Alan Rickman has tragically lost his battle with cancer.
The beloved British actor died in London at the age of 69, his family have confirmed.
A family statement said: "The actor and director Alan Rickman has died from cancer at the age of 69.
"He was surrounded by family and friends."
The actor famously starred as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies, but he also starred in countless other films.
These included Galaxy Quest, Die Hard, Sense & Sensibility, Love Actually, Rasputin, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, Alice In Wonderland, and Truly, Madly, Deeply.
He also appeared in countless theatre productions, taking the role of Mark Antony opposite Helen Mirren’s Cleopatra at the Olivier Theatre in London, and the title role in Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 2010.
J.K Rowling pays tribute to Alan Rickman
Harry Potter cast pay tribute to Alan Rickman
Harry Potter:
“Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with,” Daniel Radcliffe wrote Thursday on his Google Plus page.
“He is also one of the [most loyal] and most supportive people I’ve ever met in the film industry. He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post-Potter. I’m pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York. He didn’t have to do that.
“I know other people who’ve been friends with him for much much longer than I have and they all say ‘if you call Alan, it doesn’t matter where in the world he is or how busy he is with what he’s doing, he’ll get back to you within a day.’”
He continued, “People create perceptions of actors based on the parts they played so it might surprise some people to learn that contrary to some of the sterner (or downright scary) characters he played, Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and funny. And certain things obviously became even funnier when delivered in his unmistakable double-bass.”
Hermione Granger:
Ginny Weasley:
Percy Weasley:
Professor Flitwick:
Twitter tributes to Alan Rickman, from both celebrities and fans
One of Alan Rickman's last video interviews
More news as we get it.