Alan Rickman

from Hammersmith, London, UK

Artwork for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2Image of Alan Rickman

Biography

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (February 21, 1946 – January 14, 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at 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 cinema role came when he was cast as the German terrorist leader Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). He also appeared as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), for which he received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Elliott Marston in Quigley Down Under (1990); Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991); Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility (1995); Eamon DeValera in Michael Collins (1997); Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest (1999); Metatron in Dogma (1999); Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series (2001–2011); Harry in Love Actually (2003); Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005); and Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

Rickman made his television acting debut playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1978) as part of the BBC's Shakespeare series. His breakthrough role was in the BBC television adaptation of The Barchester Chronicles (1982). He later starred in television films, playing the title character in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996), which won him a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and Alfred Blalock in Something the Lord Made (2004).

Rickman died of pancreatic cancer on 14 January 2016 at age 69. His final film roles were as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky (2015), and reprising his role as the voice of the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland (2010) in Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).

Timeline

2016Aged 70

  • Poster for Alice Through the Looking Glass

    Blue Caterpillar (voice)

  • Poster for National Theatre Live: Les Liaisons Dangereuses

    In Memory Of

  • Poster for The Limehouse Golem

    In Memory Of

2015Aged 69

  • Poster for A Little Chaos

    King Louis XIV

  • Poster for Eye in the Sky

    Lieutenant General Frank Benson

2014Aged 68

  • Poster for Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film

    Self

2013Aged 67

  • Poster for The Butler

    Ronald Reagan

  • Poster for A Promise

    Karl Hoffmeister

  • Poster for Muse of Fire

    Self

  • Poster for CBGB

    Hilly Kristal

  • Poster for Dust

    Todd

2012Aged 66

  • Poster for Gambit

    Lionel Shahbandar

  • BAM150

    Self

  • Poster for Falls the Shadow:  The Life and Times of Athol Fugard

    Self

2011Aged 65

  • Poster for Portraits in Dramatic Time

    (Unknown)

  • Poster for The Boy in the Bubble

    Storyteller

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

    Severus Snape

2010Aged 64

  • Poster for Harold Pinter:  A Celebration

    Self

  • Poster for Alice in Wonderland

    The Caterpillar (voice)

  • Poster for The Wildest Dream

    Noel Odell (voice)

  • Poster for The Song of Lunch

    He

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

    Severus Snape

2009Aged 63

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

    Severus Snape

  • Poster for Sonnet Number 12

    (voice)

2008Aged 62

  • Poster for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Burton + Carter + Depp = Todd

    Self

  • Poster for Bottle Shock

    Steven Spurrier

2007Aged 61

  • Poster for Nobel Son

    Eli Michaelson

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

    Severus Snape

  • Poster for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

    Judge Turpin

2006Aged 60

  • Poster for Snow Cake

    Alex Hughes

  • Poster for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    Richis

2005Aged 59

  • Poster for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Marvin (voice)

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

    Severus Snape

2004Aged 58

  • Poster for Something the Lord Made

    Dr. Alfred Blalock

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

    Severus Snape

  • Poster for The Magic Touch of Harry Potter

    Self

  • Poster for Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

    Other Voices (voice)

2003Aged 57

  • Poster for Love Actually

    Harry

2002Aged 56

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

    Severus Snape

2001Aged 55

  • Poster for Judge Not: In Defense of Dogma

    Self

  • Poster for Blow Dry

    Phil Allen

  • Poster for Play

    Man

  • Poster for The Search for John Gissing

    John Gissing

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Severus Snape

2000Aged 54

  • Poster for Babitsky's War

    Narrator

  • Poster for Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

    Captain George Fallon

1999Aged 53

  • Poster for Dogma

    Metatron

  • Poster for Galaxy Quest

    Alexander Dane

  • Poster for Dark Harbor

    David Weinberg

1998Aged 52

  • Poster for Judas Kiss

    Detective David Friedman

1997Aged 51

  • Poster for The Winter Guest

    Man in street

1996Aged 50

  • Poster for Rasputin

    Grigori Rasputin

  • Poster for Michael Collins

    Eamon de Valera

1995Aged 49

  • Poster for An Awfully Big Adventure

    P.L. O'Hara

  • Poster for Sense and Sensibility

    Colonel Christopher Brandon

  • Poster for Lumière & Company

    (segment "John Boorman")

1994Aged 48

  • Poster for Mesmer

    Franz Anton Mesmer

1992Aged 46

  • Poster for Bob Roberts

    Lukas Hart III

  • Poster for Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast

    (Unknown)

1991Aged 45

  • Poster for Closet Land

    Interrogator

  • Poster for Truly Madly Deeply

    Jamie

  • Poster for Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie

    Self

  • Poster for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

    Sheriff of Nottingham

  • Poster for Close My Eyes

    Sinclair

1990Aged 44

  • Poster for Quigley Down Under

    Elliott Marston

1989Aged 43

  • Benefactors

    (Unknown)

  • Poster for The January Man

    Ed

  • Poster for 7 Deadly Sins: Stage Acting

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for The Spirit of Man

    Israel Yates

  • Poster for Revolutionary Witness

    Jacques Roux

1988Aged 42

  • Poster for Die Hard

    Hans Gruber

1985Aged 39

  • Poster for Wetherby

    TV Commentator (archival footage)

1983Aged 37

  • Poster for Busted

    Simon

1978Aged 32

  • Poster for Romeo & Juliet

    Tybalt