He became known for playing some of the most terrifying villains.
However, in real life, Alan Rickman was a good, kind person with a pure heart.
The actor didn’t hesitate to show love to all those that surrounded him, including his
college sweetheart Rima Horton, with whom he stayed all his life.
Alan Rickman describes his early years as impoverished, but happy.
The actor’s father sadly died of lung cancer when he was just 8 years old, so Alan’s
mom worked hard to raise him and his three siblings.
Although his family didn’t have many resources, the performer was able to attend a good upper
school on a scholarship.
There, he became interested in drama for the first time.
Alan began learning vocal delivery and enunciation.
The actor was born with a speech impediment because he couldn’t move his jaw properly.
Alan worked on his voice for many years.
Later on, when he began attending drama school, one of his teachers even told him that he
sounded as if his voice was coming from under the back end of a drain pipe!
Luckily, the star was able to overcome his speech impediment and perfect his distinctive
deep voice.
Rickman always had a very particular attitude towards life, even when remembering his early
years.
A letter which the actor wrote to his teenage self was published in the book “Dear Me:
A letter to my 16-year-old-self.”
In the letter, the star said he wasn’t going to give advice to his younger self.
“Make your own unique messes, and then work your way out of them.”
Although Alan performed in school plays as a teenager, he decided to embark on a different
career.
At 18 years old, he started learning graphic design at the Chelsea School of Art.
There, he met the love of his life — a fellow student called Rima Horton.
The actor opened up about his romance to Hello!
Magazine.
“I think every relationship should be allowed to have its own rules,” he said.
He described Rima as incredibly tolerant.
“Possibly a candidate for sainthood.”
In a separate interview for Elle Magazine, Rickman explained that he and Horton were
just as complex as any other couple.
However, they were happiest when they were together.
Alan explained that Rima and him could be reading in silence for over an hour.
“Then she'll read something to me, and we'll both start giggling.”
The couple also supported each other as they advanced in their respective careers.
Rima became a university economics lecturer and a councilor of the British Labour Party.
Meanwhile, Alan became one of the most iconic movie stars.
After university, Rickman opened his own design studio.
However, at age 26, he decided to apply to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, one of
the world’s most prestigious acting schools.
The actor has explained this decision, saying, “There was an inevitability about my being
an actor since about the age of 7.”
However, he explained that other roads had to be traveled first.
Finally, a voice in his head told him, “It’s time to do it.
No excuses.”
Alan got accepted into drama school and supported himself during his studies by working as a
designer and even as a set dresser.
After school, Rickman started as an actor by doing theatre and joining the prestigious
Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1988, he was nominated for a Tony Award thanks to his performance in “Les Liaisons
Dangereuses”.
At age 46, Alan got his first film role, which would launch him into stardom, terrorist Hans
Gruber in “Die Hard.”
At the time, the actor almost turned down the role since he knew nothing about the film
business and felt nervous.
Luckily, he ended up taking the part and the whole world found out about his talents!
As years went by, the actor got other villain roles in films like “Robin Hood” and “Harry
Potter.”
His convincing performances led many fans to believe that maybe the star was a bit evil
himself.
Well, nothing could be further from the truth!
Alan was known for his kindness among his friends and colleagues.
One of his friends, actress Juliet Stevenson, revealed that Alan would always pay the bill
whenever he went out with his friends.
If someone else tried to pay, the actor would sneak out and do it first.
When anybody tried to object, Rickman just replied “I’ve got two words for you: Harry
Potter,” referring, of course, to his salary.
Another friend named Peter Kyle shared on Facebook, “He desperately wanted people
to use all their talent, and he hated it when friends talked themselves down.”
Peter had the opportunity to do a doctorate, but he felt as if he wasn’t bright enough.
Alan scolded him for not believing in his own potential and taking the easy way out.
Then, he took Kyle back to his flat and sat him down with Rima, who could help him since
she was a lecturer.
“That moment sprang the first step to me becoming Dr. Peter Kyle.”
Rickman was also involved in social issues like feminism.
He worked on both sides of the camera for the film “A Little Chaos,” which tackles
issues that affect women both in the past and present.
The actor expressed his sadness at certain situations, like women being treated as decorative
objects, persisting.
"There's nothing wrong with a man being a feminist — I think it's to our mutual advantage,"
the star told ABC News while talking about the film.
As Rickman’s career flourished, so did his personal life.
After more than four decades together, Alan and Rima got secretly married in a private
ceremony.
The actor didn’t reveal they had tied the knot until years later, during an interview
with German newspaper Bild.
“We are married, just recently.
It was great because no one was there,” Rickman said.
He explained that the wedding happened in New York.
After the ceremony, they walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and ate lunch.
Alan also revealed that he gifted his wife a simple 200 dollar band that she “never
wears.”
The pair never had any children.
When Alan was asked about it, he revealed that he would have loved a family but, of
course, wasn’t the only one involved in the decision.
Everything in Rickman’s life seemed to be perfect, until tragedy struck.
The performer was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005.
He decided to get treated in secret, since he didn’t want those around him to worry.
Alan had to undergo severe surgery, where they removed his entire prostate.
After the treatment, the star didn’t know whether to continue his role in the Harry
Potter franchise.
Finally, he decided to go on with the series.
Rickman wrote several journals throughout his life.
In one of them, he explained the decision to continue Harry Potter.
“The argument that wins is the one that says: 'See it through.
It's your story',” he wrote.
Alan also wrote about his surgery, saying, “Pre-op.
This is like a film set.
Nothing seems real.”
He later added that the only part he remembered from the surgery was the painkiller high,
and that the doctors and nurses were attentive and caring.
It seemed like Rickman had gotten rid of cancer once and for all, until it came back in 2015.
This time, it was pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease.
Again, Alan chose to keep his diagnosis secret and only shared it with his closest friends
and family.
The actor reportedly found out he was ill after suffering a light stroke during the
summer.
Pancreatic cancer is dangerous because it may not have any symptoms, or they might be
very hard to spot, especially during the early stages.
Alan’s health worsened quickly, so much that he had to be replaced by actor Bill Nighy
in the movie “The Lighthouse Golem.”
After Rickman’s passing, Nighy said, “We didn't really know how ill he was.”
The star maintained an upbeat attitude even when he was suffering from the disease.
Producer Catherine Bailey revealed that she saw Alan two days before he died.
All the actor wanted was to hear about how she was and about her family and friends.
On January 14, 2016, Alan passed away at 69.
His family released a short statement to inform fans, and told them that Rickman died surrounded
by family and friends.
Many of Rickman’s co-stars shared moving tributes after his death.
Emma Thompson wrote, “Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have
just kissed him goodbye.”
She added that Rickman was “A rare and unique human being and we shall not see his like
again.”
Kate Winslet confessed that she was intimidated when she worked with the actor while she was
19.
But the reality was that “he was the kindest and best of men.
My life was enriched by knowing him."
The actor’s Harry Potter co-stars also expressed their grief.
Emma Watson wrote on Facebook that she felt lucky to have spent time with “such a special
man and actor,” while Rupert Grint wrote, “Even though he has gone — I will always
hear his voice.
My thoughts are with his friends and family at this time."
In late 2022, Rickman’s journals were published under the name “Madly, Deeply: The diaries
of Alan Rickman.”
They span 23 years of the actor’s life, from 1993 to 2016.
Regarding the diaries, Rima explained that she didn’t read them at the time Alan wrote
them since they were private.
Once she read the journals after the actor’s death, she was pleased to see his humor was
present in them.
In the diaries, Alan shared how Rima’s presence calmed him down and helped him feel stability
throughout his life.
Since her husband’s death, which she described as a “horrendous shock” during Pancreatic
Cancer UK’s campaign, Horton has used his story to raise awareness about the disease.
“I didn’t realize how little time he was going to have,” she confessed, adding that
she wanted more research to happen so other people didn’t have to go through it.
It’s clear that Alan’s kind and loving presence was a gift to all those that surrounded
him.
Here at Rumour juice, we want to remember the actor’s life and legacy.
He is deeply missed.