The world has lost another great. On Thursday, January 14, the family of British actor Alan Rickman confirmed he had died at the age of 69. The veteran actor with 68 TV and film credits to his name had been privately battling cancer, The Guardian reports.
Rickman was long known for playing evil characters, from Hans Gruber in 1988’s Die Hard to the seemingly villainous Professor Snape, who surprisingly saved everyone, in the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise.
“There was more to him than met the eye,” Rickman said of his secret-hero character during a New York Times talk in 2012.
In 1996, Rickman, won an Emmy for his performance in the made-for-TV movie Rasputin. He won a Golden Globe in 1997 for the same role. In 1991 he won a BAFTA for his role as Sheriff George of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Rickman has also been applauded for his work on the stage. He worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has been in productions in London’s West End and on Broadway.
He recently completed the film Alice Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, voicing the Blue Caterpillar.
In 2012, Rickman wed his love of more than 50 years, Rima Horton. He didn’t confirm the union until April 2015. The couple tied the knot in New York. Years later, Rickman told the German site Bild that following their wedding, they “walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and ate lunch.”
