Bob Hoskins, the British actor known for playing tough guy or working-class roles in films like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Mermaids," passed away Wednesday at the age of 71. 

Hoskins died two years after retiring from acting due to being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, according to CNN. 

Hoskins was best known for 1988's animation/live-action film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," in which he played Eddie Valiant, a detective who hates the cartoons who live in a separate "toon" section of 1940s Los Angeles. He is tasked with proving the innocence of the cartoon's main character, Roger Rabbit. 

The film was the second-highest grossing movie that year, after "Rain Main."

He then appeared in 1991's "Hook," in which he portrayed Smee, a pirate assistant of Captain Hook. He also appeared in 1995's "Nixon" as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and in 2001's "Last Orders" as a gambler who is friends with the film's protagonist, Michael Caine.  

He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in 1986's "Mona Lisa," in which he played a cabdriver who strikes up a relationship with a high-end call girl. Hoskins won a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe for his performance. 

Hoskins was born on Oct. 26, 1942 in Burt St. Edmunds, England, as the only child of a cook and a bookkeeper. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and took jobs as a window cleaner and a truck driver. He fell into acting by accident; a friend was auditioning for a part and Hoskins, who was waiting for his friend, was asked to audition for a role. He had a natural affinity for the craft and nabbed the role. 

"I fit into this business like a sore foot into a soft shoe," he told the UK paper The Telegraph in 2009.

He gained fame in England as a Depression-era music agent in Dennis Potter's miniseries "Pennies From Heaven," which was later turned into a movie in 1980 starring Steve Martin. 

He had many other roles in the U.K., but did not come to the forefront in America until "Roger Rabbit."

He told the Telegraph that the film drove him "a bit mad."

"I think I went a bit mad while working on that. Lost my mind. The voice of the rabbit was there just behind the camera all the time," he said. "The trouble was, I had learnt how to hallucinate. My daughter had an invisible friend called Jeffrey and I played with her and this invisible friend until one day I actually saw the friend."

"My daughter, when I came back from filming in San Francisco, she said 'Dad, slow down, slow down," he added. "You're going barmy, mate.' And I was."

Hoskins appeared in at least one production every year from 1972 until he retired in 2012. 

"There's two things I love about this business. One's acting and the other one's getting paid for it," he told the UK paper The Guardian in 2007. "The rest of it is a mystery to me."

One of his last roles was as the elf Muir in 2012's "Snow White and the Huntsman."

He was described as always being true to his working class roots, and never losing his signature cockney accent. 

"I met a little old fella in Regent's Park when I was walking a character around," Hoskins said. "He said, 'You are who you are, ain't you?' and I said, 'Yeah, I am who I am.'"

Hoskins is survived by his wife and four children.