Bob Hoskins: 10 things you didn't know

3. He was Hollywood's best plumber

Not only did he play a plumber in both Brazil and Super Mario Brothers, Hoskins also wore the overalls in real life. Before becoming an actor, he worked as a plumber's assistant, but his career was cut short after he burnt his workmate's foot: "I was on a ladder and he was fixing a pipe up in the ceiling," he explained. "I got a blowlamp, and set fire to his boot! That was the end of the trade for me."

4. He was no pretty-boy

The critic Pauline Kael famously described Hoskins as "a testicle on legs". But he was used to such jibes. As a boy, Hoskins once went missing from home. When his mother worried that he'd been kidnapped, his aunt calmed her: "Don't fret. Even if someone's taken him, with his looks, they'll soon be bringing him back."

READ: Bob Hoskins dies at 71

5. Herman Munster was his hero

Cast in The Cotton Club, Hoskins was far more thrilled at the thought of acting alongside Fred Gwynne aka, Herman Munster than at the thought of being directed by Francis Ford Coppola: "When Francis told me he was my sidekick, I couldn't have been more impressed if he'd said, 'This is Marlon Brando'."

6. He was paid $200,000 not to appear in The Untouchables

Brain De Palma sent Hoskins the script for his Prohibition-era gangster film and asked if he'd like to play Al Capone but only if Robert De Niro wasn't available. He was, so Hoskins promptly forgot about it until a cheque for $200,000 arrived in the post, along with a thank-you note from De Palma. Hoskins picked up the phone and told the director: "If you've got any more films you don't want me to be in, I'm available."

7. He did NOT stalk Madonna

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Bob Hoskins: 10 things you didn't know