I’ll put in another plug for his performance in Sparkle.
Welsh?
By an odd coincidence, just before I heard he’d died, I watched Nostalgia Critic’s latest video, about Roger Rabbit.
What was the movie where he was doing action-adventure stuff – gunfights and the like – with a ghost (!) as his sidekick? The ghost-guy would walk through walls, scout out the next room, and come back and advise Hoskins’ character.
Oddball movie. (I only caught a few minutes of it on TV, channel flipping.)
In Roger Rabbit, he takes a step, sneers, “Toons,” and swigs from a flask. You have the entirety of the character, perfectly delineated, in four seconds. That’s acting!
That sounds like Heart Condition, co-starring with Denzel Washington. Racist cop Bob gets Denzel’s heart after a transplant and supernatural hi-jinks ensue! I barely remember the film, it was a desperate last-minute hire from a video shop in about 1993 
I first saw him in a series about the early days of silent films, “Flickers”. Great performances
Bob Hoskins and Frances De La Tour in Flickers, DVD out now - YouTube
i’m truly saddened by this, always really liked him. he was always so enjoyable to watch on screen. RIP
I also watched it last night, only to wake up and learn he died. I’m glad the video is really nothing but praising the movie and how cool it is.
Roger Rabbit made him the Undisputed Champion on my personal “I can’t believe that actor is British” list. He goes out undefeated.
Well, damn. I wasn’t even aware he had retired or had Parkinson’s.
RIP, Bob. 
One of my favourite turns from Hoskins was as Nikita Khruschev in Enemy At the Gates: it was only a bit part, but he absolutely made you believe that this was the ruthlesly cunning foulmouthed peasant who would go on to rule the Soviet Union. And I remember his Iago, too: most people play him as a moustache-twirling villain, all skulking and sneering, but Hoskins made him far more believable as an apparent bluff and hearty soldier whom everyone trusted. RIP, Bob.
So damn good I didn’t even know he was British. True loss.
Go here to watch him act with and without the finished animation: http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2014/04/29/framed-roger-rabbit-without-animation-video
Dang now it’s looking really unlikely that the super mario bros sequel will get made
Rip
I will snipe some Nazis in tribute.
I have it on VHS 
because it’s ultimately a sweet movie.
There was a great series called Villains made by London Weekend Television in 1972. That’s the first time I saw Bob Hoskins. He played one of the villains and I took to him straight away. After that I would watch for him on various TV shows as he started to get more parts. It took him a while to establish himself. He was doing small parts in daytime shows like Crown Court, educational programs like On The Move for those with learning difficulties (1975). But whenever he turned up I was always delighted to see that memorable face, hear that distinctive voice.
Then came the BBC Pennies From Heaven in 1978, a starring role. He knocked it out of the park and he never looked back.
Bye Bob, I shall miss you.
Ha, me either. i always thought he was doing an accent in Hook, not Roger Rabbit.
Oh, man, that was him?!
Yes. Iago is a notoriously difficult role to get right, given that the motivation for his malice is so sketchily rendered by Shakespeare. I’ve seen five or six Iagos, and in my view Hoskins is the only one who really nailed the character. Hell of an achievement (which unfortunately is little seen today, due to the controversial casting of Othello in that “BBC Television Shakespeare” production).
What’s weird is that he had trouble turning it off. Bob Hoskins: I had a breakdown but losing my children was the worst thing I ever experienc | Express Yourself | Comment | Express.co.uk