Reports: Actor Alan Rickman dies of cancer
LONDON — Veteran actor Alan Rickman has died of cancer at the age of 69, according to media reports.
The Briton shot to global fame starring in films including Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Love Actually and Harry Potter.
The Guardian reported that his death was confirmed by his family Thursday.
A statement from his family said: "The actor and director Alan Rickman has died from cancer at the age of 69. He was surrounded by family and friends," the BBC reported.
Born Feb. 21, 1946 in West London, he studied graphic design at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, which led to work at the Notting Hill Herald newspaper, while trying to remain sensible and resist the unstable career prospects of a life as an actor.
Stars remember the magic of actor Alan Rickman
But he couldn't resist his true calling and began his acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978. His American breakthrough came onstage as well, with a 1987 Tony Award-nominated performance as Valmont in Les Liasons Dangereuses, a role later played by John Malkovich in the 1988 film. He made his movie mark in 1988's Diehard as Hans Gruber, the German terrorist who matched wits with Bruce Willis' vacationing cop.
In the 1990s, Rickman played roles ranging from the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves to Rasputin, picking up awards and acclaim along the way.
But to younger audiences, he will always be Severus Snape, Harry Potter's teacher at Hogwarts who morphed from villain to hero by the end of the eight-film saga. But not even Rickman was entirely in on the transformation plan. ""She gave me one tiny, little, left of field piece of information that helped me think that he was more complicated and that the story was not going to be as straight down the line as everybody thought," he told the movie site HitFix.com in 2011.
Upon learning of the actor's death, Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted, "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."
