Alan Rickman dies at 69

Alan Rickman introducing A Little Chaos at Glasgow Film Festival Photo: Eoin Carey

British actor Alan Rickman has died in London, aged 69. He had been suffering from cancer. The much-loved star began his career on stage and television before going on to create a number of memorable characters on screen.

He particularly became known for his ability to play bad guys, with roles including Hans Gruber in Die Hard, the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves - for which he won a supporting actor BAFTA - and Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films. Many of his villainous roles also allowed him to display his comic timing, a skill that also led him to provide the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and mock his own RADA Shakespearean training in 1999 space spoof Galaxy Quest.

He was far from typecast, however, easily slipping into the role of leading man in films such as Anthony Minghella's supernatural love story Truly, Madly, Deeply and Emma Thompson's Sense And Sensibility.

Alan Rickman, who has died, aged 69 Photo: Max Crawford

In 1997, it was his turn to direct Thompson in his acclaimed Scottish debut The Winter Guest. Last year, he returned to the director's chair for period romance A Little Chaos – co-starring Kate Winslet, which made him the star guest at Glasgow Film Festival. Speaking to us on the film's red carpet in New York, he said: "One of the things that film can do, I discovered, is to take fantasy and reality and put them together so that you see history through a slightly different prism."

The London-born was never nominated for an Oscar but he did take home a Golden Globe for his performance of Rasputin the 1996 HBO biopic of the same name.

He is still to be seen in upcoming drone warfare thriller Eye In The Sky and provides the voice of the Blue Caterpillar in Alice Through The Looking Glass, which is set for release later this year.

Stars paid tribute to the actor yesterday.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe wrote on Google+: "Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with. He is also, one of the loyalest and most supportive people I've ever met in the film industry. He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post-Potter. I'm pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York. He didn't have to do that. I know other people who've been friends with him for much much longer than I have and they all say, 'If you call Alan, it doesn't matter where in the world he is or how busy he is with what he's doing, he'll get back to you within a day".

His sentiments were echoed by actress Emily Hampshire, who worked with him on Snow Cake. She wrote on Facebook: "Alan was not only a great actor but a loyal, generous and devoted friend. We met in 2005 and he remained a friend and mentor till the end. I never understood why he was so good to me - he'd come to my movie premieres, invite me to his, call regularly just to check in/chat!??... but i ultimately realised that that is just who Alan was. That great a guy."

Rickman is survived by wife Rima Horton.