Bob Hoskins

Infobox actor


imagesize =
birthname = Robert William Hoskins
birthdate = birth date and age|1942|10|26|df=y
birthplace = Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
academyawards =
baftaawards = Best Actor
1986 "Mona Lisa"
goldenglobeawards = Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
1987 "Mona Lisa"
spouse = Jane Livesey
Linda Banwell

Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. (born 26 October 1942) is an English actor, known for playing Cockney rough diamonds and gangsters, and for his performances in family films such as "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 driver. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/42/Bob-Hoskins.html Bob Hoskins Biography (1942-) ] ] [http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2140160,00.html 'The Method? Living it out? Cobblers!' | Interviews | guardian.co.uk Film ] ] One of Hoskins' grandmothers was a Romani.cite book|last=Moline|first=Karen|authorlink=|coauthors=|title= Bob Hoskins: An Unlikely Hero|publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson|date=1988|location=Michigan|pages=201|month=|url=|id=ISBN0283995084] In 1967, while aged 25, he spent a short period in kibbutz Zikim in Israel.

Career

According to the production notes on the Special Edition of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, his acting career started when he was sitting in a pub enjoying a beer. When someone came up to him, told him to go upstairs to audition for a play, so he did and actually got the role. Before that day a career in acting was the last thing he ever thought he'd have.

After beginning his acting career on the London stage in the late 1960s, Hoskins first gained wide attention in the original BBC television serial version of Dennis Potter's "Pennies from Heaven" as sheet music salesman Arthur Parker and "On the Move" (both 1978), an educational series intended to tackle adult illiteracy. Later, he played Iago in Jonathan Miller's BBC Television Shakespeare production of "Othello".

Hoskins' 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 recognizing it, showed Hoskins the video game on the Nintendo video game console. In a 2007 interview, he revealed that he was not happy with the film or his experiences making it, referring to it as the "worst thing I ever did". 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 made a cameo appearance as a rock band's manager in the Pink Floyd film "The Wall", with a two-word expletive spoken part. 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 US$ 200,000 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.Fact|date=November 2007

Hoskins' first appearance to mainstream American audiences was in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", for which he received a second Golden Globe nomination. Some of Hoskins' other notable appearances include playing opposite Cher in "Mermaids" (1990), boatswain Smee to Captain Hook in "Hook" (1991), and Uncle Bart, the violent "owner" of Jet Li in "Unleashed". He has also performed in several television productions for the BBC, including Dennis Potter's "Pennies From Heaven", "Flickers", "David Copperfield", and "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".

Hoskins has done some of the voice-overs on advertisements for Tesco and more recently Argos. He recently starred in the music video for Jamie T's "Sheila", playing the eponymous girl's father and lip-syncing to the music.

Personal life

Hoskins has two children with his current wife, and two children from a previous marriage.

Filmography

*"Up the Front" (1972) - Recruiting Sergeant
*"Villains" (1972) (TV)
*"The National Health" (1973) - Foster
*"Crown Court" (1973) (TV)
*"New Scotland Yard" (1973) (TV) - Eddie Wharton
*"Softly Softly" (1973) (TV) - Parker
*"Inserts" (1974) - Big Mac
*"Shoulder to Shoulder" (1974) (TV) - Jack Dunn
*"Thick as Thieves" (1974) (TV) - Dobbs
*"Royal Flash" (1975) - Police Constable
*"Thriller" (1976) (TV) - Sammy Draper
*"The Crezz" (1976) (TV) - Det. Sgt. Marble
*"Van der Valk" (1977) - Johnny Palmer
*"Rock Follies of '77" (1977) (TV) - Johnny Britten
*"On the Move" (1978) (TV) - Alf
*"Pennies from Heaven" (1978) (TV) - Arthur Parker
*"Of Mycenae and Men" (1979) (TV) - Mr. Taramasalatopoulos
*"Zulu Dawn" (1979) - C.S.M. Williams
*"Big Jim and the Figaro Club" (1979) (TV) - Narrator
*"Flickers" (1980) (TV) - Arnie Cole
*"The Long Good Friday" (1980) - Harold
*"Othello" (1981) (TV) - Iago
*"Pink Floyd The Wall" (1982) - Rock and Roll Manager
*"The Beggar's Opera" (1983) (TV) - Beggar
*"The Honorary Consul" (1983) - Colonel Perez
*"Lassiter" (1984) - Inspector John Becker
*"The Cotton Club" (1984) - Owney Madden
*"The Woman Who Married Clark Gable" (1985) - George
*"The Dunera Boys" (1985) (TV) - Morrie Mendellsohn
*"Brazil" (1985) - Spoor
*"" (1985) (TV) - Benito Mussolini
*"Sweet Liberty" (1986) - Stanley Gould
*"Mona Lisa" (1986) - George
*"A Prayer for the Dying" (1987) - Father Michael Da Costa
*"The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne" (1987) - James Madden
*"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988) - Eddie Valiant
*"The Raggedy Rawney" (1988) - Darky
*"Heart Condition" (1990) - Jack Moony
*"Mermaids" (1990) - Lou Landsky
*"The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish" (1991) - Louis Aubinard
*"Shattered" (1991) - Gus Klein (pet store owner/private investigator)
*"Hook" (1991) - Smee
*"The Inner Circle" (1991) - Beria
*"Passed Away" (1992) - Johnny Scanlan
*"Blue Ice" (1992) - Sam Garcia
*"Super Mario Bros." (1993) - Mario
*"The Big Freeze" (1993) - Sidney, plumber's mate
*"The Changeling" (1994) (TV) - De Flores
*"World War II - When Lions Roared" (1994) (TV) - Winston Churchill
*"The Forgotten Toys" (1995-1999) (voice) - Teddy
*"Nixon" (1995) - J. Edgar Hoover
*"Balto" (1995) (voice) - Boris the Goose
*"Tales from the Crypt" (1996) (TV series)
*"Rainbow" (1996) - Frank Bailey
*"The Secret Agent" (1996) - Verloc
*"Michael" (1996) - Vartan Malt
*"" (1997) - Alan Darcy
*"Spice World" (1997) - Geri's Disguise
*"Saturday Night Live" (1998) (TV) - Captain Kidd
*"Cousin Bette" (1998) - Cesar Crevel
*"Let the Good Times Roll" (1999) -
*"Parting Shots" (1999) - Gerd Layton
*"Captain Jack" (1999) - Jack Armistead
*"Felicia's Journey" (1999) - Hilditch
*"A Room for Romeo Brass" (1999) - Steven Laws
*"The White River Kid" (1999) - Brother Edgar
*"David Copperfield" (1999) (TV) - Micawber
*"American Virgin" (2000) - Joey
*"" (2000) (TV) - Manuel Noriega
*"Don Quixote" (2000) (TV) - Sancho Panza
*"Enemy at the Gates" (2001) - Nikita Khrushchev
*"Last Orders" (2001) - Ray 'Raysie' Johnson
*"The Lost World" (2001) (TV) - Prof. George Challenger
*"Where Eskimos Live" (2002) - Sharkey
*"Maid in Manhattan" (2002) - Lionel Bloch, Beresford Butler
*"" (2003) (TV) - Angelo Roncalli/Pope John XXIII
*"The Sleeping Dictionary" (2003) - Henry
*"Frasier" (2003) (TV series) - Coach Fuller
*"Den of Lions" (2003) - Darius Paskevic
*"Vanity Fair" (2004) - Sir Pitt Crawley
*"Beyond the Sea" (2004) - Charlie Maffia
*"Unleashed" (2005) - Bart
*"Son of the Mask" (2005) - Odin
*"Mrs Henderson Presents" (2005) - Vivian Van Damm
*"Stay" (2005) - Dr. Leon Patterson
*"Paris, je t'aime" (2006) - Bob Leander (segment 'Pigalle')
*"" (2006) (voice) - Winston
*"Hollywoodland" (2006) - Eddie Mannix
*"The Wind in the Willows" (2006) (TV) - Badger
*"Sparkle" (2007) - Vince
*"Outlaw" (2007) - Walter Lewis
*"Ruby Blue" (2007) - Jack
*"Go Go Tales" (2007) - The Baron
*"Doomsday" (2008) - Bill Nelson
*"The Englishman's Boy" (2008) (TV) - Damon Ira Chance
*"Pinocchio" (2008) (TV) - Geppetto
*"A Christmas Carol" (2009) - Mr. Fezziwig

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001364|name=Bob Hoskins