Bob Hoskins was born on October 26, 1942, in Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk, where his mother was living after being evacuated as a result of the heavy bombings. Growing up, Hoskins received only limited education and he left school at 15, but with a passion for language and literature instilled by his former English teacher. A regular theatre-goer, Hoskins dreamed of starring on stage, but before he could do so he had to work odd jobs for a long time to make ends meet. His acting career started out more by accident than by design, when he accompanied a friend to watch some auditions, only to be confused for one of the people auditioning, getting a script pushed into his hands with the message "You're next". He got the part and acquired an agent. After some stage success, he expanded to television with roles in television series such as Villains and Thick as Thieves. In the mid-'70s, he started his film career, standing out when he performed alongside Richard Dreyfuss in John Byrum's Inserts and in a smaller part in Richard Lester's Royal Flash.

Hoskins broke through in 1978 in Dennis Potter's mini TV series, Pennies from Heaven, playing "Arthur Parker", the doomed salesman. After this, a string of high-profile and successful films followed, starting with his true major movie debut in 1980's The Long Good Friday as the ultimately doomed "Harold Shand". This was followed by such works as The Cotton Club, Mona Lisa, which won him an Oscar nomination as well as a BAFTA award, Cannes Film Festival and Golden Globe), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Golden Globe nomination), Mermaids, Hook, Nixon, Felicia's Journey and Enemy at the Gates.

Hoskins has always carefully balanced the riches of Hollywood with the labor of independent film, though leaning more towards the latter than the former. He works at smaller projects such as Shane Meadows' debut 24 7: Twenty Four Seven, in which he starred as "Allen Darcy". Besides this, he found time to direct, write and star in The Raggedy Rawney, as well as direct and star in Rainbow, and contributing to HBO's Tales from the Crypt and Tube Tales.
Ranked #97 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Children, with Banwell, Rosa and Jack Children, with Livesey, Alex and Sarah Has claimed to never have taken an acting lesson in his life and believes in the talent to be "all natural". Worked in a circus as a fire eater. Has portrayed four WWII leaders in films - Nikita Khrushchev (Enemy at the Gates), Winston Churchill (World War II: When Lions Roared), Benito Mussolini (Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce) and Lavrenti Beria (The Inner Circle). He was Brian De Palma's second choice for the role of "Al Capone" in 1986's _Untouchables, The (1986)_ if 'Robert DeNiro' was not available. Hoskins was reportedly given a six-figure paycheck by De Palma for "being a great standby". He adopted an American Accent for the role of "Eddie Valiant" on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Describes himself as "Five-foot-six and cubic". His mother was German Romani (Gypsy) and his film The Raggedy Rawney was based on stories his gypsy grandmother used to tell him. He was awarded the 1982 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor of 1981 for his performance in Guys and Dolls and True West. Is probably best known to American audiences for his role as down and out detective "Eddie Valiant" in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Spent several seasons with the Royal National Theatre and the Old Vic Theatre in London, where his credits included everything from a range of Shakespeare to Chechov to Shaw. Graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama, London, England. Was considered for the role of "Senator Ralph Owen Brewster" in The Aviator before Alan Alda. Replaced Danny DeVito as "Mario" in Super Mario Bros.. He won the best actor prize in 1986 at the Festival de Cannes for his performance in Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa.