Alan Rickman dies at 69 due to cancer

January 14, 2016 Today, the family of English actor announced his death at the age of 69 in London from cancer. As per the family statement "he was surrounded by family and friends" at the time of death. Rickman started his film career as an antagonist in  &mdash; in which he played the role of Hans Gruber in 1988. He was 41 at that time. He won a for his role as the Sheriff of  in  in 1991. He played a ghost lover of Juliet Stevenson's character in .

He also portrayed Professor in the  series, an adaption of the novel series written by. Rowling tweeted "There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman's death.  He was a magnificent actor & a wonderful man".

A well-known actor in Britain, he also directed , an award-winning 2005 play based on emails of who was killed in the Gaza Strip protesting against Israel Defense Forces actions.