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Alan Rickman

Alan Rickman

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).

The Movies That Made Us

2019

as Hans Gruber (archive footage)

Alice Through the Looking Glass

2016

as Blue Caterpillar (voice)

Eye in the Sky

2015

as Lieutenant General Frank Benson

A Little Chaos

2015

as King Louis XIV

Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film

2014

as Self

Dust

2013

as Todd

CBGB

2013

as Hilly Kristal

Muse of Fire

2013

as Self

A Promise

2013

as Karl Hoffmeister

The Butler

2013

as Ronald Reagan

Falls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard

2012

as Himself

BAM150

2012

as Self

Gambit

2012

as Lionel Shahbandar

Honest Trailers

2012

as Severus Snape (archive footage)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

2011

as Severus Snape

The Boy in the Bubble

2011

as Storyteller

Portraits in Dramatic Time

2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2010

as Severus Snape

The Song of Lunch

2010

as He

The Wildest Dream

2010

as Noel Odell (voice)

Alice in Wonderland

2010

as The Caterpillar (voice)

Harold Pinter: A Celebration

2010

as Self

Sonnet Number 12

2009

as (voice)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009

as Severus Snape

Bottle Shock

2008

as Steven Spurrier

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

2008

as Self

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2007

as Judge Turpin

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007

as Severus Snape

Nobel Son

2007

as Eli Michaelson

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

2006

as Richis

Snow Cake

2006

as Alex Hughes

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2005

as Severus Snape

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2005

as Marvin (voice)

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

2004

as Other Voices (voice)

The Magic Touch of Harry Potter

2004

as Self

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2004

as Severus Snape

Something the Lord Made

2004

as Dr. Alfred Blalock

Love Actually

2003

as Harry

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

2002

as Severus Snape

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

2001

as Severus Snape

The Search for John Gissing

2001

as John Gissing

Play

2001

as Man

Blow Dry

2001

as Phil Allen

Judge Not: In Defense of Dogma

2001

as Self

Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

2000

as Captain George Fallon

Babitsky's War

2000

as Narrator

Dark Harbor

1999

as David Weinberg

Galaxy Quest

1999

as Alexander Dane

Dogma

1999

as Metatron

The Directors

1999

as Self

Judas Kiss

1998

as Detective David Friedman

The Winter Guest

1997

as Man in street

King of the Hill

1997

as King Philip (voice)

Michael Collins

1996

as Eamon de Valera

Rasputin

1996

as Grigori Rasputin

Lumière and Company

1995

as (segment "John Boorman")

Sense and Sensibility

1995

as Colonel Christopher Brandon

An Awfully Big Adventure

1995

as P.L. O'Hara

Mesmer

1994

as Franz Anton Mesmer

Fallen Angels

1993

as Dwight Billings

Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast

1992

Bob Roberts

1992

as Lukas Hart III

Close My Eyes

1991

as Sinclair

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

1991

as Sheriff of Nottingham

Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie

1991

as Self

Truly Madly Deeply

1991

as Jamie

Closet Land

1991

as Interrogator

Quigley Down Under

1990

as Elliott Marston

Revolutionary Witness

1989

as Jacques Roux

The Spirit of Man

1989

as Israel Yates

The January Man

1989

as Ed

Benefactors

1989

Die Hard

1988

as Hans Gruber

Girls On Top

1985

as Dimitri / Voice of RADA(voice)

Wetherby

1985

as TV Commentator (archival footage)

Busted

1983

as Simon

The Barchester Chronicles

1982

Smiley's People

1982

Smiley's People

1982

as Mr. Brownlow

Thérèse Raquin

1980

as Vidal

Shelley

1979

Romeo & Juliet

1978

as Tybalt

BBC Television Shakespeare

1978

as Tybalt

The Hollywood Greats

1977