I loved Bob Hoskins. He was one of my favorite movie stars, in a bunch of my favorite movies: The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, Brazil. The British actor, probably best known for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, died yesterday of pneumonia after struggling with the Parkinson's disease that precipitated his retirement from acting. I loved him so much that I created a blog tag just for him. (Visit Blogtown's "The Incredible Hosk" archives here.)

I loved Bob Hoskins so much, I convinced Erik to let me write something about him when Snow White and the Huntsmen came out in 2012—we didn't know at the time it would be his final role. Perhaps it wasn't exactly a dignified end to an incredible career, although if anybody could roll with the punches, it was the star of Super Mario Bros. (His Mario co-star, John Leguizamo, has been grieving Hoskins' loss via Twitter all morning.) From my 2012 article:

The Cockney bulldog was an entirely unlikely—and compelling—leading man... The makers of Roger Rabbit must've seen Hoskins in 1980's razor-sharp thriller The Long Good Friday. In his first prominent role, Hoskins plays Harold Shand, a London thug clobbering his way into legitimate business. On the eve of the deal that could make him millions, Harold's closest associates start turning up dead—it's part exploitation gangster flick, part existential nightmare, all driven by Hoskins' barely contained rage.

Here's the incredible ending sequence to The Long Good Friday, so I guess I should say spoiler alert, but if you haven't seen The Long Good Friday before, well, why the fuck haven't you?

Rest in peace, Bob. You were one of the best.