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Alan Rickman
Actor, Director, Writer
Died January 14, 2016 (69 years)
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 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); P.L. O'Hara in An Awfully Big Adventure (1995); 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).
Filmography
| 2016 | Alice Through the Looking Glass · as Blue Caterpillar (voice) |
| 2015 | Eye in the Sky · as Lieutenant General Frank Benson |
| 2015 | A Little Chaos: Deleted Scenes · as King Louis XIV |
| 2014 | A Little Chaos · as King Louis XIV |
| 2013 | CBGB · as Hilly Kristal |
| 2013 | Lee Daniels' The Butler · as Ronald Reagan |
| 2013 | A Promise · as Karl Hoffmeister |
| 2012 | Gambit · as Lionel Shahbandar |
| 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 · as Severus Snape |
| 2011 | The Boy in the Bubble · as Storyteller |
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 · as Severus Snape |
| 2010 | |
| 2010 | The Song of Lunch · as He |
| 2010 | Alice in Wonderland · as The Caterpillar (voice) |
| 2010 | The Wildest Dream · as Noel Odell |
| 2009 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince · as Severus Snape |
| 2008 | Bottle Shock · as Steven Spurrier |
| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix · as Severus Snape |
| 2007 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street · as Judge Turpin |
| 2007 | Nobel Son · as Eli Michaelson |
| 2006 | Snow Cake · as Alex Hughes |
| 2006 | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer · as Richis |
| 2006 | Harry vs. the Horntail: The First Task · as Prof. Severus Snape |
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire · as Severus Snape |
| 2005 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · as Marvin |
| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban · as Severus Snape |
| 2004 | Something the Lord Made · as Dr. Alfred Blalock |
| 2004 | Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson · as Other Voices (voice) |
| 2004 | Creating the Vision · as Prof. Severus Snape |
| 2003 | Love Actually · as Harry |
| 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets · as Severus Snape |
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone · as Severus Snape |
| 2001 | Blow Dry · as Phil Allen |
| 2001 | The Search for John Gissing · as John Gissing |
| 2001 | We Know Where You Live. Live! · as Second Yorkshireman |
| 2000 | A Fish Tale · as Joe |
| 2000 | Victoria Wood: With All the Trimmings · as Unknown |
| 2000 | Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years · as Hans Gruber |
| 1999 | Galaxy Quest · as Alexander Dane |
| 1999 | Dogma · as Metatron |
| 1998 | Judas Kiss · as Detective David Friedman |
| 1998 | Dark Harbor · as David Weinberg |
| 1997 | The Winter Guest · as Man in street (uncredited) |
| 1997 | King of the Hill (TV Series) · as King Philip (voice) |
| 1996 | Rasputin · as Grigori Rasputin |
| 1996 | Michael Collins · as Eamon de Valera |
| 1995 | Sense and Sensibility · as Colonel Christopher Brandon |
| 1995 | An Awfully Big Adventure · as P.L. O'Hara |
| 1995 | Lumière and Company · as Unknown |
| 1992 | Bob Roberts · as Lukas Hart III |
| 1991 | Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves · as Sheriff of Nottingham |
| 1991 | Close My Eyes · as Sinclair |
| 1991 | Closet Land · as Interrogator |
| 1990 | Quigley Down Under · as Elliott Marston |
| 1990 | Truly Madly Deeply · as Jamie |
| 1989 | The January Man · as Ed |
| 1988 | Die Hard · as Hans Gruber |
| 1985 | Wetherby · as TV Commentator (archival footage) |
| 1982 | Smiley's People (TV Series) · as Mr. Brownlow |
| 1982 | The Barchester Chronicles (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1980 | Therese Raquin (TV Series) · as Vidal |
| 1979 | Shelley (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1978 | Romeo & Juliet · as Tybalt |
| 1978 | BBC Television Shakespeare (TV Series) · as Tybalt |
| 1977 | The Hollywood Greats (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1975 | Arena (1975) (TV Series) · as Various characters |