Alan Rickman, 1946-2016

Terribly sad news today, the passing of Alan Rickman.

Rickman, who was 69, had been battling cancer.

Alan Rickman was one of the real greats, something I don't say about many actors of the modern era. Armed with an impossibly elegant voice, he portrayed so many memorable characters.

How many of us fell in love with him as Colonel Brandon in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995)? That's one of my favorite films of the last quarter-century.

For a generation of children, he was Severus Snape in the HARRY POTTER films (above). And just this Christmas I finally saw him as the criminal mastermind who isn't quite as smart as he thinks he is in DIE HARD (1988), seen below.

Rickman could even make a bad movie worth watching, such as his highly entertaining Sheriff of Nottingham in ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES (1991). I love Kevin Costner, but that movie was a Mistake with a capital M. Still, I have fond memories of Rickman's crazily entertaining performance.

I loved him in BOTTLE SHOCK (2008), as the wine shop owner who dreams up a competition between the wines of Napa Valley and France.

His good friend Emma Thompson, his costar in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995) and LOVE ACTUALLY (2003), said today that he could "fell you with a look or lift you with a word...we shall not see his like again."

Alan Rickman's too-early death is a great loss to everyone who loves movies and wonderful acting...at the same time, I am most grateful for all the fine work he leaves behind.