# Bob Hoskins has died

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hoskins-has-died/687352>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 30, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hoskins-has-died/687352 "2014-04-30T12:53:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-hoskins-has-died/687352/41 "2014-05-03T21:46:38Z")

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I never knew Bob helped an entire generation of adults to read.

> **[On the Move: How Bob Hoskins helped adults learn to read](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27254465)**
>
> British actor Bob Hoskins, who died aged 71, was the star of several big-screen blockbusters. But his early role in a BBC adult education series had a huge impact.

> [@](#):
>
> But each episode of the 1976 BBC series On the Move featured a running storyline in which the late Bob Hoskins appeared as Alf Hunt, a furniture removal man who had difficulty reading and writing. A proud but sympathetic character, Alf would open up to his friend Bert, played by Donald Gee, about his fears and frustrations. His progress as he sought help attracted a huge following well beyond the show’s target audience.
> 
> Up to 17 million people watched the Sunday tea-time programme, according to George Auckland, who would subsequently take charge of the BBC’s adult education programming. It was Alf’s human drama - and, specifically, Hoskins’s captivating performance - that drew them in. A national campaign to tackle illiteracy was boosted by the series. On the Monday after each episode, says Auckland, “there would be queues around the block” at adult literacy centres.

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