British Stage & Screen Favorite Alan Rickman Dead at 69

Alan Rickman, the much-loved British star of stage and screen, died in London on January 14, surrounded by family and friends. The two-time Tony nominee was 69 years old. According to the BBC, Rickman had been suffering from cancer.

Rickman’s breakthrough role occurred in the theater, with Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and he was nominated for a 1987 Tony for his role of Valmont. Born in Acton, London, on February 21, 1946, he trained at RADA. After first working as a dresser for such names as Nigel Hawthorne, he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare company.

Additional memorable stage performances included Mark Antony alongside Helen Mirren’s Cleopatra at the Olivier Theatre in London, the titular role in Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin with his Liaisons co-star Lindsay Duncan, and Private Lives, again opposite Duncan, in both the West End and on Broadway, for which he received his second Tony nod. Rickman’s final performance on the Great White Way was 2011’s Seminar.

Perhaps best known for his appearances as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, Rickman won his first big film role after being spotted on Broadway in Liaisons; his scathing and deadly Hans Gruber opposite Bruce Willis in 1988’s Die Hard. His other notable bad-guys included the sheriff of Nottingham in 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and HBO’s Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, which won him a Golden Globe and an Emmy.

A frequent co-star of Emma Thompson, Rickman's collaborations with the Oscar winner included Sense and Sensibility, Love, Actually and the BBC’s The Song of Lunch, as well as the Harry Potter franchise. He made his film directorial debut helming The Winter Guest, which featured Thompson and her mother Phyllida Law. Additional screen credits included Sweeney Todd, Truly, Madly, Deeply, A Little Chaos, Gambit, The Butler and the upcoming Eye in the Sky.

Politically active and a life-long member of the U.K.’s Labour Party, in 2005, Rickman helmed My Name is Rachel Corrie, a play about a student who was killed by a bulldozer while protesting against the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip. He supported many charities including the International Performers’ Aid Trust and Saving Faces.

Rickman is survived by his wife, Rima Horton, who he met in 1965 when they were both teenagers. They married in 2012 in New York City.