Alan Rickman

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was born on the 21st February 1946 in Hammersmith, London to a working-class family. He is now a stage and screen actor arguably most famous for portraying Harry Potter antihero Professor Severus Snape in the film adaptation.

Rickman attended the Chelsea College of Art and made his way as a graphic artist in Soho. He received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) which he attended from 1972 - 1974. While there, he won the Emile Littler Prize, the Forbes Robertson Prize, and the Bancroft Gold Medal. Since then, he has been a constant presence on the British stage.

Here are a few highlights of his career in theatre:

Antony And Cleopatra (1978)
Antony And Cleopatra (1998)
As You Like It (1985)
Bad Language (1983)
Cries From The Heart, Human Rights Watch (2003)
Dick Whittington (1978)
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1986)
Love’s Labour’s Lost (1978)
Mephisto (1985-1986)
My Name Is Rachel Corrie (2006)
Private Lives (2002)
Royal Academy Of Arts (2000)
Sherlock Holmes (1976)
Tango At The End Of Winter (1991)
Tempest (1978)
The Peace Of The Brest (1988)
Troilus And Cressida (1985)
Winter Guest (1995)

While working with the Royal Shakespeare Company he starred in, amongst other aforementioned things, As You Like It. He made a particular impression as the male lead in the 1985 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In 1986 he earned critical and popular acclaim as the elegant and heartless seducer. When the show came across the Atlantic in 1986, Rickman came with it to Broadway and there earned a Tony Award nomination for his performance.