Alan Rickman was an English actor who is best known for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. He portrayed the character from 2001 to 2011, appearing in all eight of the films. Rickman's performance as Snape was widely praised and he was nominated for several awards for his work. He also appeared in other films such as Die Hard, Love Actually, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Rickman passed away in 2016 at the age of 69.