ACTOR · BORN 1946 · DIED 2016
Alan Rickman
- Born
- 21 February 1946
- Died
- 14 January 2016
- Known for
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), Die Hard (1988), Quigley Down Under (1990), A Little Chaos (2014)
38 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Alan Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an actor best known for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Die Hard and Quigley Down Under.
38 Interesting Facts About Alan Rickman
Interesting Facts (6)
- #001
Two researchers, a linguist and a sound engineer, found "the perfect [male] voice" to be a combination of Rickman's and Jeremy Irons' voices based on a sample of 50 voices. Interestingly enough, Rickman and Irons played villain brothers in the Die Hard franchise, both in films directed by John McTiernan: Rickman played Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988) and Irons played his brother Simon in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995).
- #002
In 2010, a user on the site Tumblr.com wrote a false quote being said by Rickman, which circulated the internet. Later when he passed away in 2016, many Harry Potter fans used it as tribute, but internet source providers found the quote to be --never actually said by Rickman himself in any reported interview. (The quote was predicting himself to be 80 years-old in a rocking chair, reading a Harry Potter book, followed by what appeared to be dialogue from the last Harry Potter story, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows').
- #003
Not long after he started to play Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), J.K. Rowling told Rickman some character secrets about Snape that would not be otherwise revealed until the last book. Most significantly, for over seven years, Rickman was one of the very few people other than Rowling to know that Snape had been in love with Lily Evans (later Potter) when they were students at Hogwarts, and both Snape's protection of and antagonism toward Harry came from that. Rowling said that she shared this information with Rickman because "he needed to understand, I think, and does completely understand and did completely understand where this bitterness towards this boy, who's living proof of [Lily's] preference for another man, came from." When the directors of the films would ask him why he was playing a scene a certain way, or delivering a line in a particular manner, Rickman would simply reply that he knew something they did not.
- #004
He was 11 years older than Timothy Spall, 12 years older than Adrian Rawlins and Gary Oldman, 17 years older than David Thewlis, and 21 years older than Geraldine Somerville. Nevertheless, the character that the six of them play in the Harry Potter films are meant to be contemporaries and former classmates.
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Production Story (15)
- #007
- #008
The screenplay of Galaxy Quest (1999) originally contained a mention of Alexander Dane having been knighted by Queen Elizabeth. He asked that this be changed because he believed this was inconsistent with the character, and all mentions of the knighting were removed. However, the character is still listed in the credits as Sir Alexander Dane.
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- #013
Kevin Smith cast him in Dogma (1999) after he stated in an interview that Smith's Chasing Amy (1997) was one of his favourite movies of the year. Rickman's presence onset caused Jason Mewes, who was going through a drug problem at the time, to be on his best behaviour. He memorised not only his lines, but the entire screenplay. In his own words, "I didn't want to piss off that Rickman dude".
- #014
- #015
Although he played the Vicomte de Valmont in the West End and Broadway productions of "Dangerous Liaisons", he was unable to reprise his role in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), as he chose Die Hard (1988) instead. John Malkovich replaced him.
- #016
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- #018
He was offered the role of Leonardo Leonardo in the 2000 cartoon based on Kevin Smith's film Clerks (1994). Originally, the character was modeled after Hans Gruber, but the design was changed upon Rickman's request. The studio decided not to go with Rickman, and the role went to Alec Baldwin.
- #019
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Behind the Scenes (5)
- #022
In Die Hard (1988), he is seen firing a gun only twice (in the scene where Gruber shoots Joseph Takagi in the head; and in the atrium when Gruber realizes Holly is John's wife and the "shoot the glass" scene), on account of his uncontrollable habit of flinching when the gun recoiled. In those scenes, he blinks just before the camera cuts.
- #023
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- #026
While filming Die Hard (1988), he was found proficient at mimicking American accents; a scene in which Hans Gruber and John McClane finally meet was then added to the screenplay. However, he had a generic accent, not specific to any region of the USA, as commonly used in TV and movies. This explains the in-joke, when McClane says to him "With an accent like that, you should be on television.".
Characters & Cast (1)
- #027
Despite his casting as villains in films like Die Hard (1988) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) in real life he was described as a very kind and very gentle man. Bonnie Bedelia his Die Hard co-star later said that she loved her time with him on set when the cameras weren't rolling and described him as a very sweet and loving person.
Easter Eggs & References (1)
Career & Awards (3)
Life & Family (7)
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- #035
Before turning to acting, he studied graphic design at Chelsea College of Art and Design and at the Royal College of Art, forming a successful graphic design company, Graphiti, with several friends. He also worked for the Notting Hill Herald, a small London newspaper, which he considered a stable occupation compared to acting.
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Related pages
- Kate Winslet — Alan Rickman comes up in the facts on that page
- Aaron Paul — Alan Rickman comes up in the facts on that page
- Jeremy Irons — Alan Rickman comes up in the facts on that page
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