Actor Bob Hoskins dies of pneumonia, aged 71

The Da Vinci Code and Spider-Man 2 actor Alfred Molina tweeted:

Bob Hoskins' actress daughter Rosa has paid tribute to him on Twitter, saying the loss "has broken my heart."

A link she provided in her post has apparently caused her website to crash.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has paid tribute to Bob Hoskins, saying: "For decades, Bob Hoskins has entertained television and film audiences of all age groups around the world. The British film industry has lost one of its true greats, and my thoughts and sympathies go out to his family and friends."

Following the news of Bob Hoskins' death, BAFTA has tweeted an image of the actor with Anne Bancroft after winning a BAFTA for Mona Lisa in 1987:

Read more: Bob Hoskins: Five of his best films

The late actor Bob Hoskins joked in a November 2006 interview that he quite enjoys "playing nasty people" as it was "therapy".

"It's playing good people that's really hard," he told ITV London Tonight.

Tributes have been paid to actor Bob Hoskins, who has died aged 71, after suffering from pneumonia.

With the gravelly cockney accent - Bob Hoskins - who often played rough-edged characters with a heart of gold - was also familiar to millions for his ad campaign for British Telecom in which he told viewers: "It's good to talk".