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 Rickmans 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 20012011 Harry in Love Actually 2003 Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhikers 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 BBCs 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