We are sad to announce that actor Bob Hoskins passed away after battling pneumonia. He was 71 years old.
Hoskins’ first brush with genre was a role in Terry Gilliam’s seminal work Brazil, but he is perhaps best known to SFF fans for playing the part of grim noir detective Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Other notable genre credits include Hook, Super Mario Bros., The Wind in the Willows, A Christmas Carol, and Snow White and the Hunstman.
He reportedly got his start in acting by accident, a natural on stage and screen; while waiting for actor friend Roger Frost to finish an audition for Unity Theater, he was handed a script and told “You’re next.” He auditioned and got the part, his friend winding up as his understudy. His career began and he never looked back.
Hoskins leaves behind a wife and four children. He had retired from acting in 2012 due to developing Parkinson’s Disease. Our hearts go out to his family—he will be dearly missed.
