Alan Rickman leaves a diverse body of work that many actors can only dream of, both critically and financially. He was an internationally renowned talent who once described his film career as “a bit of a surprise.”
The 69-year-old actor, writer and director only found fame in his late 30s, but in the three decades after, he played roles in some of the best-loved films in cinema, featuring in movies that generated over $10.2 billion in ticket sales worldwide.
Rickman graduated from the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art in 1974 and spent several years on stage at, among other places, London’s Royal Court Theatre. That led to him being cast as the Vicomte de Valmont, the male lead, in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The production transferred to Broadway in 1987, and his performance earned him a number of accolades, including a Tony Award nomination.
It was a few years later however, in 1985, that he became a household name and a truly international actor, starring alongside Bruce Willis as Hans Gruber in Die Hard – a role he almost turned down.
“I didn’t know anything about LA. I didn’t know anything about the film business. I’d never made a film before, but I was extremely cheap. I read the script and thought, ‘What the hell is this? I’m not doing an action movie',” he admitted at a celebration of his work at London’s BAFTA HQ in April 2015.
It was a role that also earned him, aside from a irrefutable place in pop culture, a spot on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains as the 46th best villain in film history. Considered a classic, that film made, adjusted for inflation, $140.7 million at the box office worldwide.
Roles followed in hugely successful and critically lauded movies including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in which he played the Sheriff of Nottingham ($390.4 million worldwide) in a definitive performance, Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility ($134.6 million worldwide), Love Actually in which he played Harry ($246.9 million) and Galaxy Quest in which he played Alexander Dane ($90.6 million worldwide), not to mention Truly, Madly, Deeply, Dogma, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and many, many more.
Rickman’s CV is peppered with countless roles that earned him love from audiences and countless awards, including a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award.
However, as an actor, he will arguably be best remembered, by audiences of all ages, for his iconic role as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films - a series that made over $7.7 billion.
Harry Potter author, J. K. Rowling, paid tribute to Rickman on
A private man, he married his long-term partner, Rima Horton, in secret in 2012.
Alan Rickman died from cancer on January 14 2016. He was 69. He will be missed immeasurably.
