British actor Bob Hoskins has died at the age of 71. One of the UK’s best-loved actors, Hoskins was well known for roles in major movies such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Long Good Friday and Mona Lisa. The Oscar-nominated actor died in hospital on Wednesday after a bout of pneumonia.
In the autumn of 2011 Hoskins was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and a year later announced that he was retiring from the acting profession. His last movie appearance was in 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, in which he played the dwarf Muir. Hoskins’ career spanned four decades; in this time he created some of the most memorable film and television characters in British history. He first became famous in the UK for his role as whimsical song sheet salesman Arthur Parker in the Pennies from Heaven TV show, before hitting the big screen on an international level playing a violent London gangster alongside Helen Mirren in the 1980 British classic The Long Good Friday.
Hoskins was nominated for an Oscar and won both a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for his celebrated performance in the 1986 British drama Mona Lisa. American audiences embraced him as the tough-talking private detective in the Robert Zemeckis classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
His family released a statement saying that the actor died peacefully surrounded by loved ones, adding: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Bob.”
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