A giant in British film and theater has passed away today.
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman, born February 21, 1947 in Acton, London, England began his adult life not as an actor but as a graphic designer. He was first employed by the newspaper Notting Hill Herald and then he became an entrepreneur with friends and started up his own Graphic Art Design Studio called Graphiti. The studio was successful, but Rickman still felt the pull of acting and auditioned and was accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He studied there from 1972-1974 and left having won several awards including the Emilie Littler Prize, Bancroft Gold Medal and the Forbes Robertson Prize.
He worked mostly in theater until the late 1980’s, but was also regularly seen on the BBC. He garnered many lead roles and even went to Broadway and earned a Tony Award nomination and Drama Desk Award nomination. His Hollywood breakout hit was playing Hans Grueber in the 1988 Die Hard (where he almost didn’t take the role).
He went on to be in over sixty productions, not including his writing, directing, soundtrack and parts where he played himself. The highlights of his film work are being in the 1991 films Truly Madly Deeply and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, 1995 Sense and Sensibility, 1996: Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, 1999 Dogma and Galaxy Quest, starting in 2001-2011 every Harry Potter film as the infamous Professor Severus Snape, 2003’s Love Actually, 2005 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, 2007 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 2010 Alice in Wonderland, 2013 The Butler and CBGB.
We will see Rickmans final roles as Lt. Gen Frank Benson in Eye in the Sky and as the voice of the Blue Caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass, both of which are in post-production now.
Rickman was nominated for 33 awards during his lifetime, including BAFTA, Golden Globes, People’s Choice, Primetime Emmys, SAG, Satellite, Saturn and Tony. He won a BAFTA in 1991 for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a Golden Globe, SAG and Primetime Emmy awards in 1996 for Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, a 2009 Scream award for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and a 2011 San Diego Film Critics Society, MTV Movie and People’s Choice awards for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.
I first saw Rickman when he played the villain the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It left a deep impression on me and I always made sure to note when I saw him again. He never disappointed in his role choices. Rickman had true talent as I watched him play not only the villains he is most famous for, but also in romance, drama and comedy. It didn’t matter the genre, Rickman would personify his character and you would love him for it. I know many people my age and younger might only remember him in the Harry Potter films, but I hope you will go and find his other movies. His deep voice is iconic, whether its listening to him recite Shakespeare sonnets, telling jokes or instructing you to turn to page 394.
Even while almost constantly filming, Alan Rickman found time for others as well. He was an active patron for the charity Saving Faces, which is devoted to the prevention and treatment of facial disease, injury and oral cancer. He was also honorary president of the International Performers Aids Trust, a charity to help performers all over to have food, access to medicine and a safe place to live when they are in parts of the world that for whatever social, economic or political reason is preventing them from doing so themselves.
Alan Rickman led a full life that included following his dream when he very easily could have given up on it before it began. He did what he loved until the end and was surrounded by his loving wife Rima, his family and friends in his home of London.
TheNerdyGirlExpress 