RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Let's remember now actor Bob Hoskins, who died this week. He's probably best known for playing the private eye in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," opposite a very sexy cartoon, Jessica Rabbit.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT")
MONTAGNE: Bob Hoskins was a perfect big-screen gangster. He was short, but looked mean in a tall fedora.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Hoskins was a veteran of England's Royal National Theatre. He won over critics in the film "Mona Lisa." He played George, an ex-con who falls for the working girl he chauffeurs around London.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "MONA LISA")
INSKEEP: The role won him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe.
MONTAGNE: The story is he got into acting by accident. He was watching a friend audition for a play when someone handed him a script. Hoskins landed the part. And although he was British, he played a lot of Americans. Oliver Stone cast him as a nasty J. Edgar Hoover in the movie "Nixon."
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "NIXON")
MONTAGNE: Actor Bob Hoskins, in one of his many roles. He was 71 when he died on Tuesday. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.