British actor Alan Rickman, star of stage and ‘Harry Potter,’ dies at 69

reporting from London â€”  British actor Alan Rickman, whose career ranged from the Royal Shakespeare Company to the “Harry Potterâ€� films, has died. He was 69.

Rickman’s family said Thursday that the actor had died after a battle with cancer.

Trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Rickman was often cast as the bad guy; with his rich, languid voice he could invest evil with wicked, irresistible relish.

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British actor Alan Rickman is photographed at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood on June 22, 2015.

  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Rickman won a Golden Globe in 1997 for his role in the HBO film “Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny.�

  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Alan Rickman with his best actor Emmy for his work in “Rasputin.�

  (Patrick Downs / Los Angeles Times)

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Alan Rickman in New York in 2011.

  (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)

His breakout role was as scheming French aristocrat the Vicomte de Valmont in an acclaimed 1985 RSC production of Christopher Hampton’s “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.�

Film roles included the villain Hans Gruber in “Die Hard� in 1988; a deceased lover who consoles his bereaved partner in 1990’s “Truly Madly Deeply�; the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham in “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves� in 1991; and a wayward husband in the 2003 romantic comedy “Love Actually.� An early role was as hotel clerk Mr. Brownlow in the 1982 British TV adaptation of “Smiley’s People.�

Millions know him from the Potter films, in which he played the Dark Arts teacher Severus Snape, who was either a nemesis or an ally — possibly both — to the titular teenage wizard.

Rickman is survived by his partner of 50 years, Rima Horton, whom he married recently.

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