Robert William Hoskins, actor, born 26 October 1942; died 29 April 2014.

It didn’t matter that this guy—who left school at 15 to become a bouncer, porter, window cleaner, and fire-eater—went on to become ridiculously famous. He was always down-to-earth: "Actors are just entertainers, even the serious ones. That's all an actor is. He's like a serious Bruce Forsyth."

Hoskins could play serious and scary, then turn on a dime to reveal sweetness and a big heart.

A chance audition led him to the theatre, which opened the door to roles in BBC dramas and a beloved ad for British Telecom, where he delivered the catchphrase "It's good to talk." Around that time, Francis Ford Coppola cast him in The Cotton Club (1984), and suddenly he was in movies. Brazil followed, then Sweet Liberty, his Oscar-nominated turn as an ex-con in Mona Lisa, the blockbuster Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Heart Condition, Mermaids, Hook, and Oliver Stone's Nixon, where he played J. Edgar Hoover.

"You don't go to Hollywood for art," he said in 1999. "And once you've got your fame and fortune—especially the fortune in the bank—you can do what you want to do. It's basically f**k-you money."

In 2012, at 69, he announced his retirement after being diagnosed with Parkinson's. Two years later, he died from pneumonia.

Miss you, Bob Hoskins.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thisisthekicker.substack.com