British Actor Alan Rickman Has Died

— -- British actor Alan Rickman has died, his rep confirmed. He was 69.

Rickman was best known for playing villain Hans Gruber in "Die Hard" and Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" franchise.

Other notable films in which he appeared were "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "Sense and Sensibility" and "Love Actually." In 2007, he starred alongside Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Rickman won a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Rasputin in "Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny."

Rickman also directed Emma Thompson in the 1997 film "The Winter Guest" and Kate Winslet in 2014’s "A Little Chaos."

Rickman was one of both film and theater's most admired actors, known for his range and his signature nasal baritone, which could one moment be warm and soothing, and the next convey villainous menace.

No better was that on display than in the complex role of Professor Severus Snape, the film character for which he's best-known, and one he said in numerous interviews that he cherished as one of his favorites.

Rickman first came to wide notice in 1988, stealing the show as the snide terrorist Hans Gruber opposite Bruce Willis in "Die Hard." But he proved he was equally adept at playing comedy in films like "Dogma," in which he played a sarcastic angel, and "Galaxy Quest," playing an embittered former star of a “Star Trek”-like TV show.

Rickman also showed a softer side in films like "Sense and Sensibility" and 2003's "Love Actually," and also played former President Ronald Reagan in 2013's "Lee Daniels' The Butler."