RIP Alan Rickman
The Guardian- Alan Rickman, one of the best-loved and most warmly admired British actors of the past 30 years, has died in London aged 69. His death was confirmed on Thursday by his family who said that he died “surrounded by family and friends”. Rickman had been suffering from cancer.
A star whose arch features and languid diction were recognisable across the generations, Rickman found a fresh legion of fans with his role as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films. But the actor had been a big-screen staple since first shooting to global acclaim in 1988, when he starred as Hans Gruber, Bruce Willis’s sardonic, dastardly adversary in Die Hard – a part he was offered two days after arriving in Los Angeles, aged 41.
Gruber was the first of three memorable baddies played by Rickman: he was an outrageous sheriff of Nottingham in 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, as well as a terrifying Rasputin in an acclaimed 1995 HBO film.
Brutal start to today after hearing Alan Rickman passed away. In my opinion, Hans Gruber is the greatest movie villain of all-time. Cold, calculating, funny, and dressed to the nines (John Phillips, London). And that voice was made to be a bad guy’s voice in a film. Crazy how he got the role of Hans Gruber after two days in L.A. Talk about perfect timing for him and the millions of Die Hard fans. God (and the casting director) got it right when they allowed that to happen because Alan Rickman was simply the #GOAT.
Obviously fans of the Harry Potter movies see him as Snape, another Hall of Fame character. And then you add in his criminally underrated role as Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Price of Thieves and you realize that a lot of people lost a staple from their childhoods today. And as always, FUCK CANCER.
So lets go back down Memory Lane and look at some of Rickman’s best work. Happy trails, Hans.
