Alan Rickman, RIP

... another one bites the dust ....

I first became aware of actor Alan Rickman by his portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham in 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'. His voice seemed to be the epitome of evil, with the sound of curdled cream. Belatedly, I realised that I had also seen him as German Hans Gruber in 'Die Hard'. But the first time that I fully recognised him was as the Metatron in 'Dogma'; a comedy film which most people dislike.

Not being a Harry Potter person, it was only by chance that I saw him as Professor Snape, a role which probably brought him more money and fame than all his other roles put together.

He also had one of the story lines in "Love Actually": a middle aged man married to Emma Thompson, but tempted by his secretary.

For some reason, I have seen very little of his work, but I very much enjoyed what I saw.

He died at the same age as David Bowie (69) and also of cancer.