There are some people in the world and our lives in general who never leave us, even after they are gone. One example from the world of cinema is that of Alan Rickamn, who has certainly left his mark on us all. His flame stopped glowing on 14th January 2016, and despite it being over a year since his passing he is still forever present in our memory.
The British actor and director lost his battle with cancer at the age of 69. This was made more painful as some would say he had truly reached the high point of his career, and of course, was taken away from us far too early. His role in 'Die Hard' came about at the age of 42, and his long and successful stint as Severus Snape in 'Harry Potter' came between the ages of 54 and 64. One thing is for sure, if he didn't have to battle against cancer, he would still have many more roles lined up for the future.
In his extensive career he had time to take part in a wide range of projects, although his name didn't start to become well known until the end of the 80s. Before this, he featured in many theatre productions and miniseries. After this, when the rise in his career took off, he had many large and differing roles in the world of film. Alan Rickman resisted nothing.
Renowned roles
In a tribute to the actor, we provide you with 8 stand-out moments from his career on the big screen that all Alan Rickman fans should know.
1 Kicking it all off...
The actor was born in West London on 21st February 1946 to an Irish father and Welsh mother. Unfortunately, at the age of 8, he lost his father to lung cancer and his mother had to raise him and his siblings. Rickman went to a selective independent school in Hammersmith where he became involved in drama and later on studied graphic design. He didn't start acting properly until 1975, where he started making appearances on television. The image above shows Rickman in a scene for the three episode miniseries 'Thérèse Raquin' that aired in the 1980s.
2 'Die Hard'
His role in 'Die Hard' could be considered as one of Rickman's first big roles, back in 1988, when Bruce Willis had a full set of hair and Alan Rickman sporting his dark brown beard and hair. He played Hans Gruber, the bad guy of the film, who is a German terrorist that takes an office hostage during their Christmas party in Los Angeles. The battle between Rickman and Willis is considered one of the gems of action cinema in the last few decades.
3 'Rasputin'
This HBO miniseries earned Rickman his greatest recognition in terms of awards for his formidable role as the Russian peasant Grigori Rasputin. Released in 1996, Alan Rickman was one of the highly praised actors of the series. The miniseries won a number of awards, including two Golden Globes, where the best actor award was given to Rickman himself.
4 'Love Actually'
Considered one of the most popular romances of the last few decades, Alan Rickman formed part of the star-studded line up of 'Love Actually'. Although his character was a mysterious man, he still manages to make the role his own. It is a film, just incase you still haven't seen it, that tells the love stories of different individuals played by famous actors such as Kiera Knightley, Martin Freeman, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant and Liam Neeson.
5 'Harry Potter'
Thanks to his role as Severus Snape in the 'Harry Potter' saga, his popularity transcended over a range of generations. Rickman and Snape were united as characters after J.K Rowling personally chose Rickman when she was deciding which actors should play her characters. Rickman knew details about his characters way in advance compared to others. In fact, J.K Rowling had only released the first few books when Rickman knew details about Snape's developments. This allowed him to prepare for the role in much more depth to help portray the Hogwarts professor that always had Harry's back even when we thought he was pure evil.
6 'Harry Potter': Snapes lost love
The secret that J.K Rowling mentioned to Rickman deserves a special mention. Since his childhood, Snape had a very close relationship with Lily, a muggle child who also went to Hogwarts. Although he had fallen for her, they went their separate ways after she was chosen for Gryffindor and he was put into Slytherin. As a result, she fell in love with James Potter and they would eventually have a son, who is of course, Harry. Despite this, in memory of the love of his life, he decided to protect Harry from all the evil forces he faced.
7 'Sweeney Todd' and other Tim Burton projects
Rickman has also worked with Tim Burton on numerous. For example he was the voice of Absolem the caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass' and, of course, played Juez Turpin in 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'. In this film, Rickman returns to play the bad guy, whilst Johnny Depp plays the barber Sweeney Todd. It is a film for those who enjoy musicals or those who admire the dark style of the charismatic director.
8 Rickman the director
His career didn't just revolve around acting, as he also went behind the camera a few times to try his hand at some directing. The first time he gave it a go was in 1997, for the film 'The Winter Guest', a film he directed which had a cast including the likes of Sean Biggerstaff and Emma Thompson. Years later, in 2014, he released 'A Little Chaos', a film set in Modern Age France where Rickman himself played King Luis XIV. The film also includes well known names in the form of Kate Winslet and Stanley Tucci.