Magnificent Actor Alan Rickman Passes Away, Harry Potter Stars Pay Tribute
An acting legend is no longer with us. The great Alan Rickman passed away at 69.
Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Sense and Sensibility, Dogma, Galaxy Quest, the entire Harry Potter franchise, Love Actually, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And that was just a portion of his film work.
Rickman’s career spanned decades and as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company he performed in productions which garnered him Tony Awards, among other achievements. Surprisingly, he was never nominated for an Oscar.
The Guardian writes of his life:
Rickman remained politically active throughout his life: he was born, he said, “a card-carrying member of the Labour party”, and was highly involved with charities including Saving Faces and the International Performers’ Aid Trust, which seeks to help artists in developing and poverty-stricken countries.
Rickman publicly spoke of his unhappiness about the “Hollywood ending” of 1996 film Michael Collins, a historical biopic of the Irish civil war, in which he portrayed Éamon de Valera, and expressed his belief that art ought to help educate as well as entertain. “Talent is an accident of genes, and a responsibility,” he once said.
He and his wife, Rima Horton, met when they were still teenagers; she became an economics lecturer as well as a Labour party councillor. In 2012, the pair married, having been together since 1965.
They say he passed away after being diagnosed with cancer and was “surrounded by family and friends.”
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who specifically chose Rickman to play Professor Snape tweeted took to Twitter to express her condolences. “There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman’s death. He was a magnificent actor & a wonderful man,” she wrote and added, “My thoughts are with Rima and the rest of Alan’s family. We have all lost a great talent. They have lost part of their hearts.”
Jason Isaacs, aka Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter films, had this to say:
Heartbreaking news about lovely Alan. Nobody else could be as hilarious, tragic, terrifying & truthful all at the same time #RIPAlanRickman
— Jason Isaacs (@jasonsfolly) January 14, 2016
Emma Thompson, who starred with Rickman in several films and considered him a dear friend, passed along this statement to news outlets:
Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye.
What I remember most in this moment of painful leave-taking is his humor, intelligence, wisdom and kindness. His capacity to fell you with a look or lift you with a word. The intransigence which made him the great artist he was—his ineffable and cynical wit, the clarity with which he saw most things, including me, and the fact that he never spared me the view. I learned a lot from him.
Emma Watson posted on Facebook, “I’m very sad to hear about Alan today. I feel so lucky to have worked and spent time with such a special man and actor. I’ll really miss our conversations. RIP Alan. We love you.”
Matthew Lewis posted a photo of himself and Rickman on Instagram and wrote, “He inspired my career more than he ever knew and I’ll miss him.”
A photo posted by Matthew Lewis (@realmattdavelewis) on
Daniel Radcliffe posted a longer message on Google + writing in part, “As an actor he was one of the first of the adults on Potter to treat me like a peer rather than a child. Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important and I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career. Film sets and theatre stages are all far poorer for the loss of this great actor and man.”
So sad. Two 69-year-old awesome British guys gone in one week. They say celebrity deaths come in threes–I’d be worried if I was Elton John or Tim Curry right about now… :(
Two losses of great artists so close to each-other, and by such similar circumstances.
Truly this is a dark week.
:(