ALAN RICKMAN is one of the U. K. 's most respected film, television and theatre actors and famed throughout the world for his performances in films as diverse as: Die Hard (1988) and Truly Madly Deeply (1991) .

He also starred in Mesmer for which he was named Best Actor at the Montreal Film Festival. For Sense & Sensibility and Michael Collins he received BAFTA nominations and for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) he won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

For Truly Madly Deeply (1991), Close My Eyes (1991) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) he was named Evening Standard Film Actor of the Year.

Other television credits include: Benefactors; Revolutionary Witness; Spirit of Man; Pity in History; Barchester Chronicles; Busted; Therese Raquin and Romeo & Juliet.

As a director, Rickman's work includes Wax Acts with Ruby Wax in the West End and The Winter Guest by Sharman MacDonald at both the West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Almeida Theatre in London. He then went on to direct (and co-write with Macdonald) the feature film version of The Winter Guest starring Emma Thompson.

It was an Official Selection for the Venice Film Festival winning three awards and later won Best Feature at the Chicago Film Festival. Rickman is equally famed for his theatre work.

For the National Theatre Rickman starred in Anthony & Cleopatra and played the title role in Hamlet at Riverside Studios directed by Robert Sturua, the celebrated director of the Rustaveli Theatre in Georgia. Rickman has also appeared three times at the Edinburgh Festival - a double bill of The Devil is an Ass and Measure for Measure which also toured Europe; Brothers Karamazov which then toured the USSR and Yukio Ninagawa's Tango at the end of Winter which later transferred to the West End winning Rickman the Time Out Award for Best Actor.

Rickman is currently due to star in Noel Coward's Private Lives at the Albery Theatre.

Credit: cinema.com