(Kevin Costner is the legendary swashbuckling hero of Engl...)
Kevin Costner is the legendary swashbuckling hero of England's Sherwood Forest who defends the poor and battles Alan Rickman's deliciously evil Sheriff of Nottingham.
(Norman Reedus as a mysterious young man who involves a co...)
Norman Reedus as a mysterious young man who involves a couple on a private island in a bizarre love triangle that ultimately forces them into a frightening spiral of sex and betrayal where nothing is as it seems.
(From the makers of Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill...)
From the makers of Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill comes the ultimate romantic comedy about love's delightful twists and turns, starring some of Hollywood's brightest stars.
(In 18th-century France lived Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, wh...)
In 18th-century France lived Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who was born with a great sense of smell. But as his gift becomes an obsession, he strives to create the most intoxicating perfume in the world by murdering young women to capture their essence.
(Alan Rickman stars as legendary NYC club owner Hilly Kris...)
Alan Rickman stars as legendary NYC club owner Hilly Kristal, who during the 1970s, wanted to create a venue for country, bluegrass and blues music (thus the name CBGB).
(Alan Rickman stars in this simmering early 20th-century l...)
Alan Rickman stars in this simmering early 20th-century love story about a triangle between an aging factory owner, his young bride (Rebecca Hall) and his handsome protégé.
(The story revolves around a British thief who comes up wi...)
The story revolves around a British thief who comes up with a fool-proof plan to steal an expensive statue from one of the richest men in the world. His strategy involves the participation of a beautiful woman who happens to be the spitting image of the rich man's late wife. However, nothing goes as planned.
(An operation to capture terrorists in Kenya is complicate...)
An operation to capture terrorists in Kenya is complicated when a young girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute over the implications of modern warfare.
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was an English actor and director. He was best known for portraying memorable villains in films like Die Hard and the Harry Potter film series. He was also a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in modern and classical theatre productions.
Background
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was born on February 21, 1946, in Hammersmith, London, England, to Margaret Doreen Rose (née Bartlett), a housewife, and Bernard William Rickman, a factory worker, house painter and decorator, and former World War II aircraft fitter. Rickman had also two brothers, David and Michael, and a sister, Sheila. Rickman recalled his early years as impoverished but very happy, until his father died of lung cancer when young Alan was just 8 years old. His mother married again in 1960 but divorced Rickman's stepfather after three years.
Education
As a child, Alan Rickman attended Derwentwater Primary School in Acton, excelling at calligraphy and watercolour painting, and after showing an early predilection for art, he won a scholarship to Latymer Upper School in London, where he appeared in several school plays. After leaving Latymer, Rickman attended Chelsea College of Art and Design and then the Royal College of Art.
At age 26, Rickman decided to apply to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, which he attended from 1972 until 1974.
Alan Rickman started his career immediately after graduation from the Royal College of Art. However, he decided to become a graphic designer, as he considered it a more stable occupation than acting; he later said that drama school "wasn't considered the sensible thing to do at 18". Rickman and several friends opened a graphic design studio called Graphiti, but after three years of successful business, he decided that he was going to pursue acting professionally.
During his years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Alan Rickman supported himself by working as a dresser for Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Sir Ralph Richardson.
In 1974, he started his career as an actor, working extensively with British repertory and experimental theatre groups in productions including Chekhov's The Seagull and Snoo Wilson's The Grass Widow at the Royal Court Theatre, and appeared three times at the Edinburgh International Festival.
In 1978, Rickman joined the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in The Tempest and Love's Labour's Lost, among others, although he disliked the experience: "It's a factory," he said. "It has to be." While working with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), he was also cast in As You Like It. He appeared in The Barchester Chronicles (1982), the BBC's adaptation of Trollope's first two Barchester novels, as the Reverend Obadiah Slope.
The turning point in Rickman's career came in 1985 with the starring role of Le Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a part that playwright Christopher Hampton (who adapted the script from an 18th-century French novel) developed with the actor specifically in mind. After the RSC production transferred to Broadway in 1987, Rickman received both a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award nomination for his performance.
Rickman was soon tapped for his first Hollywood film role, as the impossibly evil terrorist Hans Gruber (ultimately foiled by Bruce Willis's heroic cop John McClane) in Die Hard (1988). His portrayal of the smooth-talking, urbane villain won him accolades from the industry experts.
After appearing alongside Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under (1990), Rickman starred in three successful features in 1991: Close My Eyes; Truly, Madly, Deeply; and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which he played an unforgettably arch Sheriff of Nottingham. This role, accentuating the first impression made in Die Hard, cemented Rickman's image as a "villain" actor.
Rickman's output slowed following his prolific year in 1991, although he made well-received appearances in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and in the title role of Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996). During that period, he also directed The Winter Guest at London's Almeida Theatre in 1995 and the film version of the same play, released in 1997h starring Emma Thompson and her real-life mother Phyllida Law.
Rickman's career graph peaked during the new millennium when he portrayed the brilliant wizard and potions master Severus Snape in the first movie of the Harry Potter Series, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ in 2001. However, it must be mentioned that he was given the part of Professor Snape in Harry Potter only after Tim Roth decided he no longer wanted the role, very close to the start of filming. Although, he was always J.K. Rowling's first choice to play Snape. It is also known that when the actor took on the role, the book series was only four instalments in, so there was still much to learn about what made Snape tick. In order to help Rickman play the character all the way through to the end, the author shared some information about Snape that wouldn’t be revealed until much later.
Thus, Rickman played Severus Snape in each of the instalments of the Harry Potter series, the final one being ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part II’ in 2011. However, during that period, he also starred in such films as Love Actually (2003), Snow Cake (2006), Nobel Son (2007) and Bottle Shock (2008). He twice collaborated with Tim Burton, in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010). He also wrote and directed a one-woman play, My Name is Rachel Corrie, winning good reviews in both London and New York City. In October and November 2010, Rickman also starred in the eponymous role in Henrik Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin alongside Lindsay Duncan and Fiona Shaw.
Following the Harry Potter films, Rickman opened in Seminar, a new play by Theresa Rebeck, at the John Golden Theatre on Broadway in November 2011. He also starred in a number of diverse film roles, including playing Ronald Reagan in Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) and Karl Hoffmeister in A Promise (2013). Also that year, he took on the role of Hilly Kristal, the owner of the famous New York City punk rock club in CBGB. From Bowery club owner to royalty, Rickman portrayed King Louis XIV in A Little Chaos (2014).
Despite of his image as a "villain" actor, during his career, Rickman played comedic roles, including as Sir Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus in the sci-fi parody Galaxy Quest (1999), the angel Metatron, the voice of God, in Dogma (also 1999), Emma Thompson's foolish husband Harry in the British Christmas-themed romantic comedy Love Actually (2003), providing the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) and playing the egotistical, Nobel Prize-winning father in Nobel Son (2007).
Alan Rickman's final film roles were as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky (2015), and the voice of Absolem, the caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), which were dedicated to his memory.
Alan Rickman was a renowned film actor and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who delighted audiences with his languid delivery and mellifluous baritone voice, which he could alter to drip with malice or soothe in a silken purr. After he rose to fame with his portrayal of the Vicomte de Valmont in ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’, he made an easy transition into films though for a while he faced the danger of being typecast as a villain actor after his portrayal of Hans Gruber in ‘Die Hard’.
Rickman's role of the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, the main antagonist in the 1991 adventure film ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ was one of his highly acclaimed ones. The movie was a big success and his portrayal of the villain was greatly appreciated. However, his most famous work is the portrayal of the highly complex Severus Snape, the skilled wizard and Potions Master, in the Harry Potter film franchise which sent his fame escalating to new heights.
Alna Rickman's other major works include roles in such films as Quigley Down Under (1990), Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Galaxy Quest (1999), Love Actually (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Rickman also starred in television films, playing the title character in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996), which won him a number of awards, and in Something the Lord Made (2004). Rickman's final film roles were as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky (2015), and the voice of Absolem, the caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).
Rickman was chosen by Empire as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (No. 34) in 1995 and ranked No. 59 in Empire's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list in October 1997.
In 2009 and 2010, Rickman was ranked once again as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars by Empire, both times placing No. 8 out of the 50 actors chosen.
Rickman was voted No. 19 in Empire magazine's Greatest Living Movie Stars over the age of 50 and was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actor (Play): in 1987 for Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and in 2002 for a revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives. The Guardian named Rickman as an "honourable mention" in a list of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
Linguist Andrew Linn of Sheffield University and sound engineer Shannon Harris (the keyboard player for Rod Stewart and Lily Allen) teamed up to determine what makes a nice voice so appealing to hear. According to the study, a perfect male voice would be a combination of Rickman's and Jeremy Irons' voices based on a sample of 50 voices.
Rickman was one of the many artists who recited Shakespearian sonnets on the album When Love Speaks (2002), and also featured prominently in a music video by Texas entitled "In Demand", which premiered on Europe MTV in August 2000.
Rickman had an upbringing of mixed religious heritage. His mother was a Methodist of Welsh descent and his father was an Irish Catholic. Rickman’s father died when he was eight-years-old, so it’s reasonable to assume that Methodism was more influential in his life than Catholicism.
However, Rickman–who didn’t really like to talk about his personal life–hadn’t got into his own, adult spiritual beliefs. Plus, he played God’s messenger in the Catholic-inspired comedy, Dogma, and didn’t seem to bat an eye at the controversy that swirled around it.
Rickman has only commented on his “religion” by likening his involvement with live theatre to his own, personal spiritual calling.
Politics
Alan Rickman was widely cited as a Labour supporter. But passion for politics was something Rickman said had cooled in his life as he was grown older, seemingly because he was tired of rhetoric and politicians talking the talk: "I find myself becoming less and less enamoured of public statement – I’d rather see it in action."
Rickman has been known to get annoyed when politics gets in the way of his “religion.” When a play he was directing about an activist protesting Israel’s involvement in the Gaza Strip was cancelled for political sensitivity issues, Rickman didn’t mince words: "This is censorship born out of fear, and the New York Theatre Workshop, the Royal Court, New York audiences – all of us are the losers."
Views
Alan Rickman was an advocate for advancing mental health treatment and fighting stigma against mental illness. Actually, he was also a philanthropist and one of the most prominent signatories of a campaign to increase funding for mental health services in England. Alan was an active patron of the charity Saving Faces and honorary president of the International Performers’ Aid Trust, a charity that alleviates poverty in some of the world’s toughest places. He also tapped a voiceover for the short film, This Tortoise Could Save A Life, for the Save the Children and Refugee Council.
Quotations:
"If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust."
"Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theatre, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world."
"Acting touches nerves you have absolutely no control over."
"It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo."
"Talent is an accident of genes - and responsibility."
"If people want to know who I am, it is all in the work."
"I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously."
"It would be wonderful to think that the future is unknown and sort of surprising."
"I've never been able to plan my life. I just lurch from indecision to indecision."
"I think there's some connection between absolute discipline and absolute freedom."
Membership
Alan Rickman was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was elected to the Council of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1993; he was subsequently RADA's vice-chairman and a member of its Artistic Advisory and Training committees and Development Board.
Rickman was also the Honorary President of International Performers Aid Trust, an organization assisting artists and performers challenged by poverty.
Personality
Like many actors and artists, Alan Rickman was a complex mix of passions and personality. He always talked about his love and respect for writing, and the insecurity and self-criticism that so many creative people experience. He brought professionalism, realism and brilliance to every role he undertook and was very sensitive and emotional in person.
According to a 2012 interview he gave to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the show StarTalk, Alan loved birds more than anything and was always fascinated by a flock of birds.
Physical Characteristics:
Glancing at his body statistics, Rickman had an average body type. He used to stand at a perfect height of 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m.). Furthermore, his weight was 82 kg. He had light brown eyes and light brown hair.
Alan Rickman died at the age of 69 on 14 January 2016. The reason behind his death was a minor stroke which later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His body was cremated in the West London Crematorium.
Quotes from others about the person
“And watched Alan Rickman act up a storm in Private Lives. Someone once said that this highly mannered actor had made a career out of being brilliant in roles where no brilliance was required.” - Joe Queenan
“I love 'Love Actually' and particularly the story with Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson. I think it's possibly the best exploration of infidelity that's ever been done because it really feels accurate and real.” - John Requa
“Very nice lady served us drinks in a hotel and was followed in by a cat. We all crooned at it. Alan to cat (very low and meaning it): 'Fuck off.' The nice lady didn't turn a hair. The cat looked slightly embarrassed but stayed.” - Emma Thompson
“One does not simply watch Harry Potter movies without praising Alan Rickman!” - Gauri Bhardwaj
“When I first met Alan, I was absolutely terrified. I was 19, he was Alan Rickman, and he's got that voice, and I remember meeting him in the hair and make-up trailer and thinking, 'I'm going to die. He thinks I'm rubbish. Why am I here?'” - Kate Winslet
“I remember my first scene with Alan Rickman, and I was anxious because he is a slight 'method' actor; as soon as he is in his cloak, he walks and talks like Snape - it is quite terrifying. But I really wanted to talk to him because 'Robin Hood' was one of my favourite films.” - Tom Felton
“When Alan Rickman, a dear friend of mine, played villains, he always made it complicated. He didn't redeem what they did, but he made you feel that it was hard for them to be so horrible.”- Susan Sarandon
“With that incredible voice that he could play like a sort of wonderful instrument, like a cello or something. He played his voice, and he could be the most subtle of actors. And he could also be quite a big actor. He could do the grandiose performances as well.” - Helen Mirren
“Alan Rickman was such a terrific actor, and that was such a terrific character that he played. And it was a joy to be with him. We used to laugh together because we ran out of reaction shots. They were always - when everything had been done and the children were finished, they would turn the camera around and we'd have to do various reaction shots of amazement or sadness and things. We used to say we'd got to about number 200-and-something and we'd run out of knowing what to do when the camera came around on us. But he was a joy.” - Maggie Smith
“You know, some actors, all of their potential is in their youth, and when that passes, their qualities of as an actor pass. But he - Alan was the opposite, and there are other actors who are like that, who, really, their potential is in maturity” - Helen Mirren
Interests
Bird watching
Connections
Alan Rickman met 18-year-old Rima Horton, who became his girlfriend and would later be a Labour Party councillor on the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council and an economics lecturer at the nearby Kingston University, in 1965, at age 19. The two of them were in a relationship before they got married in a private ceremony in 2012. "It was great because no one was there. After the ceremony in New York, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and ate lunch,” Rickman told the German magazine Bild.
Alan Rickman didn’t have any children even though he stated he would have liked to have had a family. He decided against it because he wanted to respect his wife’s wish that they would not have children. However, he was godfather to British actor Tom Burke, who you have probably seen in the film Only God Forgives, costarring Ryan Gosling.
