Alan Rickman (London, United Kingdom, February 21, 1946 - London, United Kingdom, January 14, 2016)
He was born as Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman in a working class family in West London. When he was only eight years old his father died and he was left alone with his mother and three siblings. In school he showed talent for painting and calligraphy and in high school he became interested in theatre. He attended the Chelsea College for Art and Design and then enrolled to the Royal College of Art. After graduation with some friends he opened a successful graphic design studio Graphiti. Three years later, he decided to pursue acting. In 1972, he enrolled to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). After two years of studying he started to work more in theatre. In 1985, he played the leading role in the play Dangerous Liaisons produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Two years later the play was performed on Broadway and Rickman was nominated for Tony, the American theater award. From late 1970’s he occasionally appeared in smaller roles in TV series and films. He made his impressive feature film debut in the very popular action film Die Hard (1988) portraying the main bad guy. He played another bad guy in the popular film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), this time it was the sheriff of Nottingham, and thus the wider audience learned to recognize him as a typical bad guy even though his range of acting skills was much wider. In the action film Quigley Down Under (1990) he portrayed an Australian, in Truly Madly Deeply (1990) and Sense and Sensibility (1995) his characters were more romantic. In the thriller Closet Land (1991) he was a detective, in Dogma (1999) an angel and in the sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest (1999) he was an actor playing an alien. He won two American film awards, Golden Globe and Emmy, as best actor for his role in the TV film Rasputin (1996). During the 1990’s, he starred in the political satire Bob Roberts (1992), historical biopic Michael Collins (1996) and the romantic comedy An Awfully Big Adventure (1995). In addition, he directed and co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the play The Winter Guest (1997), which he also directed in a theater two years before that. Even though the film was not very popular, it received very good reviews and was nominated for the Golden Lion in Venice (instead of the Lion, it won the OCIC and CinemAvvenire awards). Even though theatre remained his first love and he was always faithful to it, he won the hearts of the international audience with another role of a bad guy. This time it was professor Snape in the big hit Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and its seven sequels. Then he starred in the romantic films Love Actually (2003) and Snow Cake (2006) and another excellent role in the TV biographical film Something the Lord Made (2004), for which he was once again nominated for the prestigious Emmy award. From time to time he used his unique voice to different characters, such as the depressive robot Marvin in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) and the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland (2010) and its sequel in 2016 (which was his last work on film). He also starred in some darker films, such as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) in which he also sang. He also appeared in a smaller role of President Reagan in the biopic The Butler (2013), and a year later he directed another film – this time it was the romantic drama A Little Chaos (2014) in which he also had a smaller role. His last appearance on film, apart from his voice, was in the war drama Eye in the Sky (2015). He died at the age of 69 from pancreatic cancer.
Filmography:
Alice Through the Looking Voices (2016) (voice)
Eye in the Sky (2015)
A Little Chaos (2014)
Dust (2013) (short feature)
CBGB (2013)
A Promise (2013)
The Butler (2013)
Gambit (2012)
The Boy in the Bubble (2011) (short feature, animated, voice)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Portraits in Dramatic Time (2011)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
The Song of Lunch (2010) (TV, medium-lenght feature)
Alice in Wonderland (2010) (voice)
Sonnet Number 12 (2009) (short feature animated, voice)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Bottle Shock (2008)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Nobel Son (2007)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Snow Cake (2006)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) (voice)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Something the Lord Made (2004) (TV)
Love Actually (2003)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
The Search for John Gissing (2001)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Play (2001) (short feature)
We Know Where You Live (2001) (TV)
Blow Dry (2001)
Hel! I Am a Fish! (Hjælp! Jeg er en fisk, 2000) (voice)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Dogma (1999)
Dark Harbor (1998)
Judas Kiss (1998)
The Winter Guest (1997) (unaccredited)
Michael Collins (1996)
Rasputin (1996) (TV)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
An Awfully Big Adventure (1995)
Mesmer (1994)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Close My Eyes (1991)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Closet Land (1991)
Truly Madly Deeply (1990)
Quigley Down Under (1990)
The January Man (1989)
Revolutionary Witness: The Preacher (1989) (TV, short feature)
Die Hard (1988)
Busted (1983) (TV)
Romeo & Juliet (1978) (TV)