Known for his mesmerizing and profound voice, Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman, a British actor and filmmaker, was the reason behind Alan Rickman’s demise.
He earned a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of Vicomte de Valmont in the stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which was transferred to Broadway in 1987 and the West End in 1986. After performing in classical and modern productions in 1985, he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), where he also portrayed Valmont. He received his training from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.
Alan Rickman’s initial significant film role was as the German terrorist leader Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). He was honored with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his depiction of the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991).
He also garnered praise for his performances as Colonel Brandon and Éamon de Valera, respectively. Additionally, his supporting roles in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Michael Collins (1996), as well as his leading roles in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991) and An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), were highly acclaimed. Moreover, he was renowned for his comedic portrayals in Dogma (1999), Galaxy Quest (1999), and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005).
He played the iconic character Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series, as well as other notable films such as Love Actually (2003), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), CBGB (2013), Eye in the Sky (2015), and Through the Looking Glass (2016).
Alan Rickman also made notable contributions to television. He made his television acting debut as Tybalt in the BBC’s Romeo and Juliet (1978) series. His breakthrough role was as Obadiah Slope in the BBC television adaptation of The Chronicles of Barchester (1982).
He starred in several films and television shows, including the 1996 movie Destiny of Servant Dark Rasputin, for which he earned an award from the Guild of Actors, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Golden Globe Awards.
Rickman died on January 14, 2016, at the age of 69 as a result of pancreatic cancer. In 2009, The Guardian recognized him as one of the finest actors who never received a nomination for an Academy Award.
In January 2006, Alan Rickman underwent a prostatectomy and received treatment for an aggressive type of prostate cancer. At that time, he was considering whether to return to the film “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” but ultimately decided to come back, stating, “See that one wins the argument.”
He chose to keep his terminal diagnosis private, only sharing it with his closest confidants. A minor stroke in August 2015 led to the discovery of pancreatic cancer, which was the cause.
On January 2016, Rickman passed away in London at the age of 69, just a month before his 70th birthday. After his cremation at Kensal Green Crematorium in West London, his ashes were given to his wife, Rima Horton.