For an actor who has played someone of the world’s most well-known big-screen villains, you won’t hear a bad word from anyone about Alan Rickman.
The man who brought to life Professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter, played terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard, and raised the ire of women everywhere as unfaithful hubby Harry in Love Actually, was in reality one of the most respected artists among his colleagues.
Celebrities and fans around the globe have today taken to social media to mourn Alan, who died after a battle with cancer.
Alan Rickman has sadly died of cancer
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling led the tributes, tweeting, “There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman’s death. He was a magnificent actor and a wonderful man.”
Alan, whose death has been confirmed by his agent in the same week that the entertainment industry is grieving David Bowie’s death, has left behind his long-time love, Rima Horton.
The couple met when they were 18 and married in a private ceremony 47 years later in New York in 2012.
Actress Emma Thompson, who starred with Alan as his on-screen wife in Love Actually, along with performing together in the Harry Potter movies, Sense and Sensibility and Judas Kiss, has penned a beautiful memorial to her friend.
Alan pictured in 2015, at one of his final public appearances.
“This was so hard to write because I just kissed him goodbye,” she begins, in a statement shared by her manager.
“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.
“He was the finest of actors and directors. I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do with his face next…”
“He was the ultimate ally. In life, art and politics. I trusted him absolutely. He was, above all things, a rare and unique human being and we shall not see his like again.”
Alan as Professor Snape, sharing the screen with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter.
The younger generation will remember Alan as Harry Potter’s fearsome Professor Snape, a Hogwarts professor whose clashes with Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry were the stuff of legends.
Of his close bond with Alan, Daniel says, “I’m pretty sure Alan came and saw everything I ever did on stage in both London and New York [post-Potter]. He didn’t have to do that.
“I know people who have been friends with Alan for much longer than I have and all they say is, ‘If you call Alan, it doesn’t matter where in the world he is or how busy he is, he’ll get back to you within a day.”
“People create perceptions of actors based on the parts they play so it might surprise people to learn that contrary to the sterner (or downright scary) characters he played, Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and funny. As an actor he was one of the first adults on set to treat me like a peer rather than a child.
“Film sets and theatre stages are far poorer for the loss of this man.”
The iconic tribute scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is taking over Twitter.
Meanwhile, fans on Twitter are mourning the loss by posting the iconic scene in *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince** in which Hogwarts finds out the beloved principal Albus Dumbledore has died.
The students and faculty raise their lit wands to the sky. A fitting tribute for an inspirational man.
RIP, Alan Rickman
