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Robert William "Bob" Hoskins Jr (born October 26, 1942) is an English Academy Award-nominated actor best known for playing Cockney rough diamonds and gangsters, and for his appearance in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Hook (1991). He has two children with his current wife, and two children from a previous marriage.

Early life

Born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk to father Robert Hoskins Sr. (a bookmaker) and Elsie (a German Nursery School nurse of Roma descent)[1], Bob Hoskins had a number of occupations before going into acting. He made his stage debut in 1969.

He hit the big time in 1978 when he starred in Dennis Potter's successful BBC drama serial, Pennies From Heaven.

Career

Hoskins' performances in British films such as The Long Good Friday (1980) and Mona Lisa (1986) won him the approval of the critics and, in the case of the latter, an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also delivered comic turns in Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985), Super Mario Bros. (1993) and Mrs Henderson Presents (2005)—for which he received a Golden Globe nomination (Best Supporting Actor). 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 is known for his "cold bum test", which he uses whenever he receives a new script. He takes it to the lavatory to read, and if it's an enthralling script, his buttocks will have gone cold due to the time elapsed.

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.

Hoskins made a cameo appearance as a rock band's manager in the Pink Floyd film The Wall, with a one-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 DeNiro had not decided to play Al Capone. When DeNiro took the part, director Brian DePalma mailed Hoskins a cheque for $200,000 with a Thank You note, which prompted Hoskins to call up DePalma and ask him if there were any more movies he didn't want him to be in. (See also film guarantee.)

Some of Hoskins' other notable appearances include playing the fallen-on-hard-times detective Eddie Valiant in the classic animation/live action film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), playing opposite Cher in Mermaids (1990), and Uncle Bart, the violent "owner" of Jet Li in Danny the Dog / Unleashed.

Hoskins' first appearance to mainstream American audiences was in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His American accent was so convincing, many moviegoers who hadn't previously known of him simply assumed he was actually an American actor.

Hoskins has recently done some of the voice-overs on adverts for Tesco.

Hoskins wasn't 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 game on the Nintendo.

Hoskins was rumoured to be in line for the role of The Penguin in the sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. He has expressed interest in the role, stating that he would like to work with director Christopher Nolan.

Trivia

Famously, Bob always signs autographs and letters to fans 'always, your friend Bob XX', after a discussion on the merits of such an act with linguist Noam Chomsky.

External links

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