Alan Rickman dies …. One of Britain’s best loved actors has succumbed to cancer at the age of 69. However, owing to his roles in Die Hard and that of Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, Rickman’s loss will be felt worldwide.
The week just keeps getting tougher with the passing of Alan Rickman
To compare David Bowie to Alan Rickman is like trying to compare exquisitely prepared sushi to a warm-summer’s breeze. I happen to love them both and the loss of each is something that won’t be forgotten any time soon. Both however, were both brilliant British talents that were taken from us in a single week at the age of 69 by that bastard, bastard, bastard cancer.
Rickman’s work on stage made him one of Britain’s greats, but let’s face it he was equally fantastic on the screen where he delighted as the Teutonic criminal mastermind Hans Gruber in “Die Hard” but perhaps even outshone that portrayed villainy with his role as the Sheriff of Nottingham in “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”
While I’ve not seen a single installment of the Harry Potter films, I see them in my future as his role as Professor Snape is where he gained worldwide fame.
Now, I’m stuck wondering if the annual Love Actually/Die Hard Christmas double feature will become a sad affair or a celebration next year.
Enough about me, let’s hear from Alan Rickman’s friends
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has every right to lead the tributes, describing him as “a magnificent actor and a wonderful man”.
On Twitter she said, “There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman’s death.” Later adding, “My thoughts are with Rima (Rickman’s wife) and the rest of Alan’s family. We have all lost a great talent. They have lost part of their hearts.”
Rickman and Rima Horton were secretly married last year and had been together for 50 years, Mr. Rickman recently acknowledged.
“Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye, wrote Emma Thompson in a statement. Ms. Thompson played the wife of Rickman in “Love Actually” and starred for him in “The Winter Guest,” Rickman’s directorial debut.
Her statement continued:
“What I remember most in this moment of painful leave-taking is his humour, intelligence, wisdom and kindness.
“His capacity to fell you with a look or lift you with a word. The intransigence which made him the great artist he was – his ineffable and cynical wit, the clarity with which he saw most things, including me, and the fact that he never spared me the view. I learned a lot from him.”
She added: “He was, above all things, a rare and unique human being and we shall not see his like again.”
The tributes are too numerous to continue but they are certain to continue.
Alan Rickman’s brilliant stage career
The London-born Rickman loved the stage and despite the big screen success he enjoyed he never stopped hitting the boards.
His work with the Royal Shakespeare Company by all accounts was incredible and conjured up thoughts of such greats as Sir Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole, and Richard Harris.
He received his first of two Tony Award nominations for is Broadway work in 1986 as the beguiling seducer the Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Whether in London or New York, Rickman was never far from the stage despite the shooting schedule dictated by his film career.
He earned his second, and (now) last, Tony nomination, when he appeared on Broadway after reviving a role he played in London opposite Lindsay Duncan in Private Lives (2002).
You will be missed Mr. Rickman, continue the villainy in peace.
