British actor Alan Rickman died at the age of 69 in London on Jan. 14, 2016. Rickman had been suffering from cancer and his family confirmed his death, The Guardian reported.
Born on Feb. 21, 1946, Rickman showed an interest in the performing arts. His deep voice and mysterious grin helped him score many villainous roles.
Rickman began his career by joining the Royal Shakespeare Company and his path to stardom began when he earned a Tony Award for 1988’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
One of his most popular roles was Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. Rickman understood the complicated life of Snape and made the Potions Master of Hogwarts come alive.
He is also notorious for his role in 1988’s Die Hard as Hans Gruber.
Rickman appeared in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Love Actually (2003), Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010).
His talent captured the heart of the characters that he played.
Those who knew and worked with Rickman are taking a step back and remembering him for the iconic actor that he was.
“There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman’s death. He was a magnificent actor & a wonderful man,” Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling said via Twitter.
UCA students also mourned Rickman’s passing.
Senior Chantelle Giles, a Learning Assistant at Short/Denney Hall, organized a Harry Potter movie marathon for this week. Students have been watching the Harry Potter movies in the Short/Denney lobby every night since Monday Jan. 11.
“Last semester I thought maybe residents could see the academic values shown in Harry Potter as a means of motivation for the coming semester,” Giles said. “Being an LA, I am required to put on at least two academic programs a month but I thought a whole marathon would be the best option for these residents.”
Giles learned of Rickman’s death from a student who had been attending the marathon. She then went online to find out more about what happened.
“After I researched what had happened, I realized how amazing a person he was,” she said.”It’s very sad to lose a man like Alan to cancer.”
Short/Denney residents will continue watching the Harry Potter movies in the lobby throughout the next week. On Monday at noon they will view Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The remaining movies will be shown Tuesday at 5 p.m., Wednesday at 4 p.m. and Thursday at 7 p.m.
Many students expressed the desire to watch other movies of Rickman’s such as Die Hard and shared videos containing highlights of his most famous roles.
No matter what role he played, Alan Rickman will be in our hearts. Always.
image via oppositelock.kinja.com
