caption years_active birth_place birth_date spouse image article_title birth_name occupation
alan rickman after seminar 1978 -- present hammersmith , london , england , united kingdom 21 february 1946 rima horton 2012 alan rickman after seminar -lrb- 3 -rrb- . jpg alan rickman
 alan sidney patrick rickman actor , director
alan rickman

alan sidney patrick rickman -lrb- born 21 february 1946 -rrb- is an english actor .
rickman is a former 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 '' , the sheriff of nottingham in '' '' -lrb- for which he won the bafta award for best actor in a supporting role in 1991 -rrb- , and severus snape in the `` harry potter '' film series .
rickman 's other notable film roles include 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 ' .
in 1995 , he was awarded the golden globe , emmy award and screen actors guild award for his portrayal of rasputin in ' .
rickman has won a bafta award , a golden globe award , an emmy award and a screen actors guild award .
