Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (born February 21, 1946) is a British stage and screen actor.

Born in Hammersmith, London to a working-class family, Rickman was a graphic designer before entering the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London in the early seventies. Since then, he has been a constant presence on the British stage. He made a particular impression as the male lead in the 1985 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and became known to television audiences playing the role of Mr Slope in the BBC's 1980s adaptation of Barchester Towers ... (read more )