Rickman, who acted on stage as well as on the big screen in a career spanning 40 years, was known for such films as “Die Hard”, “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”, and the Harry Potter series, in which he portrayed good-hearted villain Severus Snape.
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‘The actor and director Alan Rickman has died from cancer at the age of 69. According to The Guardian, the 69-year old died at his home in London “surrounded by family and friends”.
The Harry Potter cast also paid homage to Rickman and posted their sentiments through their respective social media accounts Thursday night.
Unlike the villainous characters that Rickman played, such as Severus Snape and Hans Gruber, Radcliffe wrote that “Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and amusing”.
“Oh, it’s going to be one of those articles is it?” he said when the “V” word came up while I was interviewing him for a 2011 New York Times profile. Rickman delivered his lines with coolness and disdain and didn’t take any baloney from those young wizards and witches, doling out plenty of head-slaps to both Harry and pal Ron Weasley. “He was a magnificent actor (and) a wonderful man”, Rowling tweeted. “I know other people who’ve been friends with him for much much longer than I have and they all say “if you call Alan, it doesn’t matter where in the world he is or how busy he is with what he’s doing, he’ll get back to you within a day”. It is reported that Rickman had been suffering from cancer and his death was confirmed today by family. I learned a lot from him.
“His sheriff was a gloriously nasty character who it was easy to love to hate and who he appeared to have great fun playing”, Saghir said. A man of such talent, wicked charm and stunning screen & stage presence.
Alan Rickman smiles during a news conference to promote Snow Cake at the 56th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin February 9, 2006. “He will be sorely missed”. But that, after all, is what makes a great actor.
Radcliffe also reflects on his time working with Rickman. The comedian Eddie Izzard said he had lost another hero, writing: “I do not want my heroes to die!” Nobody could have played Snape better and it’s a loss that will be hard to recover from.
But what we loved to love about Rickman onscreen and onstage was his air of withering superiority – those arched eyebrows, that disdainful hint of a sneer, the penetrating gaze that suffered no fool, and most of all, the deep, slinky snarl of that voice.
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He Wednesday his partner of 50 years, economics lecturer and Labour councillor Rima Horton, in a quiet ceremony in 2012.
