To at least two generations of young filmgoers, the imposing Mr. Rickman was Severus Snape, the filmic embodiment of the most ambiguous, complex and frightening of young wizard Harry Potter (played by Radcliffe). His 6-foot-1 frame draped in black and his head crowned with a lank mop of inky, Oscar Wilde-ish hair, he bedeviled Potter鈥檚 ambitions and expectations through eight blockbuster films. That Snape emerged at the end as a pivotal and sympathetic figure was a testament to Mr. Rickman鈥檚 considerable gifts as an actor, that he was able to convey subtleties of characterization even while engulfed in a sea of special effects.
鈥淪nape's a great double agent,鈥� he said at the release of the final film, 鈥渁lthough you don't get to see that side of him until late.鈥�
That talent was also on display in his breakout role in movies as the sophisticated German terrorist Hans Gruber in the 1988 action thriller 鈥淒ie Hard.鈥� With cold-blooded polish (and, in one shape-shifting scene, a nifty American accent), Mr. Rickman squared off against the New York cop played by Willis as the two battled for control of a skyscraper the Germans had seized. Hollywood took note and Mr. Rickman was soon a busy man, hired to play baddies of various time periods, such as 鈥淩obin Hood: Prince of Thieves鈥� (as the Sheriff of Nottingham, in which he bellowed to 鈥淐all off Christmas!鈥�), and in the title role in an HBO movie of 鈥淩asputin.鈥�
But he also illustrated his more sensitive side, playing a tender-hearted and faithful Baron in 1995鈥檚 鈥淪ense and Sensibility.鈥� In 鈥淭ruly, Madly, Deeply,鈥� a 1990 love-ghost story, Rickman鈥檚 characters dies and comes back as a spirit to resume their relationship.
But he remained best known for his skill in rendering libertines, villains and antagonists into complicated, sympathetic figure. That ability was powerfully on exhibit early in his career when he created the role of the Vicomte de Valmont in the play Les Liasons Dangereuses. 鈥檚 adaptation of French novelist Pierre Choderlos de Laclos鈥檚 book of the same name told of two decedent French aristocrats who play as love games. Valmont bets that he can seduce a virtuous married lady, but ends up falling in love himself and inviting his spiritual and corporeal doom.
The show was staged by in 1985 and made a star out of Rickman and his co-star, . In 1986, the play transferred to the West End. The following year, he traveled with the play to Broadway and received a Tony and Drama Desk nomination.
鈥淕ive me any straight play 鈥� it should have a lot of laughs in it,鈥� Mr. Rickman told 半岛体育.com in 2011, explaining his layered view of acting. 鈥淚 remember the laughs in Hamlet when I did that. There were plenty in that, and is, of course, incredibly funny. That house was rocking with laughter, even though, as you say, it was ultimately a drama.鈥�
Fifteen years after Les Liaisons, Rickman and Duncan teamed up again as a different pair of romantic combatants, Amanda and Elyot in an acclaimed West End and Broadway revival of 鈥檚 . The production was a hit and he was again nominated for a Tony and Drama Desk Award. His third and final Broadway appearance was as an imperious, but vulnerable fiction teacher in 鈥檚 drama in 2011.
Though his visits to the New York stage were few, he was a more regular presence in the London theatre scene. He directed The Winter Guest at the Almeida Theatre in 1995. He played Marc Antony opposite in Cleopatra at the in 1998. In 2010, he was back with Duncan in Ibsen鈥檚 John Gabriel Borkman at in Dublin. That production traveled to in Brooklyn. He also directed Strindberg鈥檚 Creditors at BAM.
He also turned playwright when he directed his own work My Name Is Rachel Corrie, about the American student whose death at the Gaza Strip was a cause of controversy, at the Royal Court. The play was also produced Off-Broadway and subsequently staged at many theatres.
Nevertheless, following the success of 鈥淒ie Hard,鈥� and even moreso after the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� juggernaut, it was film that occupied most of Mr. Rickman鈥檚 time. His 21st-century assignments included the romantic comedy 鈥淟ove Actually,鈥� Tim Burton鈥檚 film version of the musical 鈥淪weeney Todd,鈥� in which he played the evil Judge Turpin, Burton鈥檚 鈥淎lice in Wonderland,鈥� in which he was the voice of the caterpillar, 鈥淏ottle Shock,鈥� and 鈥淎 Little Chaos,鈥� set in King Louis XIV鈥檚 France, which he also directed.
Alan Rickman was born Feb. 12, 1945, in Acton, London. His family was working class, his mother a housewife, his father鈥攚ho died when Rickman was eight鈥攁 factory worker. The Rickman children grew up to be a talented brood. Alan鈥檚 brothers became a graphic designer and tennis coach, and Alan himself discovered an affinity for calligraphy and painting. He attended art school, which led to graphic designer work at a newspaper. He formed a graphic design studio with several friends and found success, but abandoned it after three years to pursue acting.
He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he won several prizes for his work. To support himself, he was a dresser for and . In the late 鈥�70s, he began acting professionally on stage, doing the works of Chekhov and Shakespeare at regional and repertory houses. Eventually, he hooked up with the RSC.
Mr. Rickman鈥檚 private life was steady. He met his partner, Rima Horton, when he was 19, and they remained together until his death. They married in private in 2012. She survives him.
