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| Birth Name(s) : Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman |
Date of Birth: February 21, 1946 |
| Status:
Dating
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Partner:
Rima Horton |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Alan Rickman Biography
| He was born to Irish and Welsh parents in 1946. He attended the the Royal College of Art; he wanted to be a graphic artist. At age 26 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he spent 3 years. Started out in the theatrical version of "Dangerous Liaisons" His first major film was Die Hard (1988) where he was cast as Hans Gruber. |
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Additional Alan Rickman Biography
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (born February 21, 1946) is an acclaimed, award-winning English film, television and stage actor.
Rickman was born in Hammersmith, London to a working-class family. His father, Bernard Rickman, was an Irish Catholic factory worker, and his mother, Margaret Doreen Rose (née Bartlett), was a Methodist Welsh homemaker. His father died when Rickman was eight, leaving his mother to raise their four children mostly alone. She married again, but divorced his stepfather after three years. "There was one love in her life". After graduating from Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, Rickman attended Chelsea College of Art and made his way as a graphic artist in Soho. He received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) which he attended from 1972–1974. While there, he won the Emile Littler Prize, the Forbes Robertson Prize, and the Bancroft Gold Medal. Since then, he has been a constant presence on the British stage.
"You can act truthfully or you can lie. You can reveal things about yourself or you can hide. Therefore, the audience recognises something about themselves or they don't—You hope they don't leave the theatre thinking 'that was nice...now where's the cab?'"
Rickman has also demonstrated considerable talent as a comedy actor in films such as Galaxy Quest, Dogma, and Love Actually. He won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his performance as Rasputin in 1996, and was also nominated for an Emmy for his work as Dr. Alfred Blalock in 2004's Something the Lord Made. He also plays a crucial role in the Harry Potter films as the Potions professor Severus Snape. Rickman was cast in 2005 as the voice of Marvin in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film. Coincidentally, Rickman and David Learner, who occupied Marvin's costume for the TV adaptation and stage shows, studied together at RADA. He was very busy in 2006 with Snow Cake (with Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss) which had its debut at the Berlinale, and also Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (with Dustin Hoffman), directed by Tom Tykwer.Alan Rickman as Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
His previous stage performance was as Mark Antony, opposite Helen Mirren as Cleopatra, in the Royal National Theatre's production of Antony and Cleopatra at the Olivier Theatre in London, which ran from October 20th to December 3rd, 1998. Before that, he performed in Yukio Ninagawa's Tango at the End of Winter in London's West End and the Riverside Studio production of Hamlet in 1991, directed by Robert Sturua. He directed The Winter Guest at London's Almeida Theatre in 1995. He also directed the film version in 1996 starring Emma Thompson and her real life mother Phyllida Law.
Rickman has also been featured in several musical works—most notably in a song composed by the English songwriter Adam Leonard. Moreover, the actor played a "Master of Ceremonies" part in announcing the various instruments in Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells II on the track "The Bell". Mr. Rickman was also one of the many artists who recited Shakespearian sonnets on the 2002-released When Love Speaks CD, and is also featured prominently in a Texas music-video entitled "In Demand", which premiered on Europe MTV in August 2000. In the video Sharleen Spiteri (the lead singer of Texas) danced the tango with Alan: the clip was nominated for Best British Video at the Brit Awards. Sharleen said about the choice of Alan for the clip ; "I thought it had to be someone who would be believable, who would rip your coat off and pull you into the tango, so I thought Alan Rickman!"
My Name Is Rachel Corrie played at the West End's Playhouse Theatre in London from March to May 2006. The play also ran at both the Galway Arts Festival and the Edinburgh Fesitval in 2006.
In 1995 Alan turned down the role of Alec Trevelyan in the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye, more than likely as a rule of staying away from villain roles. Rickman continues to show dismay over journalists repeatedly labeling him as a villain actor, citing the fact that he has not portrayed a stock villain character since the Sheriff of Nottingham in 1991, and pointing out that he has continued to portray characters of complex and varying emotions, and does not think it is fair to assign characters a label of good or evil, hero or villain. The media has also dogged him in recent years for his thoughts on his role in the Harry Potter series, an irritation to him as he feels the press are too interested in Snape to pay attention to his other work. However, he is very much admired by his Harry Potter fans for the protection he has shown for his character in the series, as he continues to cite a fear of ruining the mystery of the character for the fans by talking about him. It is known that prior to the book release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Rickman had spoken on occasion about Snape quite easily, but with the controversy of the character following the events of the sixth book, Rickman refused to speak on the character anymore.
Rickman has been with his partner, Rima Horton, for over forty years, since the two attended Chelsea School of Art together. A former Labour Party candidate for the British parliament, as of 2006 Horton was an economics lecturer at Kingston University. |
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Alan Rickman Quote(s)
| I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously. |
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