Farewell Alan Rickman
After the sad passing of David Bowie, we mourn too fast and say farewell Alan Rickman.
He was one of my favourite actors, truly!
He was born 69 years ago in Acton, North London not far from where I live.
I remember in 1982, first seeing him brilliantly playing the slippery unctious almost creepy Reverend Obadiah Slope in the excellent BBC drama series Barchester Chronicles, based on the novels of Anthony Trollope. Even then he was a standout.
Such role type would follow Alan Rickman throughout his long and varied career.
He appeared in many TV programes, theatre plays and movies. He was a theatre director as well as a consummate actor.
You could see in his eyes that he had a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ (not take seriously), some of his roles although he always gave a brilliant performance.
In movies as a co star, he often out-acted the lead actors/movie stars.
Sometimes underated and indeed he should have been the lead in many more movies.
Rickman was deliciously over the top, sardonically as the Sheriff of Nottingham to Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.
This was followed by playing another baddie, Hans Gruber winning the battle of wit and acting with Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a Vengeance.
The movie that for me showed Rickman was a brilliant actor and playing a non baddie role. was in the excellent humourous and moving 1990 movie Truly, Madly Deeply.
Alan plays the ‘ghost’ of a recently deceased husband who returns to his desperately grieving wife to try and lessen her grief by showing what he was really like.
To younger generations, he was famous by reverting to type but playing the ultimately heroic character sneering Severus Snape in the immensely successful and popular Harry Potter movies.
For me, he would have made a superb Dr Who, He had all the attributes, eccentricity of Snape, humour (as he showed in the funny sci fi comedy Galaxy Quest) and commanding voice of reason essential to the good Doctor.
Added to that, Alan Rickman could also have been a flamboyant USS Enterprise starship captain in Star Trek 🙂
Spock Who?
Alan Rickman had a wonderfully mefluous baritone voice and could supebly deliver & convey dry humour, sarcasic and sardonic undertones to his lines with a twinkle in his eyes.
As noted, he had a marvellous range of expressions. Sneers, dry humour & poignancy would play across his face.
English & British acting has lost one of it’s crown jewels.
Requiescat in Pace Alan Rickman