Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Everybody saw this coming.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

This blog will pay for itself.

I really should read my own blog.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You are here: Home / Absent Friends / RIP / Rest in Peace, Alan Rickman

Rest in Peace, Alan Rickman

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This week sucks for fans of 69-year-old British artists. Alan Rickman was a fine actor who had many interesting roles. My favorite was his nuanced portrayal of Snape, the conflicted villain-hero of the “Harry Potter” films.

Here’s a clip of Rickman discussing his turn as Snape. He reveals that early in the filming of the “Harry Potter” movies and before the book series was completed, author JK Rowling gave him insight into Snape’s character. But he keeps his promise to Rowling to never reveal exactly what she told him:

“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love.”

— Albus Dumbledore

Rest in peace, Mr. Rickman.

Reader Interactions

104Comments

  1. 1.

    Aimai

    I met him at a party several years ago. He and his partner (now wife) were lovely people. Very gracious to my daughters who were enormous fans. He told us his favorite movie (ours too) was galaxy quest and that thry could barely shoot the scene in which they shoot the advertisement for the big box store without breaking into giggles.

  2. 2.

    Oatler.

    Wow. I only knew Rickman from Harry Potter movies stretched to five hours by the Family Channel, and without knowing who he was, puzzled why this guy was slumming in a cartoony CGI fantasy.

  4. 4.

    Botsplainer

    Loved that guy in everything he did, particularly Bottle Shock, Galaxy Quest and Die Hard.

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    @Aimai: That’s so cool that you got to meet him! I’m not surprised to hear he was a good guy off camera. My daughter and I are both big Harry Potter fans — I got her hooked on reading by reading the books to her and then having her read the later ones to me, and we have a yearly Harry Potter movie-a-thon over the holidays. I got the news of his passing via a text from her.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    I loved him in Sense and Sensibility.

    BUt, the first time I noticed him was Die Hard.

    RIP

    It’s been a bad first 2 weeks of the year for notables.

  9. 9.

    Feudalism Now!

    His villains were fantastically scene-chewingly hammy. His Sheriff of Nottingham in Prince of Thieves still delights. Would Die Hard been anything without his Hans? Even his Elliott Marston, the man not born in the wrong century, but on the wrong continent, made Quigley Down Under fun.
    My personal favorite was his portrayal of Eamon de Valera in Michael Collins. RIP Mr. Rickman

  11. 11.

    Geeno

    Rickman was one of those actors who didn’t catch on right away. He toiled for years in obscurity making hardly any money until he finally hit the big time in his forties, but he kept working at it, and thank he God he did.
    Just think, he might have been convinced to quit and get a “real job” in his thirties, and we’d never have gotten to see him.

  14. 14.

    Elly

    Huge Alan Rickman fan here, too – I loved him in “Sense and Sensibility” and “Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny,” as well as “Galaxy Quest,” et al. My kids (now in their early 20s) adored him, too. I still recall the look of dawning realization/shock on their then-middle-school-aged faces when we were watching “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” on DVD, and I told them that the Sheriff of Nottingham was the same guy as Severus Snape and Dr. Lazarus. It had never occurred to them: the man had a way of disappearing into the characters he played, lol.

    We’ll miss him.

  16. 16.

    dr. bloor

    Awful loss to wake up to. Wonderfully talented. He did better work, but I always loved him in Dogma, and thought he and Mos Def really played off each other well in Something the Lord Made.

  17. 17.

    louc

    Don’t forget Truly, Madly, Deeply. Women of a certain age (ahem) have their hearts flutter over Alan Rickman because of that movie.

    True story: My husband went to see As You Like It at the Royal Shakespeare Theater while in England in 1985. He came back and raved about the unknown actor who played Jaques. He said his “seven stages of man” speech was the best he’d ever seen. He also brought back a production poster. Only 20 years later did I bother to look at the cast on the poster hanging in our bedroom. Alan Rickman was that Jaques.

    RIP.

  19. 19.

    Geeno

    My own favorites are Galaxy Quest, Die Hard, Sense and Sensibility, and Sweeney Todd.
    I haven’t seen any of the Harry Potter movies, but I’ll have to make a point of watching them now just to see him in them.

  20. 20.

    maurinsky

    I sat next to Alan Rickman when I saw Angels in America on Broadway (it’s a testament to the original production that I promptly forgot I was sitting next to Alan Rickman after the play started!). At the time, I had only seen him in Truly, Madly, Deeply, and I told him I loved his work. We didn’t really interact other than that, but it was a nice little tidbit to drop when he became really famous.

  24. 24.

    pepper

    this is sad. i only know his acting from his role as snape and unfortunately am not familiar with his enormous body of work outside of snape. my kids and i are massive harry potter fans. we have watched all of the movies together many times. we read most of the books as bedtime stories. we love this character, and it is very sad to see him pass. i was also informed by one of my children. combined with the loss of david bowie, it’s been a tough week.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Alan Rickman first came to my attention in the early 1980s, as the smarmy chaplain Obadiah Slope in the BBC production of The Barchester Chronicles. He was absolutely wonderful, and has been a huge favourite ever since.

    My other grief this morning is for another fine English actor, Brian Bedford, who died yesterday. @louc, it’s in interesting that your husband saw Rickman as the Melancholy Jacques in England; as I think I mentioned in the Open Thread downstairs, I saw Bedford in that role at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, in the late 1970s. He played opposite Maggie Smith’s Rosalind — and Dame Maggie, I’m guessing, is feeling pretty damned bereft this morning, losing two friends and acting colleagues a day apart.

  28. 28.

    ruemara

    It has been a bad month for fandoms. And please, reserve complaints about a project to a discussion of the project. Let the living bury the dead in praise.

    Bloody cancer. Bloody bad affectation of smoking. Possibly, I don’t know, but I wish to blame something. This year is not impressing me with it’s happy quality.

  30. 30.

    01jack

    @pepper:

    i only know his acting from his role as snape and unfortunately am not familiar with his enormous body of work outside of snape.

    Then I bet you’d get a kick out of seeing him (as not-Snape) in Sweeny Todd together with Timothy Spall (as not-Wormtail).

  32. 32.

    zmulls

    It is maddening that Truly, Madly, Deeply is not currently available on DVD or for streaming. It apparently was on DVD once (some folks are selling theirs for close to $100). It’s a wonderful film, but came out the same time as GHOST and had a similar (though not identical) plot. I think I saw the film streaming on YouTube at one point, but haven’t checked lately.

    Rickman is matched with Juliet Stevenson (who is astonishing), and I disagree that it is so veddy British — it’s just a damn good film. Written and directed by Anthony Minghella (before THE ENGLISH PATIENT and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY).

  34. 34.

    louc

    @zmulls: And Juliet Stevenson was Rosalind in that As You Like It production, too. They must work well together. The movie isn’t available? I was going to download for viewing tonight.

    @ThresherK: There is a middle-aged female cult of Alan Rickman out there thanks to T,M,D. And Sense and Sensibility, too.

  36. 36.

    Felanius Kootea

    I liked him in Sense and Sensibility and Dogma. Never really got into the Harry Potter films (I preferred the books). He will be missed.

  37. 37.

    Miss Bianca

    Oh, no…my all-time fave rave. Wonderful villain, even more dashing hero (seriously, how could anyone look at Greg Wise’s Willoughby when Rickman’s Col. Brandon was around? Well evidently Emma Thompson could, but that’s another story). And his narration on Thomas Hardy’s “Return of the Native” is just unbelievably wonderful. Anyone know if he narrated any other audiobooks? His voice…dear lord, his voice was the best. Damn.

  38. 38.

    ThresherK

    @zmulls: But it is British.

    Ghost is very focused on the manifesting of Swayze’s nascent power to interact with the real world and that ability ends up being a very big part of the denouement. T,M,D basically has the spirit reappears and it’s simply accepted, and what happens in the little spaces of ordinary life afterwards. It’s 25% action, 75% reaction.

    (Think “Shawn of the Dead”.)

  39. 39.

    pepper

    @01jack:

    i have watched some of the people from the harry potter movies in other roles, and it is sometimes strange because my context for them is too wrapped up in harry potter. i saw helena bonham carter in the king’s speech. she was great, but i kept seeing bellatrix lastrange. thanks for the recommendations. i should watch some of his other work.

  40. 40.

    MazeDancer

    Too many big losses of rare creative talents, gone too soon, in this still new year.

    Hoping Netflix or Amazon or HBO or some place stages an Alan Rickman homage with all his greatest hits. “Galaxy Quest” and “Bottle Shock” are currently available on Netflix. “Sense and Sensibility” used to be, but now only DVD. Tried to find somewhere to stream “Love Actually” over the holidays and was sad it wasn’t available then. Sadder now.

    Would love to see “Truly, Madly, Deeply”. Going to check the local library DVD collection. Sometimes they have some great things.

  42. 42.

    EconWatcher

    @Betty Cracker:

    I also have JK Rowling to thank for my daughter becoming an avid reader. I don’t know if Rowling intended it, but the books seem to have increasing verbal complexity as you work through the series, and of course kids love them, so they’re just perfect for enhancing reading skills.

    Thanks, JK! You may be the second richest woman in England, but better you than some bankster. You earned it!

  43. 43.

    bystander

    @SiubhanDuinne: Sad week indeed. Loved Bedford and regretted I didn’t get to see his Lady Bracknell a few seasons back.

    Galaxy Quest is the best. Great ensemble.

  44. 44.

    Cermet

    And don’t forget he was the depressed robot (voice) in “Hitcher’s Guide to the Galaxy” and was the real highlight of that movie (unlike a certain Hobbit character who appeared to sleep walk through his role – or is that his normal acting style?) Will be terribly missed – a great human being.

  45. 45.

    MazeDancer

    Would love to see “Truly, Madly, Deeply”

    Look – wish come true! The YouTube Solution – it’s there in parts. Part 1 here Other parts seem to be there, too. At least until taken down – may they have some sympathy, today and this week, at least)

  47. 47.

    geg6

    Truly, Madly, Deeply is how I fell for him. Loved almost everything he’s ever done, even if it’s in a shitty movie like Die Hard. Sense and Sensibilty is also just a delight. He will be missed very much here. Tough week for my celebrity crushes.

  48. 48.

    Miss Bianca

    Oh, no, Brian Bedford too? And he played Lady Bracknell? Oh, now, that I would have paid to see…he and Maggie Smith were legendary presences at Stratford in Ontario…unfortunately, I never got a chance to see them there together but I did get to see some other amazing productions…

    I remember ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ as being a rather disturbing little film…a real case of “be careful what you wish for”. I am surprised that it’s apparently so obscure, however.

  49. 49.

    coin operated

    Never saw him in anything but villain roles, and DAMN could he play a villain.

    RIP Mr. Rickman.

  50. 50.

    Amir Khalid

    @EconWatcher:
    Rowling did indeed intend it. As you go through the series, the narrative point of view matures along with the characters (and some of the younger readers). Details get filled in in the later books that might not have made sense to a younger child reading Philosopher’s Stone or Chamber of Secrets.

  52. 52.

    Roger Moore

    @EconWatcher:

    I don’t know if Rowling intended it, but the books seem to have increasing verbal complexity as you work through the series, and of course kids love them, so they’re just perfect for enhancing reading skills.

    I’m sure she did. I think the way the books grow up along with the characters is the real, defining characteristic of the series. The first book is about 11 year old Harry, and it’s really an 11 year old book in size, in story arc, in language, etc. The final book is about 17 year old Harry, and it’s a 17 year old book in the same ways. I can’t think of another author who’s done so well at that.

  53. 53.

    Patricia Kayden

    Loved Rickman and Mos Def in Something the Lord Made, which is a great underrated historical movie. Sorry to have lost such a great actor.

  54. 54.

    MomSense

    Rickman was one of the greats. Damn. He was a good human being, too.

    Fuck Cancer and the tobacco companies.

  55. 55.

    OGLiberal

    Hans Gruber was one of the best movie villains ever. My favorite scene is when he tells Alexander Gudunov to “Schieß dem Fenster.” Gudunov, whom I assume was also playing a German dude, looks at Rickman perplexed, at which point Rickman says, “Shoot the glass!” It is only when Gruber says it in English that Gudunov gets what he’s saying.

    Other favorite line is when Bonnie Bedelia calls him a common thief and he turns quickly to her on one knee and hisses, “I am an exceptional thief, Mrs. McClane. And since I’m moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite.” Just a classic bad guy. Loved him in Galaxy Quest as well. Not a big Potter fan.

    And now, Alan Rickman’s answering machine:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MDTBiEOoslc

  56. 56.

    Randy P

    @coin operated: As I commented in a thread below, he is very much the comic heart of Galaxy Quest in a very deadpan, quiet, straight man way. And it’s a very funny movie with a wonderful cast. It’s an experience seeing Sigourney Weaver as a dumb big-boobed blond when she had very recently done the Alien movies. So you should definitely see this movie.

    Did Rickman do other comedies? I’m not aware of any, but I only know a few of his roles. Hans Gruber that people love so much is a lot of fun because he’s so over the top (as I recall; it’s been a long time) and I think a lot of Die Hard is kind of tongue in cheek, like how Bruce Willis never gets to put his shoes on.

    My favorite thing about Snape is the sneering way he says “Pot…ter”.

  58. 58.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @bystander:

    Yes, I would have loved to see his Bracknell. Will have to see if it’s kicking around on DVD anywhere. A few weeks ago I saw David Suchet do it (National Theatre? I think, live-to-cinema) and years ago, first time I ever saw it done as a “drag” role, the wonderful William Hutt at the Stratford Festival.

  61. 61.

    scav

    Damn. And I so would have liked to see his take on Valmont (not that I really ever could without time travel) but it’s somehow something to imagine with that voice.

  63. 63.

    Shell

    I see pasting a link put me in moderation hell.Will try again.

    Hell always be my Colonel Brandon.

    Fuck it, what is it with all these people dying in their 60s?
    ***************************
    Didn’t know Bedford played Lady Bracknell. That would have been something to see.
    Here are some highlights from that production

  66. 66.

    scuffletuffle

    Blow Dry is available on Netflix and is a wonderful Rickman offering as are Snow Cake and The Search for Joe Gissing, if you can find them. Rip my secret love.

  68. 68.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Randy P:

    It’s an experience seeing Sigourney Weaver as a dumb big-boobed blond when she had very recently done the Alien movies.

    Even better, she’s playing a fairly smart actor who knows she’s playing a dumb big-boobed blond, but stays as professional as she can under the circumstances.

    The movie’s playing with that kind of duality all the way through, and Rickman’s performance, which was informed by Leonard Nimoy’s early frustrations at being identified with Spock, is just brilliant in that way.

  69. 69.

    Mike J

    @Shell: type some text describing the link. Highlight it. Press the link button above the textbox. In the pop up window, type (or better yet, paste with control c) the url.

    You’ll see the html in the editor, but the end result will look like this.

  71. 71.

    Brachiator

    I didn’t realize that his villain in “Die Hard” was Rickman’s first film role. And he was the best thing in Kevin Costner’s crappy Robin Hood film.

    I liked that the actor who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films noted how generous Rickman was with him and the other child actors. And one of his neighbors says it simply and best, that Rickman was ” such a lovely man.”

  72. 72.

    J

    I was living in Britain when ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ came out. All my women friends then adored him. I hadn’t the slightest difficulty understanding why when I saw the film. It seem that he was an eminently decent human being too. A great loss.

  73. 73.

    knittingbull

    He was also in January Man with Kevin Kline and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (also in Robin Hood).

  74. 74.

    Mnemosyne

    The first Alan Rickman film I saw was “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” which he stole from Kevin Costner lock, stock, and barrel. So many great roles.

    As soon as I read the scene in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” where Snape reveals his Patronus, I knew Rowling had written that character to be played by Rickman. I haven’t even seen the movie, but I “saw” him play it in my head so clearly.

  75. 75.

    catclub

    @Shell: type some text, highlight it, click the link button,
    fill in the url in the link popup box. No moderation.

    ETA: late to the party.

  76. 76.

    Mnemosyne

    @Geeno:

    Actually, it was the other way around — he came to acting later in life. He was in advertising and owned his own agency, but decided in his 30s that he really wanted to pursue acting, so he did.

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    @Shell:

    Okay, how exactly do do you post a link without having problems?

    Use the link button. Highlight the text you’d like to turn into a link and click the link button. The browser will pop-up a window where you type/paste the link. Click OK, and the highlighted text will be turned into a link. If you feel comfortable with HTML-foo, you can create the link yourself with <a href=””> tags.

  79. 79.

    zmulls

    After posting the above I did see that T, M, D is on YouTube in parts — I also saw it in its entirety (1:42) when I searched on my phone app.

    I don’t know the reason it’s hung up and not released — it was available in 2001, I know. Maybe it will wind up in the Criterion Collection.

  83. 83.

    Sandia Blanca

    @louc:
    In 1987, I went to New York City for the first (and so far only) time. Of course I had to see a Broadway play, and “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” was the choice. It was so wonderful, but none of the actors were familiar to me. Many years later, thanks to the Internet, I was able to look it up and found that Alan Rickman had been the star! Found this clip of the Tony Awards that year, with Mary Tyler Moore introducing a scene from the play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJoW1kCEmXE

  84. 84.

    Tsukune

    Saw Alan Rickman on Broadway a few years ago in Seminar, where he played a nasty teacher (against type I suppose).

    Seminar

    And then my wife lost the stone in her engagement ring. We always guessed that Alan stole it while signing an autograph on the playbill.

  85. 85.

    Schlemazel

    I can’t belive nobody mentioned his turn in “Dogma”! There was some mighty fine scenery chewing right there!

  86. 86.

    laura

    God, what a sexy beast of a man and actor! That voice alone, but add his timing and arch rye-ness.
    The last movie I got to love him in was CBGB in which he played Hilly.
    I’m gutted. First Lemmy, then Bowie, and now Alan Rickman.

  87. 87.

    JDM

    Loved him in many roles, and one of my favorite bits of dialogue was in Dogma, where he explains to Linda Fiorentino’s character (in whose bedroom he, Metatron, has just appeared as a pillar of fire only to be doused by her with water) just what his place in theology is:

    “Metatron acts as the voice of God. Any documented occasion when some yahoo claims God has spoken to them, they’re speaking to me. Or they’re talking to themselves.”

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    @Miss Bianca:

    I remember ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ as being a rather disturbing little film…a real case of “be careful what you wish for”.

    It’s not that. If you see it again, look for one simple shot towards the end of Rickman’s character looking out a window at her, and you suddenly realize … he did it all on purpose, to force her to stop mourning and move on. That’s when you’ll really need the Kleenex.

  89. 89.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    @louc

    : I was gonna post exactly this. Truly Madly Deeply – STILL my altime favorite romantic movie!

  91. 91.

    Tehanu

    The first time I ever saw Alan Rickman was in “Barchester Chronicles” on PBS (BBC import). He appeared on the screen and was introduced as Mr. Slope (by, I think, the late and much-missed Geraldine McEwan), and he gave this little smirk … he hadn’t even opened his mouth to say a word; and I turned to my husband and said, “This guy is brilliant!” Some years later I was lucky enough to bump into him one day in the Beverly Center shopping mall, and to tell him that and what a huge fan of his I was, and he was so nice! I’m just so sad now. What a loss.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    @zmulls:

    It is maddening that Truly, Madly, Deeply is not currently available on DVD

    I’m on line for it at my library. You might want to try that.

  98. 98.

    burnspbesq

    @JPL:

    His character was a jerk in Love Actually, but he nailed the role. What a great actor.

    Amen. Making it credible that anyone would cheat on Emma Thompson was an enormous accomplishment.

  99. 99.

    Darkrose

    I went to see Private Lives in New York specifically to see Alan Rickman. The show wa brilliant, but what I remember most was the way he stayed at the stage door after the show until everyone who wanted an autograph got one–even a certain weird black chick who asked him to sign her Snape action figure. He was incredibly gracious.

    I’m really sad about this.

  100. 100.

    Darkrose

    I went to see Private Lives in New York specifically to see Alan Rickman. The show wa brilliant, but what I remember most was the way he stayed at the stage door after the show until everyone who wanted an autograph got one–even a certain weird black chick who asked him to sign her Snape action figure. He was incredibly gracious.

    I’m really sad about this.

  101. 101.

    Darkrose

    I went to see Private Lives in New York specifically to see Alan Rickman. The show wa brilliant, but what I remember most was the way he stayed at the stage door after the show until everyone who wanted an autograph got one–even a certain weird black chick who asked him to sign her Snape action figure. He was incredibly gracious.

    I’m really sad about this.

  102. 102.

    Darkrose

    I went to see Private Lives in New York specifically to see Alan Rickman. The show wa brilliant, but what I remember most was the way he stayed at the stage door after the show until everyone who wanted an autograph got one–even a certain weird black chick who asked him to sign her Snape action figure. He was incredibly gracious.

    I’m really sad about this.

  103. 103.

    Darkrose

    I went to see Private Lives in New York specifically to see Alan Rickman. The show wa brilliant, but what I remember most was the way he stayed at the stage door after the show until everyone who wanted an autograph got one–even a certain weird black chick who asked him to sign her Snape action figure. He was incredibly gracious.

    I’m really sad about this.

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