British actor Bob Hoskins, who was best known for roles in The Long Good Friday and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has died of pneumonia at the age of 71.

Bob Hoskins dies of pneumonia aged 71

British actor Bob Hoskins, who was best known for roles in The Long Good Friday and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has died of pneumonia at the age of 71.

Hoskins' agent said he died on Tuesday in hospital, surrounded by family.
The star won a Bafta and was Oscar-nominated in 1987 for crime drama Mona Lisa, in which he starred opposite Sir Michael Caine and Robbie Coltrane.
He announced he was retiring from acting in 2012 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit helped propel Bob Hoskins to Hollywood stardom

Sir Michael, who also appeared with Hoskins in the films Sweet Liberty and Last Orders, remembered him as "one of the nicest and best actors I have ever worked with".
Dame Helen Mirren, who played the wife of the gangster he portrayed in The Long Good Friday, also paid tribute, describing him as "a great actor and an even greater man" whose "inimitable energy... seemed like a spectacular firework rocket just as it takes off".

Cathy Tyson starred alongside Bob Hoskins in Mona Lisa

"When I worked with him on his iconic film The Long Good Friday, he was supportive and unegotistic," she went on. "I had the honour of watching the creation of one of the most memorable characters of British film."
Those sentiments were echoed by Timothy Spall, who said Hoskins was "an adored man and a deeply respected and admired actor [who] was able to make people laugh and cry".

Hoskins appeared in Shane Meadows' 1999 comedy drama A Room for Romeo Brass

Made in Dagenham was one of Hoskins' final film roles in 2010

Hoskins, who was born in Suffolk but grew up in London, started out on the stage before embarking on a television and film career.
On the small screen, he appeared in shows such as Play for Today, On the Move, Van der Valk and BBC drama The Street.

On film, his credits also included Mermaids, Hook, Mrs Henderson Presents and Made in Dagenham.
His last film role was as one of the dwarves in 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart.
Dame Judi Dench, who starred opposite Hoskins in Mrs Henderson Presents, told the BBC News website: "I'm so very sorry to hear this news, and am thinking of his family at this sad time."
Hoskins was Bafta nominated twice prior to his Mona Lisa win, for The Honorary Consul in 1984 and The Long Good Friday in 1982.
He was also nominated for a television Bafta for his role in Dennis Potter's BBC musical drama, Pennies from Heaven.

Hoskins was nominated for a TV Bafta for his role in Dennis Potter's musical drama Pennies from Heaven

 
He won an International Emmy for BBC drama The Street, in which he appeared with Timothy Spall (r)
UK film critic Jason Solomons called The Long Good Friday "a great Londoner's movie".
"London ran through him like a stick of rock," he added.
Tributes to the actor have appeared swiftly on Twitter, with Bafta saying it was "deeply saddened" to learn of his death.
Actress Vicky McClure, who worked with Hoskins on Shane Meadows' 1999 film A Room for Romeo Brass, said: "He was one of the best. I feel honoured to have met & worked with him."
Sherlock creator and actor Mark Gatiss, who appeared as Rat opposite Hoskins' Badger in a 2006 adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, tweeted a picture of the two together, praising Hoskins as "a true gent and an inspiration".
Stephen Fry added: "That's awful news. The Long Good Friday [is] one of the best British movies of the modern era. A marvellous man."

P-Square's publicist releases statement, says he never said it was all a publicity stunt

Yesterday P-Square's publicity Bayo Adetu was quoted as saying the fight between the brothers was all a publicity stunt, and that they all decided to play along. Well, after the backlash from fans, Mr Adetu has backtracked and claims he never made those comments. A statement he released below.

My attention has been drawn to one magazine interview quoting me that the purported P-Square break-up tale was a ‘publicity stunt.’ It was indeed a misconception on the part of the writer. I never said the rumor was a ‘publicity stunt.’

There is no way I could have granted an official interview and speak in such denigrating manner as being portrayed by the magazine in question. 

I can remember talking to Star FM and NTA2, and it is on record that I never spoke in such unprofessional manner! Most importantly, I never said it was a ‘publicity stunt’ because that amounts to toying with the emotions of P-Square fans. I cherish the fans more than Diamond and therefore, I will never disrespect or toy with their emotions. Thanks for your understanding.

Read the interview he supposedly granted to Icon magazine after the cut...

 Greetings, Bayo, we heard that the Okoye brotherS have finally reconciled, can you give us an insight on what really happened?
After a long laugh… My brother, I’m telling you this as a friend, there was no fight at all. The whole thing started after Jude tweeted some days back and bloggers feasted on it and gave it several interpretations which never existed, and that was how we got here. 

Are you saying there wasn’t a fight at all, how then did Peter and Paul keep releasing comments through their Facebook accounts?
My guy, I can authoritatively tell you that neither of the P-Square brothers, nor even Jude operate their Facebook accounts anymore. Whatever Facebook posted was from an impersonator, pretending to be anyone of them. P-Sqaure is active on twitter, not on facebook, so you see, the whole thing was founded on lies. 

If what you are saying is true, why did they all tweet a reconciliatory tweet this morning indicating that they have mended fences?
There’s one thing you should know, P-Square are not politicians, neither are they businessmen to be worried about what one useless blogger or the other has to say about them.

In this game, bad publicity is good publicity. When we read those funny posts, we decided to play along with the general public and what they were meant to believe.

Yesterday, Thursday, April 24, 2014 was Jude Okoye’s birthday and he also used the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend while we laughed at the stupidity of some Nigerian bloggers.

We later decided to further play into their hands by reaching a consensus to tweet what they have termed the ‘reconciliation tweet’.

However as a journalist, I am pained that trained journalists allow themselves to be remoted by Linda Ikeji, a mere blogger without any professional training to stall them from investigating serious news material like this. These days, immediately Linda posts anything on her blog, journalists just go there and copy and paste the story without any checks and balances, it is outrightly wrong, I’m really upset about this.

She called me after posting the story and I just decided to ignore her calls, because I didn’t think we had anything more to say when the milk has been split.

I have taken my time to explain to you this way because, you are a friend and did not join the bandwagon.

As for those bloggers out there, I allowed them to write whatever they like; after all, they are consuming their Internet data, not mine.