In Memoriam- R.I.P. Alan Rickman

Alan Rickman: February 21, 1946 - January 14, 2016

On January 14, 2016 actor, and director Alan Rickman (at the age of 69) tragically lost his battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Rima Horton.

Starting out his acting career on the Shakespearean stage, Alan Rickman made it his life's goal to entertain the masses. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Hans Gruber (Die Hard) The Sheriff of Nottingham (Ronbin Hood: The Prince of Thieves) and Professor Severus Snape (Harry Potter franchise) to which he performed all with aplomb and gusto.

I have absolutely no shame in admitting that Alan Rickman was one of my all-time favorite character actors. While it could be argued that all he did was primarily play villains, it's pretty much what I liked about him. I'm the sort of guy who really likes a good villain character, and Alan Rickman was certainly one of the best in the business when it came to being bad. He brought such charisma to the screen each and every time, that even if the movie he featured in wasn't that good (such as the previously mentioned Robin Hood) he was more than likely one of/if not the best damn part of it.

I think there is a very good reason so many fans love the characters of Snape, or Hans Gruber, and that reason is none other than Rickman's awesome performances behind them. Next to the likes of Sir Ben Kingsly, I can't think of any other character actor out there today who can match Rickman's caliber of cinema villainy. 

It's quite unfortunate, when you think about it, that someone who has played so many iconic parts, never actually won an Oscar for any of his fantastic works. Fortunately he did win a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and BAFTAs (along with several other awards) so it's not like he never got the recognition he so rightfully deserved. I just find it somewhat weird is all... 

To be quite frank, I also find it surreal that yet another pop-culture figure, who I grew up admiring, has now left us. In the wake of yet another (somewhat sudden) loss, an idea I've had lately seems to only be getting reinforced more and more. I'm at a point in time where life is going to stop giving me things, and instead, start taking them away. Just within the last month I've seen three people I loved to watch perform their craft pass on. All of which were also due to complications from some form of cancer. That's not even counting all the others from the last five years that I could mention. While I'm certainly no stranger to the illness (as that was how I lost my grandparents, and my dog) due to my work, it's getting to a point where I'm essentially through with seeing people suffer from this horrible condition. Hopefully all the research we currently have going into cancer pays off sooner rather than later.

Even though cancer may have ended Alan Rickman's life, cancer cannot end his outstanding legacy. We still have plenty of his works to fondly remember him by, and I definitely know that I'm going to be watching a lot of his films as soon as I finish writing this post. From Die Hard, to Sweeney Todd, to Harry Potter, and many many more, Alan Rickman will always be the veracious victor of video villainy.

 

"By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!"