Alan Rickman

Biography

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, languid voice, he trained at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), performing in modern and classical theatre productions.

He played the Vicomte de Valmont in the RSC stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985, and after the production transferred to the West End in 1986 and Broadway in 1987, he was nominated for a Tony Award.

Rickman's first film role came when he was cast as the German terrorist leader Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). He appeared as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

He earned critical notice for his leading roles in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991) and An Awfully Big Adventure (1995) before gaining acclaim for his supporting roles as Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Éamon de Valera in Michael Collins (1996).

He also gained attention for his comedic roles in Dogma (1999), Galaxy Quest (1999), and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).

He went on to play Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series (2001–2011), and during this time he also appeared in Love Actually (2003), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Alice in Wonderland (2010). His final film roles were in CBGB (2013), Eye in the Sky (2015), and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).

On television, Rickman made his acting debut playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1978) as part of the BBC's Shakespeare series. His breakthrough role was Obadiah Slope in the BBC adaptation of The Barchester Chronicles (1982).

He later starred in television films, playing Grigori Rasputin in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996), which won him a Primetime Emmy Award, and Alfred Blalock in Something the Lord Made (2004).

In 2009, The Guardian named him one of the best actors ever to have received an Academy Award nomination. Rickman died of pancreatic cancer on 14 January 2016 at age 69.