Alan Rickman. Information on the actor who plays Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, including a brief biography and Alan Rickman pictures.

Alan Rickman... Villain extraordinaire, comedic personality, romantic leading man. All this and more. He has performed in London's West End, on Broadway, in film and on radio and television. Born on February 21, 1946 in Hammersmith, London to Irish and Welsh parents, Alan Rickman attended the Royal College of Art and made his way as a graphic artist in Soho. He received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art which he attended from 1972 - 1974. While there, he won the Emile Litter Prize, the Forbes Robertson Prize, and the Bancroft Gold Medal.

Rickman worked extensively with various British repertory and experimental theatre groups including The Seagull, Snoo Wilson's The Grass Widow at the Royal Court and appeared three times at the Edinburgh International Festival. During this period, he did occasional television work, in roles from Shakespearean drama to LeCarré's international intrigue. While working with the Royal Shakespeare Company he starred in, among other things, As You Like It. His casting in The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses as Le Vicomte de Valmont won him critical and popular acclaim as the elegant and heartless seducer. When the show came across the Atlantic in 1986, Rickman came with it to Broadway and there earned a Tony nomination for his performance.

It was during his stint on Broadway that he was approached by Joel Silver and offered a role in the first Die Hard film in which Rickman's unique interpretation of the villainous Hans Gruber garnered worldwide attention and set a chilling new standard for screen "bad guys." Since then, Rickman has appeared in over two dozen films.

Links