Robert William “Bob” Hoskins, Jr., the British actor known for films as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” and “Super Mario Bros.,” has died according to his publicist Clair Dobbs, as reported by CNN News. Bob Hoskins was 71 and his passing comes nearly two years after he retired from acting following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. His final role was in Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012.
Bob Hoskins was the recipient of the prestigious Prix d’interprétation masculine as well as winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his role in Mona Lisa (and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and an International Emmy Award for best actor for his appearance on BBC One drama The Street in 2009. Bob Hoskins was probably best known for the 1988 live action and animation hybrid “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” where he played detective Eddie Valiant, who hates “toons.”
In 1991’s “Hook” Bob Hoskins played Smee, the pirate assistant of Captain Hook; in 1995’s “Nixon” he played FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover; and in 2001’s “Last Orders” Hoskins was the gambler friend of protagonist Michael Caine, whose pals gather to spread his ashes after his death. Robert William “Bob” Hoskins, Jr. died in the hospital on April 29, 2014, at the age of 71. On April 30, 2014, Hoskins’ agent, Clair Dobbs, announced that he had died of pneumonia. It has also been reported that he had also been suffering from Parkinson’s disease since 2011. “I fit into this business like a sore foot into a soft shoe,” he told the UK paper The Telegraph in 2009, according to CNN News.
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