Alan Rickman died on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 14, surrounded by friends and family, in London. The British-born actor lost his bout with cancer. Rickman was a seasoned actor, both on-stage as well as on-screen. Most people our age will remember him as Snape from Harry Potter, the pale Englishman clad in all black who has a disdain for the four-eyed wizard. Others might know him as Hans Gruber, the antagonist from Die Hard, a movie I still have yet to see. I, however, knew him from Love Actually, one of my favorite movies, sadly.
Rickman was a decorated actor, having won a multitude of prestigious awards, including a Golden Globe as well as a Primetime Emmy for his work in Rasputin (1996). Yet, just like Leo, he was snubbed countless times when it came to winning an Oscar. Does this lessen his acting resume? Not in the slightest. Many great actors and actresses have been snubbed; it is a game of politics.
The game of politics was not something that was unfamiliar to Rickman. He was a big supporter of the British Labour party. His longtime partner, Rima Horton, was an economist as well as a Labour politician.
Rickman always preferred his privacy and never liked to talk about his religious views. His mother was a Welsh Methodist and his father an Irish Catholic. Even when he married his longtime girlfriend, he kept it a secret. When he married Rima Horton, there was no one in attendance at the wedding. According to Bild newspaper, a German publication, Rickman said, "It was great because no one was there. After the wedding in New York, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and ate lunch."
Alan Rickman never fathered a son or daughter, but that doesn't mean he wasn't seen in the light of a father; a provider and a protector. Rickman was involved in several charities, one of which was the British charity called Saving Faces. This charity in London's mission is to advance research in the field of facial diseases. He was also the honorary president of the International Performer's Aid Trust, which worked to alleviate poverty around the world.
Rickman was one of the greats; a man of depth and compassion. He was a pioneer in the acting world and he will be missed. Rickman covered a lot of ground during his short life. I don't know why, but I sometimes think of Alexander the Great when I think of Rickman. Maybe it was because of his great number of conquests on the screen, or perhaps it was because of what Hans Gruber said in Die hard. Whatever the case, I feel that it is only right to commemorate the late Alan Rickman with one of his most memorable quotes on the screen.
"And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer."
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman, a villain on-screen and a gentleman off.
