'That is no country for old men....Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect.' W.B.Yeats 'Sailing To Byzantium.' 1926
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Britain says "Happy Birthday" to an old actor called Bob Hoskins
Robert William 'Bob' Hoskins, is 69 years old today.
Things you possibly didn't know about Bob, that he :
* born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, where his mother was a cook and nursery-school teacher and father book keeper, lorry driver and communist who brought him up as an atheist.
* in the 1960's his acting career started in London when, was sitting in a pub enjoying a beer, someone came up to him and told him to go upstairs to audition for a play, which he did and landed the role.
* had his first major tv role was in 'On the Move' in 1978, and then 'Pennies from Heaven' as sheet music salesman :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_PBpM4nnyM
and later, Iago in Jonathan Miller's tv production of Shakespeare's 'Othello'.
* starred in British film, 'The Long Good Friday' in 1980 :
At the start of the film with Helen Mirren as his girlfriend :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7zRGmSHL9U
At the end of the film with Pierce Brosnan as an IRA gunman taking him to his death and a Galaxy of emotion runs across his face :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9SG-zYvPjk
* in 1986 starred in 'Mona Lisa' and won a Cannes Award, Best Actor Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8CAdm_1gZA&feature=related
* delivered comic turns in Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil' in 1985 and 'Super Mario Bros' in 1993 and later referred to it as "worst thing I ever did".
* was on hold to play Al Capone in 'The Untouchables' if Robert De Niro had not decided to play the part and received a cheque for £20,000 and 'Thank you' note from director Brian De Palma, which prompted him ask "if there were any more movies he didn't want him to be in ?"
* made his first appearance to mainstream American audiences in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit ?' for which he received a second Golden Globe nomination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06aW97HEaWA
and played opposite Cher in 'Mermaids in 1990 and as boatswain Smee in 'Hook' in 1991and on tv Mr Micawber in 'David Copperfield' in 1999 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1tneAepU8
and Nikita Khrushchev in the film 'Enemy at the Gates' in 2001 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH4Y2d-SyzM
* made a return to British tv in Jimmy McGovern's 2009 drama serial 'The Street', where he played a publican who stands up to a local gangster.
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