA Awards, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Other works in film included delivering comic turns in Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985); portraying Smee in Hook (1991) and in Neverland (2011); starring opposite Cher in Mermaids (1990); portraying Nikita Khrushchev as a political commissar in Enemy at the Gates (2001); and playing Uncle Bart, the violent psychopathic "owner" of Jet Li in Unleashed (2005; aka Danny The Dog). He had a small role as the protagonist's rock and roll manager in The Wall (1979), and in 1997 had a cameo as Ginger Spice’s disguise in the Spice Girls film Spice World.[19] He directed two films that he also starred in: The Raggedy Rawney (1988) and Rainbow (1996), and produced Mrs Henderson Presents alongside Norma Heyman, for which he was nominated Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.[20]

Hoskins and Freddie Francis on location in Montreal for Rainbow in 1994

A high point in his career was portraying private investigator Edward "Eddie" Valiant in the live-action/animated family blockbuster Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Hoskins was not the first choice for the role; Harrison Ford, Bill Murray, and Eddie Murphy were all considered for the part.[21][22] Film critics, among them Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, agreed that Hoskins was perfect for the role.[23] As his character interacts and makes physical contact with animated characters in the film, Hoskins was required to take mime training courses in preparation. He suffered hallucinations for months after production on the film had ended.[24][25] He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won a British Evening Standard Award for his performance.

Hoskins's portrayal of L.A. investigator Valiant was one of several roles where he used an American accent; he was described by Trey Barrineau of USA Today as "ha[ving] a knack for playing Americans better than most American actors could."[26] Others included Rocky the bartender in the play The Iceman Cometh (1976); gangster Owney Madden in Francis Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984); Gus Klein in Wolfgang Petersen's Shattered (1991); J. Edgar Hoover in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995); and Eddie Mannix in Hollywoodland (2006). He was slated to be the last-minute replacement in case Robert De Niro refused the role of Al Capone in The Untouchables (1987). When De Niro accepted the part, the director Brian De Palma mailed Hoskins a cheque for £20,000 with a "Thank You" note. Hoskins was moved to call the director and ask if there were any more films he wasn't needed for.[27]

In a 1988 interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross, when asked about many of his roles being underworld types, Hoskins stated, "I think if you've got a face like mine you don't usually wind up with the parts that Errol Flynn played, you know?"[28]

He told The Guardian in 2007 that he regretted starring as Mario in Super Mario Bros. (1993), saying that he was extremely unhappy with the film, greatly angered by his experiences making it, and referring to it as the "worst thing I ever did". He was injured several times on set, spent most of the time with co-star John Leguizamo getting drunk to escape boredom, and had no idea the film was based upon a video game until told so by his son.[8]

In 2007, Hoskins appeared in the music video for Jamie T's single "Sheila".[29] In 2009 he returned to television for Jimmy McGovern's drama serial The Street, playing a publican who opposes a local gangster. For this role he received his only Emmy: Best Actor at the 2010 International Emmys. The 2011 film In Search of La Che features a character, "Wermit", whose every line of dialogue is a quote of Bob Hoskins.[30]

On 8 August 2012, Hoskins announced his retirement from acting having been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.[31]

Personal life

In 1967, aged 25, Hoskins spent a short time volunteering in kibbutz Zikim in Israel, and also herded camels in Syria.[32][33][34] When asked in an interview which living person he most despised, Hoskins named Tony Blair and said that "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.[35][36] He made light of his similarities with film actor Danny DeVito, who, he joked, would play him in a film about his life.[37]

With his first wife Jane Livesey, Hoskins had two children - Alex (born 1968) and Sarah (born 1972). With his second wife Linda Banwell, he had two more children - Rosa (born c. 1983) and Jack (born c. 1986).[38] Hoskins divided his time between Hampstead, London,[39] and Chiddingly, East Sussex.[40]

Illness and death

In August 2012, Hoskins retired from acting after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.[41]

On 29 April 2014, he died of pneumonia at a hospital in London, England, at age 71.[1][42][43] He is survived by his second wife Linda Banwell and his four children.[44][45]

Among the actors who paid tribute at his funeral were Stephen Fry, Samuel L. Jackson, and Helen Mirren, who said that "London will miss one of her best and most loving sons".[16][46] Hoskins is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1972Up the FrontRecruiting sergeant
1973The National HealthFoster
1975Royal FlashPolice Constable
1975InsertsBig Mac
1979Zulu DawnCSM Williams
1980The Long Good FridayHarold ShandEvening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1982Pink Floyd The WallBand manager
1983The Honorary ConsulColonel PerezNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1984LassiterInspector John Becker
1984The Cotton ClubOwney Madden
1985The Woman Who Married Clark GableGeorge
1985The Dunera BoysMorrie Mendellsohn
1985BrazilSpoor
1986Sweet LibertyStanley Gould
1986Mona LisaGeorgeBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Cannes Film Festival: Best Actor (tied with Michel Blanc in Ménage)
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year (tied with William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Valladolid International Film Festival: Best Actor
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor
1987A Prayer for the DyingFather Michael Da Costa
1987The Lonely Passion of Judith HearneJames MaddenEvening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor
1988Who Framed Roger RabbitEddie ValiantEvening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actor
1988The Raggedy RawneyDarkyAlso director
1990Heart ConditionJack Moony
1990MermaidsLou Landsky
1991The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big FishLouis Aubinard
1991ShatteredGus Klein
1991HookSmee
1991The Inner CircleLavrentiy Beria
1992Passed AwayJohnny Scanlan
1992Blue IceSam Garcia
1993Super Mario Bros.Mario
1993The Big FreezeSidney
1995NixonJ. Edgar HooverNominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1995BaltoBoris GoosinoffVoice
1996RainbowFrank BaileyAlso director
1996The Secret AgentVerloc
1996MichaelVartan Malt
1997Twenty Four SevenAlan DarcyEuropean Film Award for Best Actor
1997Spice WorldGinger Spice's disguiseCameo
1998Cousin BetteCesar Crevel
1999Parting ShotsGerd Layton
1999Captain JackJack Armistead
1999Felicia's JourneyHilditchGenie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1999A Room for Romeo BrassSteven Laws
1999The White River KidBrother Edgar
2000American VirginJoey
2001Enemy at the GatesNikita Khrushchev
2001Last OrdersRay "Raysie" JohnsonNational Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble
Nominated – European Film Award for Best Actor (shared with ensemble cast)
2002Where Eskimos LiveSharkey
2002Maid in ManhattanLionel Bloch
2003The Sleeping DictionaryHenryDVD Exclusive Award for Best Supporting Actor in a DVD Premiere Movie
2003Den of LionsDarius Paskevic
2004Vanity FairSir Pitt Crawley
2004Beyond the SeaCharlie Maffia
2005UnleashedBart
2005Son of the MaskOdinNominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor[47]
2005Mrs Henderson PresentsVivian Van DammNational Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble
Nominated – British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated – St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
2005StayDr. Leon Patterson
2006Paris, je t'aimeBob LeanderSegment: "Pigalle"
2006The Wind in the WillowsBadger
2006Garfield: A Tail of Two KittiesWinstonVoice
2006HollywoodlandEddie Mannix
2007SparkleVince
2007OutlawWalter Lewis
2007Ruby BlueJackOxford International Film Festival - Best Actor
2007Go Go TalesThe Baron
2008DoomsdayBill Nelson
2009A Christmas CarolMr. Fezziwig / Old JoeMotion capture; voice
2010Made in DagenhamAlbertNominated – British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011WillDavey
2012Outside BetPercy "Smudge" Smith
2012Snow White and the HuntsmanMuir(final film role)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1972VillainsCharles Grindley3 episodes
1972Play for TodayTaxi driverEpisode: "The Bankrupt"
1973Crown CourtFreddie Dean3 episodes
1973New Scotland YardEddie WhartonEpisode: "Weight of Evidence"
1973Softly, Softly: TaskforceParkerEpisode: "Outrage"
1973Play for TodayWoodbineEpisode: "Her Majesty's Pleasure"
1974Shoulder to ShoulderJack DunnEpisode: "Outrage"
1974Thick as ThievesDobbs8 episodes
1974Play for TodayBlakeEpisode: "Schmoedipus"
1975On the MoveAlf2 years, 100 episodes
1976ThrillerSammy DraperEpisode: "Kill Two Birds"/"Cry Terror"
1976The CrezzDetective Sergeant MarbleEpisode: "A Flash of Inspiration"
1977Van der ValkJohnny PalmerEpisode: "Dead on Arrival"
1977Rock Follies of '77Johnny BrittenEpisode: "The Real Life"
1978Pennies from HeavenArthur Parker6 episodes
Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor
1979Of Mycenae and MenMr. TaramasalatopoulosTelevision short
1980FlickersArnie Cole6 episodes
1981OthelloIagoTelevision film - BBC
1983The Beggar's OperaBeggarTelevision film - BBC
1985Mussolini and IBenito Mussolini4 episodes
1985The Dunera BoysMorrie Mendellsohn2 episodes
1994The ChangelingDe FloresTelevision film
1994World War II: When Lions RoaredWinston ChurchillTelevision film - NBC
1995–1999The Forgotten ToysTeddyVoice
26 episodes
1996Tales from the CryptRedmondEpisode: "Fatal Caper"
Also director[48]
1999David CopperfieldWilkins Micawber2 episodes
2000Noriega: God's FavoriteManuel NoriegaTelevision film
Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
2000Don QuixoteSancho PanzaTelevision film - Hallmark
2001The Lost WorldProfessor George ChallengerTelevision film - BBC
2003FrasierCoach FullerEpisode: "Trophy Girlfriend"
2003The Good Pope: Pope John XXIIIAngelo Roncalli/Pope John XXIIITelevision film
2008The Englishman's BoyDamon Ira Chance2 episodes
2008PinocchioGeppettoTelevision film
2008The Last Word MonologuesUnnamed hitmanEpisode: "A Bit of Private Business"
2009The StreetPaddy Gargan2 episodes
International Emmy Award for Best Actor
2011NeverlandSmee2 episodes

References

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  2. "Bob Hoskins Obituary". The Herald. Glasgow. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  3. Hattenstone, Simon (2 August 2007). "The Method? Living it out? Cobblers!". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  4. Moline 1988, p. 201.
  5. Confirmed on Desert Island Discs in November 1988
  6. "Bob Hoskins - obituary". The Daily Telegraph (30 April 2014). 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  7. Farndale, Nigel (27 November 2009). "Bob Hoskins interview: 'My own mum wouldn't call me pretty'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  8. "Bob Hoskins: 10 things you didn't know". The Daily Telegraph. 29 April 2015.
  9. Neale, William A. (1 May 2014). "Bob Hoskins". Safety Curtain. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  10. "Bob Hoskins: Sold as seen". The Guardian. 9 October 1999. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  11. Moline 1988, p. 17.
  12. "Production of The Iceman Cometh | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  13. "Actor Bob Hoskins: 1942–2014". www.usatoday.com.
  14. "On the Move (TV Series)". BFI Film & TV database. Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  15. "On the Move: How Bob Hoskins helped adults learn to read". BBC News. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  16. "Helen Mirren on Bob Hoskins: 'A spectacular firework just as it takes off'". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  17. Chris Fillm (2002). "Marketing Communications: Contexts, Strategies, and Applications". p. 516. Financial Times Prentice Hall
  18. Kay, Dan (30 April 2014). "Much-loved British actor Bob Hoskins dies age 71". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  19. Collins, Andrew. "Spice World: the Movie". Radio Times. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  20. "Bob Hoskins to retire after Parkinson's diagnosis". BBC News. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  21. Stewart, James B. (2005). DisneyWar. New York City: Simon & Schuster. p. 86. ISBN 978-0684809939.
  22. Evans, Bradford (7 April 2011). "The Lost Roles of Eddie Murphy". Splitsider. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  23. "Siskel & Ebert 1988-Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1of3)". YouTube. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  24. "Bob Hoskins interview: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"". Danmarks Radio. YouTube. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  25. Cartoon Hangover (29 December 2015). "107 Facts About Who Framed Roger Rabbit". YouTube. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  26. Barrineau, Trey. "Three times Bob Hoskins played an American better than an American". USA TODAY.
  27. "Bob Hoskins paid not to play Capone". Metro. London. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  28. "'Fresh Air' Remembers British Actor Bob Hoskins". NPR.org. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  29. "Watch Jamie T's "Sheila" Video « The Lefort Report". www.thelefortreport.com. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  30. "Farewell to one of the greats, Bob Hoskins". Moviepilot. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  31. "Bob Hoskins retires from acting". ITV News. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  32. Sharrock, David (24 February 2007). "After nearly a century, Israel's first kibbutz calls time on communism". The Times. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  33. Stuart, Jan (7 November 1999). "MOVIES: Still Breathing Fire BOB HOSKINS dropped out of high school. Joined a circus. Fled to Israel. Then, he discovered acting". Newsday. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  34. "Bob Hoskins – Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  35. Walker, Tim (21 April 2010). Eden, Richard (ed.). "Bob Hoskins: It's the long goodbye for Gordon Brown". The Daily Telegraph.
  36. "Q&A: Bob Hoskins". The Guardian. 17 June 2011.
  37. Greenstreet, Rosanna (18 June 2011). "Q&A: Bob Hoskins". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  38. "Linda Hoskins saved him from an earlier death from alcohol". Daily Entertainment News. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  39. Grice, Elizabeth (13 December 2001). "'I'm no tough guy'". The Daily Telegraph.
  40. Roberts, Anna (11 August 2012). "Bob Hoskins to sell his Sussex home". The Argus.
  41. "Bob Hoskins to retire after Parkinson's diagnosis". BBC News. BBC. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  42. Rozen, Leah (30 April 2014). "An Appreciation: Five Worthy Roles Played by Actor Bob Hoskins, Dead at Age 71". BBC America. BBBC. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  43. Chawkins, Steve (2014). "Bob Hoskins, actor known as 'the Cockney Cagney,' dies at 71". LA Times. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  44. "Bob Hoskins dies of pneumonia aged 71". BBC News. BBC. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  45. Leopold, Todd (2014). "Actor Bob Hoskins, known for 'Roger Rabbit,' dies at 71". CNN. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
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  47. "26th Annual Razzie Award Nominees for Worst Supporting Actor". Razzies.com. John Wilson and the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  48. "411MANIA". A Bloody Good Time: Tales From the Crypt Season Seven Retrospective (Part 1).

Bibliography

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