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| birth_name = Robert William Hoskins Jr
| birth_name = Robert William Hoskins Jr
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|10|26|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|10|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Mickleover derby derbyshire NOT suffolk
| birth_place = [[Bury St Edmunds]], Suffolk, England, UK
| death_date =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_place =

Revision as of 23:20, 20 October 2011

For the American football player, see Bob Hoskins (American football).
Bob Hoskins
Hoskins during the filming of Ruby Blue (2007)
Born
Robert William Hoskins Jr

(1942-10-26) 26 October 1942 (age 82)
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, UK
Occupation(s)Actor and Film director
Years active1972–present
Spouse(s)Jane Livesey (1967–1978; divorced; 2 children)
Linda Banwell (1982–present; 2 children)

Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. (born 26 October 1942) is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday (1980), and Mona Lisa (1986), and lighter roles in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Hook (1991).

Early life

Hoskins was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, the son of Elsie Lillian (née Hopkins), a cook and nursery-school teacher, and Robert William Hoskins, Sr., a bookkeeper and lorry (truck) driver.[1][2] One of Hoskins's grandmothers was a Romani of the British Romanis.[3] His father, a Communist, brought up Hoskins as an atheist, and he now describes himself as an agnostic.[4] In 1967, aged 25, Hoskins spent a short period of time in kibbutz Zikim in Israel.[5][6] In a recent interview, when asked what he owed his parents, he said, "Confidence. My mum used to say to me, 'If somebody doesn't like you, fuck 'em, they've got bad taste.'"[7]

Career

Hoskins's acting career started in London in the late 1960s when he was sitting in a pub enjoying a beer when someone came up to him and told him to go upstairs to audition for a play, which he did, and landed the role.[8] His first major television role was in On the Move (1978), an educational series intended to tackle adult illiteracy, in which he played Alf, a removal man who had problems reading and writing. In the same year, he came to wider attention in the original BBC version of Dennis Potter's drama Pennies from Heaven as sheet music salesman Arthur Parker. Later, he played Iago in Jonathan Miller's BBC Television Shakespeare production of Othello.

Hoskins's performances in British films such as The Long Good Friday (1980) and Mona Lisa (1986) won him the wider approval of the critics and, in the case of the latter, a Cannes Award, Best Actor Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also delivered comic turns in Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985) and Super Mario Bros. (1993). Hoskins was not initially aware that Super Mario Bros. was based on the popular video game of the same name. His son had asked him what film he was working on, and recognising it, showed Hoskins the video game on the Nintendo video game console. In a 2007 interview, he revealed that despite getting praised for his performance on the film, he was extremely unhappy with the film and was greatly angered by his experiences making it, referring to it as the "worst thing I ever did".[2] During the late 1980s and early 1990s he appeared in advertising for the recently privatised companies of British Gas and British Telecom (now BT Group).

Hoskins had a small role as a rock band's manager in the Pink Floyd film The Wall. He has also directed films. He was slated to be a last-minute replacement in the film The Untouchables if star Robert De Niro had not decided to play Al Capone. When De Niro took the part, director Brian De Palma mailed Hoskins a cheque for £20,000 with a Thank You note, which prompted Hoskins to call up De Palma and ask him if there were any more movies he didn't want him to be in.[9]

Hoskins's first appearance to mainstream American audiences was in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, for which he received a second Golden Globe nomination. Some of Hoskins's other notable appearances include playing opposite Cher in Mermaids (1990), boatswain Smee to Captain Hook in Hook (1991), and Uncle Bart, the psychopathic and violent "owner" of Jet Li in Unleashed aka Danny The Dog. He has also performed in several television productions for the BBC, including Dennis Potter's Pennies From Heaven, Flickers, David Copperfield as Wilkins Micawber (1999), and The Wind in the Willows. He played Nikita Khrushchev in the movie Enemy at the Gates (2001). Khrushchev was shown in his political commissar days during the Battle of Stalingrad. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Mrs Henderson Presents.

In 2009, Hoskins made a return to British television in Jimmy McGovern's drama serial The Street, where he played a publican who stands up to a local gangster.

In a recent interview for The Guardian, Hoskins spoke of his regret at appearing in the Super Mario Brothers film, which at the time received mixed reviews. When asked which individual he most despised, Hoskins said former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, stating that "he's done even more damage than Thatcher". Hoskins also made light of his similarities with film actor Danny DeVito, who he joked would play him in a film about his life.[7]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ "Bob Hoskins Biography (1942–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  2. ^ a b Hattenstone, Simon (3 August 2007). "The Method? Living it out? Cobblers!". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. ^ Moline, Karen (1988). Bob Hoskins: An Unlikely Hero. Michigan: Sidgwick & Jackson. p. 201. ISBN 0283995084.
  4. ^ "Bob Hoskins – Celebrity Atheist List". Celebatheists.com. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  5. ^ Sharrock, David (24 February 2007). "After nearly a century, Israel's first kibbutz calls time on communism". The Times. UK. Retrieved 20 May 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  6. ^ Stuart, Jan (7 November 1999). "MOVIES Still Breathing Fire BOB HOSKINS dropped out of high school. Joined a circus. Fled to Israel. Then, he discoovered acting". Newsday. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  7. ^ a b Rosanna Greenstreet. "Q&A: Bob Hoskins | Life and style". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 24 August 2011. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ Production notes on the Special Edition of Who Framed Roger Rabbit[citation needed]
  9. ^ "'Bob Hoskins paid not to play Capone'". Metro.co.uk. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
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