Alan Rickman

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was an English actor, who, for Disney, he voiced Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Absolem (the Caterpillar) alongside Timothy Spall in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. Through the Looking Glass was his final film and was dedicated to him.

Rickman was born in the Acton district of London and studied at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) from 1972 to 1974. While there, he supported himself by working as a dresser for Nigel Hawthorne and Ralph Richardson. Upon graduation, Rickman worked extensively with British repertory and experimental theatre groups in productions including The Seagull, The Grass Widow, Romeo and Juliet, A View from the Bridge, As You Like It, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses which earned him a Tony Award nomination.

In 1988, Rickman gained international attention as the antagonist Hans Gruber in the action thriller Die Hard in what was his first feature film. He would played villainous or emotionally reserved characters such as Grigori Rasputin in the 1996 HBO film Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility, and the angel Metatron in Dogma, Joe the Pilot Fish in Denmark's 2000 animated film Help! I'm a Fish, the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest. His most widely recognized role is Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films based on the book series by J.K. Rowling.

Throughout 2005, Rickman received treatment for an aggressive form of prostate cancer with treatment that coincided with his debate to return to the role of Snap in Harry Potter. He ultimately decided to remain apart of the franchise to its conclusion. Rickman remained cancer free until a stroke led to his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in August 2015. He died on January 14, 2016 and was cremated.