Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 â€" 14 January 2016) was
an English actor and director. Known for his languid tone and
delivery, Rickman's signature sound was the result of a speech
impediment when he could not move his lower jaw properly as a child.
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 cinematic
role was 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 (1990); P.L. O'Hara in An
Awfully Big Adventure (1995); Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility
(1995); Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest (1999); Severus Snape in the
Harry Potter series; Harry in Love Actually (2003); Marvin the
Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005); and
Judge Turpin in the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical of
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 Dr. 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).
an English actor and director. Known for his languid tone and
delivery, Rickman's signature sound was the result of a speech
impediment when he could not move his lower jaw properly as a child.
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 cinematic
role was 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 (1990); P.L. O'Hara in An
Awfully Big Adventure (1995); Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility
(1995); Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest (1999); Severus Snape in the
Harry Potter series; Harry in Love Actually (2003); Marvin the
Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005); and
Judge Turpin in the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical of
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 Dr. 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).
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