The veteran actor passed aged 71, suffering from pneumonia.
Veteran actor Bob Hoskins – Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Long Good Friday, Brazil, and of course Super Mario Brothers, among many others – is dead. He died aged 71, suffering from pneumonia. His family were with him when he passed.
Hoskins, the son of a teacher and a bookkeeper, stumbled into acting by accident when, accompanying a friend to some auditions at the Unity theatre, a script was shoved into his hands and he was told he was up next. He got that part, and soon went on to television roles, most notably Dennis Potter’s Pennies from Heaven, the show that made him a star.
He went on to many film roles, including Roger Rabbit and Super Mario Brothers, the video game adaptation that Hoskins loathed. “The worst thing I ever did?” he once told an interviewer. “Super Mario Brothers. It was a fuckin’ nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare.”
Acting, he said, saved his life and gave him everything he ever wanted. A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2011 forced his retirement, else – knowing him – he’d have been performing on his own death bed.
“There’s two things I love about this business,” he said. “One’s acting and the other one’s getting paid for it. The rest of it is a mystery to me. But I ain’t got the faintest idea what the fuck is goin’ on, you know.”
Goodbye, Bob.
Source: Guardian
