Whether it was as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, his role as the villain Hans Gruber in Die Hard, or any one of his collaborations with Emma Thompson, like in Love, Actually, chances are you have a favorite performance by Alan Rickman. That's what makes today's news so sad, as it is being reported he has died at the age of 69. He had been suffering from cancer for some time.
A titan of the screen and stage, Rickman's big screen career took off in 1988 when he took on Bruce Willis in Die Hard. He would go on to play a number of memorable villains throughout his career, including in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But he was also known for more jovial, light-hearted characters, such as his performance as the Metatron in Kevin Smith's Dogma, and who could forget him in the sci-fi spoof, Galaxy Quest?
Rickman made his directorial debut with 1997's The Winter Guest, and had only just returned behind the camera for A Little Chaos, the period drama starring Kate Winslet. He recently played Ronald Reagan in Lee Daniels' The Butler, and will be seen next in Eye in the Sky, a drone warfare drama starring Helen Mirren.
