Short answers, pulled from the story.
Alan Rickman's first film role was the German criminal mastermind Hans Gruber in the 1988 action thriller Die Hard, opposite Bruce Willis. Rickman later revealed he almost did not take the role because he did not think it was the kind of film he wanted to make. His portrayal was later ranked 46th on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains list.
Alan Rickman won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a Primetime Emmy Award for his portrayal of Rasputin in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, a Golden Globe Award for the same role, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He also received nominations for two Tony Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award.
Alan Rickman appeared as Severus Snape in all eight films of the Harry Potter series, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001 through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 in 2011. He considered leaving the series during production due to a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2005, but decided to see it through.
Alan Rickman trained as a graphic designer at Chelsea College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art before becoming an actor. He co-founded a graphic design studio called Graphiti, which ran successfully for three years before he applied to RADA at the age of 26. He supported himself during drama school by working as a dresser for Nigel Hawthorne and Ralph Richardson.
Alan Rickman compiled My Name Is Rachel Corrie from the journals and emails of US activist Rachel Corrie, working alongside journalist Katharine Viner, and directed the production himself. The play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in early 2005 and won him the Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Director. A planned transfer to New York was postponed indefinitely amid controversy, with Rickman calling the delay "censorship born out of fear." It eventually opened off-Broadway on the 15th of October 2006.
Alan Rickman died of pancreatic cancer on the 14th of January 2016 at the age of 69 in a London hospital. His cancer had been diagnosed after a minor stroke in August 2015, and he revealed the terminal diagnosis only to his closest confidants. He was cremated on the 3rd of February 2016 at the West London Crematorium in Kensal Green.