Acting · Acton, London, England, UK · Born February 21, 1946
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (February 21, 1946 – January 14, 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), performing in modern and classical theatre productions. He played the Vicomte de Valmont in the RSC stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985, and after the production transferred to the West End in 1986 and Broadway in 1987, he was nominated for a Tony Award. Rickman's first cinema role came when he was cast as the German terrorist leader Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). He also appeared as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), for which he received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Elliott Marston in Quigley Down Under (1990); Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991); Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility (1995); Eamon DeValera in Michael Collins (1997); Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest (1999); Metatron in Dogma (1999); Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series (2001–2011); Harry in Love Actually (2003); Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005); and Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Rickman made his television acting debut playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1978) as part of the BBC's Shakespeare series. His breakthrough role was in the BBC television adaptation of The Barchester Chronicles (1982). He later starred in television films, playing the title character in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996), which won him a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and Alfred Blalock in Something the Lord Made (2004). Rickman died of pancreatic cancer on 14 January 2016 at age 69. His final film roles were as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky (2015), and reprising his role as the voice of the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland (2010) in Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).
MovieHere We Are Kings: The Making of 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'
2022
as Self (archive footage)
TVThe Movies That Made Us
2019
as Hans Gruber (archive footage)
MovieAlice Through the Looking Glass
2016
as Absolem / Caterpillar (voice)
MovieEye in the Sky
2015
as Lieutenant General Frank Benson
MovieA Little Chaos
2015
as King Louis XIV
MovieRichard Attenborough: A Life in Film
2014
as Self
MovieDust
2013
as Todd
MovieCBGB
2013
as Hilly Kristal
MovieMuse of Fire
2013
as Self
MovieA Promise
2013
as Karl Hoffmeister
MovieThe Butler
2013
as Ronald Reagan
MovieFalls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard
2012
as Self
MovieBAM150
2012
as Self
MovieGambit
2012
as Lionel Shahbandar
MovieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011
as Severus Snape
MovieThe Boy in the Bubble
2011
as The Storyteller (voice)
MoviePortraits in Dramatic Time
2011
MovieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
as Severus Snape
MovieThe Song of Lunch
2010
as He
MovieThe Wildest Dream
2010
as Noel Odell (voice)
MovieAlice in Wonderland
2010
as Absolem / Caterpillar (voice)
MovieHarold Pinter: A Celebration
2010
as Self
MovieSonnet Number 12
2009
as (voice)
TVCreating the Wizarding World - Behind the Scenes of Harry Potter
2009
as Severus Snape
MovieHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2009
as Severus Snape
MovieBottle Shock
2008
as Steven Spurrier
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Burton + Carter + Depp = Todd
2008
as Self
MovieSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2007
as Judge Turpin
MovieHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
as Severus Snape
MovieNobel Son
2007
as Eli Michaelson
MoviePerfume: The Story of a Murderer
2006
as Richis
MovieSnow Cake
2006
as Alex Hughes
MovieHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2005
as Severus Snape
MovieThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005
as Marvin (voice)
MovieUnforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
2004
as Other Voices (voice)
MovieThe Magic Touch of Harry Potter
2004
as Self
MovieHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004
as Severus Snape
MovieSomething the Lord Made
2004
as Dr. Alfred Blalock
MovieLove Actually
2003
as Harry
MovieCheck the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film
2003
as Self - M
MovieHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2002
as Severus Snape
MovieJudge Not: In Defense of Dogma
2002
as Self
MovieHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2001
as Severus Snape
MovieThe Search for John Gissing
2001
as John Gissing
MoviePlay
2001
as Man
MovieBlow Dry
2001
as Phil Allen
MovieVictoria Wood with All the Trimmings
2000
as Captain George Fallon
MovieBabitsky's War
2000
as Narrator
MovieDark Harbor
1999
as David Weinberg
MovieGalaxy Quest
1999
as Alexander Dane
MovieDogma
1999
as Metatron
TVThe Directors
1999
as Self
MovieJudas Kiss
1998
as Detective David Friedman
MovieThe Winter Guest
1997
as Man in street
TVKing of the Hill
1997
as King Philip (voice)
MovieMichael Collins
1996
as Eamon de Valera
MovieRasputin
1996
as Grigori Rasputin
MovieLumière & Company
1995
as (segment "John Boorman")
MovieSense and Sensibility
1995
as Colonel Christopher Brandon
MovieDie Hard: With a Vengeance
1995
as Hans Gruber (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieAn Awfully Big Adventure
1995
as P.L. O'Hara
MovieMesmer
1994
as Franz Anton Mesmer
TVLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest
TVFallen Angels
1993
as Dwight Billings
MovieVictoria Wood's All Day Breakfast
1992
MovieBob Roberts
1992
as Lukas Hart III
MovieClose My Eyes
1991
as Sinclair
MovieRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1991
as Sheriff of Nottingham
MovieRobin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie
1991
as Self
MovieTruly Madly Deeply
1991
as Jamie
MovieCloset Land
1991
as Interrogator
MovieQuigley Down Under
1990
as Elliott Marston
MovieRevolutionary Witness
1989
as Jacques Roux
MovieThe Spirit of Man
1989
as Israel Yates
Movie7 Deadly Sins: Stage Acting
1989
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe January Man
1989
as Ed
Benefactors
1989
MovieDie Hard
1988
as Hans Gruber
TVScreenPlay
1986
as Israel Yates
TVGirls On Top
1985
as Dimitri / Voice of RADA(voice)
MoviePity in History
1985
as Croop
MovieWetherby
1985
as TV Commentator (archival footage)
MovieBusted
1983
as Simon
TVThe Barchester Chronicles
1982
as Obadiah Slope
TVSmiley's People
1982
as Mr Brownlow
TVTherese Raquin
1980
as Vidal
TVShelley
1979
MovieRomeo and Juliet
1978
as Tybalt
TVThe BBC Television Shakespeare
1978
as Tybalt
TVThe Hollywood Greats
1977
TVTony Awards
1956
as Self - Nominee / Performer
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Presenter
