Bob Hoskins dead: Stephen Fry and BAFTA lead tributes to the late Hook and Mona Lisa actor, who has died of pneumonia aged 71

Stephen Fry was among the first to pay tribute to the late Bob Hoskins, who has died after suffering from pneumonia aged 71.

“Oh no, Bob Hoskins. Gone? That’s awful news,” he tweeted.

“The Long Good Friday was one of the best British movies of the modern era. A marvellous man.”

Bob Hoskins' Best Movie Moments

The actor and QI presenter was joined by British Academy of Film and Television Awards, who nominated Hoskins for three and won one.

They tweeted: “We're deeply saddened to learn that Bob Hoskins has passed away.”

The British Film Council also offered their condolences, tweeting: “So sad to hear we lost Bob Hoskins - one of UK's truly great performers.”

Others took to the social media site to pay their respects, as his best-loved films Hook, his Hook character Smee and Who Framed Rodger Rabbit began trending within minutes of the news:

Hoskins, whose screen roles during his four-decade-long career spanned from gritty gangster films to animated hits, retired from acting in 2012 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

He built his reputation on the stage in the Sixties and won critical acclaim for his performance as Harold Shand, an East End gangster in the 1980 underworld film, The Long Good Friday.

He was nominated for an Oscar in 1987 for his role as a petty criminal in the British film Mona Lisa in 1987, but lost out to Paul Newman.

“The other nominees raised their glasses to him and I said, 'What the f**k are you talking about?” he quipped at the time.

Read More: 7 Things You Didn't Know About Bob Hoskins