Alan Rickman

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he was renowned for his stage and screen roles and for his deep and distinctive voice. He received various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and an Actor Award, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award.

A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rickman began his career in theatre, performing in classical and modern plays. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play for his portrayal of the Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and made his film debut as the German criminal mastermind Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). He earned critical acclaim for Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), An Awfully Big Adventure, Sense and Sensibility (both 1995), and Michael Collins (1996). He went on to play Severus Snape in all eight films of the Harry Potter series, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and concluding with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). His other notable film roles include those in Quigley Down Under (1990), Dogma, Galaxy Quest (both 1999), Love Actually (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), its 2016 sequel, and Eye in the Sky (2015). He directed the films The Winter Guest (1997) and A Little Chaos (2014).