Veteran actor Alan Rickman, best known for roles on stage and in films such as Die Hard and Harry Potter has died aged 69.
His death was confirmed on Thursday by his family.
Rickman had been suffering from cancer.
Rickman was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in both modern and classical theatre productions.
His breakout performance was his 1985 role as the Vicomte de Valmont in the play Les Liaisons Dangereuses, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award.
Rickman is well known for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series.
Rickman’s other notable film roles include the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply, Colonel Brandon in Ang Lee’s 1995 film Sense and Sensibility, Harry in Love Actually, and P. L. O’Hara in An Awfully Big Adventure.
More recently, he played Judge Turpin in the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
In 1995, he was awarded the Golden Globe, Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Rasputin in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny.
Rickman has won a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
His role in Die Hard earned him a spot on the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Heroes & Villains as the 46th best villain in film history, though he revealed he almost did not take the role as he did not think Die Hard was the kind of film he wanted to make.
During his long career Rickman has also played a number of comedic roles, sending up classically trained British actors who take on “lesser roles” as the character Sir Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus in the science fiction spoofGalaxy Quest, portraying the angel Metatron, the voice of God, in Dogma, appearing as Emma Thompson’s foolish husband Harry in Love Actually, providing the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the egotistical, Nobel Prize-winning father in Nobel Son.
Social media erupted with emotional tributes in the wake of the news.
What desperately sad news about Alan Rickman. A man of such talent, wicked charm & stunning screen & stage presence. He'll be sorely missed
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) January 14, 2016