What an awful way to launch into this morning. What was supposed to be a morning of joy for the nominees, seems now rather pointless, as Alan Rickman has passed. And what now seems like an even more depressing bookend, is that somehow this tremendous actor was never nominated for an Academy Award. Despite his iconic work that will be remembered forever, he seems to have been perpetually snubbed by the Oscars. He’s a Golden Globe winner. An Emmy winner. A BAFTA winner. A SAG winner. But, no Oscar.
Rickman first burst onto the scene for mass audiences playing Hans Gruber in Die Hard in 1988. From there, the world was his oyster (as a villain). He would go on to play another iconic villain in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (where he won his BAFTA for playing the Sheriff of Nottingham), and Rasputin (where he won his Golden Globe, SAG, and Emmy). He boosted his resume with non-villain roles too, in Sense and Sensibility, Dogma, and Galaxy Quest, most notably. Finally, Rickman was offered the role that would permanently etch his likeness into the minds of every child in the world. Rickman became Professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, launching into an 8 movie franchise, and endearing himself to millions of fans.
He continued to do great work outside of the franchise, blowing me away with his roles in Love Actually, Something The Lord Made, and as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.
Rickman was also a director, having directed The Winter Guest in 1997, and more recently A Little Chaos. He still has two more upcoming films next year, Eye In The Sky with Helen Mirren, and Alice Through The Looking Glass next summer.
Alan Rickman passed away from cancer at the age of 69.
He will most definitely be missed.