A distinguished British stage actor born in London's Hammersmith district,
Alan Rickman won a scholarship to West London's Latymer Upper School
before studying graphic design at the Royal College of Art. At the age
of twenty-six he abandoned a career as a graphic designer, deciding
his heart lay in acting, and duly attended Royal Academy of Dramatic
Art for three years. After leaving RADA, Rickman joined the Royal Shakespeare
Company. He began to make his name on the stage, playing a wide range
of regional, then later, national theatre roles throughout the 1980s.
In 1988, Rickman made his film debut as the evil German uber-terrorist
Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988).
Success came again when he was cast in another villainous role, as
the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves
(1991), confirming his talent for playing the sardonic villain. But
Rickman has avoided being typecast; displaying a sensitive side as Juliet
Stevenson's ghostly lover in Anthony
Minghella's Truly,
Madly, Deeply (1991). He turned in further diverse performances
when cast as the chivalrous Colonel Brandon in Ang Lee's Sense
and Sensibility (1995), and Eamon De Valera in Neil
Jordan's biopic Michael Collins (1996). In 1997, he branched out
into directing, making his debut with The Winter Guest (1997). Rickman
even proved he could send himself up when cast as the Shakespearian
thespian in sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest (1999). The Harry Potter franchise
occupies Rickman presently, with appearances as Professor Severus Snape
in Harry Potter
And The Philosopher's Stone (2001), and the forthcoming Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).
