Alan Rickman: An Incredible Character Actor Takes His Final Bow
One of my favorite lines in a movie is in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when the Sheriff of Nottingham lasciviously declares to Robin Hood with respect to Maid Marion who the latter has come to save from the Sheriff’s evil clutches: “Do you mind, Locksley, we’ve just been married“.
It is less what was said but how it was said (and of course what inevitably follows is an amazing swashbuckling scene) – a culmination of the Sheriff of Nottingham’s narcissistic attitude to life: a character brilliantly played by Alan Rickman.
I was sad to learn that he passed today at the age of 69. His portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham is on a long list of character actors he excellently portrayed during with ingenious skill during his career as an actor. The Guardian has a sampling here. He will be sorely missed by those of us who enjoyed watching him on screen.
We get to see him one more time in Eye in the Sky which is set for a US release on March 11, 2016 and hear him (again) as the voice of the blue caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass (which comes out on Memorial Day weekend: May 27, 2016), the much anticipated sequel to 2010’s Alice in Wonderland.
Interestingly enough, Mr. Rickman won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham and Helen Mirren whom he shares the screen with in Eye in the Sky handed him his award.
