Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

British Actor Bob Hoskins Dies at 71 Following Bout of Pneumonia

British actor Bob Hoskins, whose roles ranged from London gangsters to FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover and who starred opposite a cast of cartoon characters in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, has died after a bout of pneumonia, his publicist said on Wednesday.

He was 71.

A statement issued on behalf of his wife Linda and his children said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Bob. Bob died peacefully at hospital last night surrounded by family, following a bout of pneumonia.”

Hoskins announced his retirement from acting in 2012, saying at the time that he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, an incurable muscular disorder.

In the early 1960s, Hoskins, raised as an atheist, hitchhiked across Europe and ended up working on a kibbutz in Israel.

In the 1970s, he returned to Britain and started his career on television shows such as “Thick as Thieves” and “Rock Follies of ‘77”. Moving into big film roles, his turn as a mobster in 1980s “The Long Good Friday” shot him to stardom and defined his tough guy persona.

He was nominated for a best actor Oscar in 1987 for “Mona Lisa”, in which he starred opposite Sir Michael Caine and Robbie Coltrane, and won a Golden Globe award.

The Suffolk-born actor became a staple face in the British film industry, often playing Cockney-speaking characters in both comedy and drama genres with his trademark gravelly voice.

His big Hollywood break came in 1988 when he played Eddie Valiant in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” a role for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. He then went on to play roles in 1990’s “Mermaids” and 1991’s “Hook.” He portrayed Hoover in the 1995 movie “Nixon”.

In his later years he took on parts in smaller films, including a role in “Made in Dagenham” about women seeking equal pay with male workers at a car plant near London.

He also played the voice of the character Winston in the 2006 film “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties”.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.