Alan Rickman RIP

[vandermolen]

Was so sorry to hear this news today. He was a very fine actor and evidently very approachable and nice in real life. A friend of mine met him and said that he was absolutely charming. My favourite screen villain in 'Die Hard' as Hans Gruber and well known through Harry Potter etc. Same age as David Bowie:
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsuae/alan-rickman-british-actor-dies-aged-69/ar-BBobR08?ocid=binganswers

[(poco) Sforzando]

Was so sorry to hear this news today. He was a very fine actor and evidently very approachable and nice in real life. A friend of mine met him and said that he was absolutely charming. My favourite screen villain in 'Die Hard' as Hans Gruber and well known through Harry Potter etc. Same age as David Bowie:
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsuae/alan-rickman-british-actor-dies-aged-69/ar-BBobR08?ocid=binganswers

Only 69, which makes him just two years older than me! One wonders whether so many of these fine British actors (Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, Richard Griffiths, Maggie Smith also come to mind, though the last of these will also be remembered for Downton Abbey) are now best-known for being tapped as Harry Potter characters. If you want to see a very young Alan Rickman, look for his performance as Tybalt in the 1978 BBC-TV Romeo and Juliet.

[Brian]

Only 69, which makes him just two years older than me! One wonder whether so many of these fine British actors (Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, Richard Griffiths, Maggie Smith also come to mind, though the last of these will also be remembered for Downton Abbey) are now best-known for being tapped as Harry Potter characters. If you want to see a very young Alan Rickman, look for his performance as Tybalt in the 1978 BBC-TV Romeo and Juliet.

I like to think of Harry Potter as a sort of reward for being a great British actor. That the series was, in essence, a Lifetime Achievement Award, or the UK version of a Kennedy Center Honor. If you were a British actor, and you were great, you got invited to be in Harry Potter as a badge (in my imagination). Not just the names you listed, but Branagh and Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, John Hurt, Helena Bonham Carter, Fiona Shaw, Cleese, Fiennes, Gambon, Thewlis, Oldman...

In fact, the films are formidable contenders if you were debating the best-cast movies of all time.

-

Alan Rickman was one of the greats, and a true class act. (His genius for playing the villain concealed what a good man he seemed to be.) I wish he could have had more years to do more, but he leaves a hell of a legacy.

[Brian]

Great, now I'm imagining what it would have been like if Mike Leigh had been put in charge of Harry Potter.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Great, now I'm imagining what it would have been like if Mike Leigh had been put in charge of Harry Potter.

That would be topsy-turvy indeed.

[vandermolen]

I like to think of Harry Potter as a sort of reward for being a great British actor. That the series was, in essence, a Lifetime Achievement Award, or the UK version of a Kennedy Center Honor. If you were a British actor, and you were great, you got invited to be in Harry Potter as a badge (in my imagination). Not just the names you listed, but Branagh and Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, John Hurt, Helena Bonham Carter, Fiona Shaw, Cleese, Fiennes, Gambon, Thewlis, Oldman...

In fact, the films are formidable contenders if you were debating the best-cast movies of all time.

-

Alan Rickman was one of the greats, and a true class act. (His genius for playing the villain concealed what a good man he seemed to be.) I wish he could have had more years to do more, but he leaves a hell of a legacy.

Totally agree with your last paragraph.

[vandermolen]

Only 69, which makes him just two years older than me! One wonder whether so many of these fine British actors (Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, Richard Griffiths, Maggie Smith also come to mind, though the last of these will also be remembered for Downton Abbey) are now best-known for being tapped as Harry Potter characters. If you want to see a very young Alan Rickman, look for his performance as Tybalt in the 1978 BBC-TV Romeo and Juliet.

I'll look out for Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet.

[Sergeant Rock]

Maggie Smith...will also be remembered for Downton Abbey)

She'll always be Miss Jean Brodie to me.

Sarge

[SimonNZ]

RIP Alan.

I'm glad I don't have the Harry Potter association. For me he's Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply, Eamon de Valera in Michael Collins and Dr. Lazarus in Galaxy Quest.

Once again I'm made to think its a pity there isn't a trade in bootlegging theatre productions, particularly of Shakespeare, as a number of his (Rickman's), like so many, sound so exciting but are lost to the sands of time and the fading memories of a lucky few.

It might seem an odd tribute, but I'm playing this right now:



as he does "The Bell" section on this version. "Graaand Piiaaaano...!"

Haven't seen either of the two films he directed: The Winter Guest and A Little Chaos. Will watch those in the very near future.

[vandermolen]

RIP Alan.

I'm glad I don't have the Harry Potter association. For me he's Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply, Eamon de Valera in Michael Collins and Dr. Lazarus in Galaxy Quest.

Once again I'm made to think its a pity there isn't a trade in bootlegging theatre productions, particularly of Shakespeare, as a number of his, like so many, sound so exciting but are lost to the sands of time and the fading memories of a lucky few.

It might seem an odd tribute, but I'm playing this right now:



as he does "The Bell" section on this version. "Graaand Piiaaaano...!"

Haven't seen either of the two films he directed: The Winter Guest and A Little Chaos. Will watch those in the very near future.

Yes, I haven't seen Harry Potter either. He was a suitably duplicitous de Valera in Michael Collins. He is a great loss.

[jlaurson]

Hanz Gruubah iz gone? Noooooooo!

In my cinematographically uncouth ways, I mainly knew him as the kick-ass villain in Die Hard and the man who made Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood" watching (3 times).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8y0-pv7zUc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd8oXBe_Rp8

[Brian]

She'll always be Miss Jean Brodie to me.

Sarge

To me Maggie Smith will also be memorable from a little movie called 'Keeping Mum' with Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Patrick Swayze. The summary is one of the best summaries of any movie ever: serial killer Mary Poppins. In practice it's not quite as incredible as it sounds, but it is still a whole bunch of fun. How could it not be?

[Sergeant Rock]

'Keeping Mum'...is still a whole bunch of fun.

Have not seen it but just watched the trailer. It does look like fun. I'll try to see it.

Sarge

[Papy Oli]

To me Maggie Smith will also be memorable from a little movie called 'Keeping Mum' with Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Patrick Swayze. The summary is one of the best summaries of any movie ever: serial killer Mary Poppins. In practice it's not quite as incredible as it sounds, but it is still a whole bunch of fun. How could it not be?

Ah, Excellent movie this one 

[Drasko]

Massively sad to hear this.   

Magnificent actor.

Once again I'm made to think its a pity there isn't a trade in bootlegging theatre productions, particularly of Shakespeare, as a number of his, like so many, sound so exciting but are lost to the sands of time and the fading memories of a lucky few.

Yes! I would absolutely love to see him as Vicomte de Valmont in Hampton's adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons (his big breakthrough role on stage). There are few brief clips on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/v/4gWRwM-NvWE

Also Antony and Cleopatra with Helen Mirren ...

Rip Alan

[(poco) Sforzando]

Also Antony and Cleopatra with Helen Mirren ...

Well, perhaps not that one:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/a-case-of-hype-and-fall-as-rickman-and-mirren-are-put-to-the-sword-1180144.html

[Mirror Image]

I can't say I'm very familiar with Rickman's work, but RIP nevertheless.

[vandermolen]

I can't say I'm very familiar with Rickman's work, but RIP nevertheless.

His villain in the original 'Die Hard' film is very memorable but there is so much more to his art. Lots of TV coverage yesterday and some actors like Juliet Stevenson (his co-star in 'Truly, Madly, Deeply') clearly very upset; 'we have lost our King' she said on Newsnight last night. He was a theatre actor for many years before making his movie deput in 'Die Hard' in his early 40s.

[SimonNZ]

I don't suppose it pays well, but its a pity he didn't do more audiobook work with his great voice. There's a set of Thomas Hardy's Return Of The Native, but sadly little else.

[Jo498]

To me Maggie Smith will also be memorable from a little movie called 'Keeping Mum' with Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Patrick Swayze. The summary is one of the best summaries of any movie ever: serial killer Mary Poppins. In practice it's not quite as incredible as it sounds, but it is still a whole bunch of fun. How could it not be?

It is pretty good. It was rather confusing for me, though, because for some reason I was convinced that the Smith character would be in some Miss-Marple-role...

I am afraid I have seen Rickman only in the somewhat cardboard villain roles, like the Sheriff in Robin Hood and Snape (and I have only seen the first 3 Potter movies) so I can hardly appreciate the full range of his art.