October 26 - Bob Hoskins

On this day, in 1942, Robert William Hoskins was born in Bury St. Edmonds, West Suffolk, England. Bob suffered from dyslexia, which made school difficult for him, so much so he was actually written off by his teachers who assumed he was just stupid. After leaving school at the age of 15, he bounced around doing whatever jobs he could find: window washer, porter and truck driver to name a few. He eventually found himself in Israel where he worked for six months on a farm before moving on to Syria to tend camels for a tribe of Bedouin for two years.

By 1968, Bob had wandered back to England where one of the jobs he landed was a small role in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent. Less than a year later, he was waiting for an actor friend in the bar of London's Unity Theatre, when someone handed him a script and said "You're next." His unintended audition was not only a success, his friend ended up being his understudy.

Bob's increasing successes in the theater eventually led to roles on British television. His first major turn came in 1975's On the Move. The show was designed to highlight the issue of adult illiteracy with Bob's character, Alf Hunt, being a moving man who had problems reading. It ran for 100 episodes. His next high profile role came in 1978 on the BBC series Pennies From Heaven. Bob's portrayal of an adulterous sheet music salesman earned him a BAFTA nomination.

Around this time Bob began to get roles in film. His first big part was Harold Shand in 1980's The Long Good Friday, which earned him another BAFTA nomination. Bob followed that performance up with one of my favorite bit parts of his, the band manager in Pink Floyd The Wall. In 1983, he would get another BAFTA nomination for his portrayal of Colonel Perez in The Honorary Consul. Bob would finally win a BAFTA, plus a slew of other awards and an Oscar nomination, three years later as George in Mona Lisa.

In 1988, Bob would appear in what is probably his most well known role, Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, a joint production between Touchstone Pictures and Steven Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment. Bob was not the producers first (or second or third) choice for the part of Eddie, but he was clearly born to play him. The film didn't come without some side effects, though. Because he had to constantly play against characters that wouldn't be there until they were animated in, Bob suffered from hallucinations for months after filming stopped. Launching himself into the role paid off, however, in a British Evening Standard Award for him and a stellar performance for us.

Bob's next role to have a Disney connection also had a Spielberg tie in. 1991's Hook started out life as a Disney production and would have been more of a remake of the 1953 animated film. Development issues caused that project to be shelved. When it was revived, Disney was no longer part of it. Bob's take on Mr. Smee was, for me at least, a bright spot in an otherwise mediocre film. Dustin Hoffman, who played Captain Hook, once said that he and Bob had decided that they would play the two pirates like an old gay couple and they pulled it off brilliantly. Too bad the rest of the movie couldn't keep up with them. Bob's final television role would also be Mr. Smee in the SyFy Channel miniseries Neverland.

The worst experience Bob ever had making a movie is, unfortunately, also one he did for Disney's Hollywood Pictures label: the megaflop Super Mario Bros. He has gone on record as saying it was "the worst thing I ever did." Bob was injured several times during filming and reportedly spent a good deal of down time getting drunk with his costar, John Leguizamo (which may explain some of the injuries).

Bob appeared in several more films produced under the Disney umbrella of studios, including 1995's Nixon as J. Edgar Hoover, 2006's Hollywoodland as Eddie Mannix,  and 2009's A Christmas Carol as both Mr. Fezziwig and Old Joe.

In 2011, Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which caused him to retire from acting the following year. After a multiple award winning career that spanned 43 years of entertaining people all over the world, Bob passed away on April 29, 2014 from pneumonia in London, England. He was 71.

Also on this day, in American history: The Erie Canal