Google Celebrates ‘Harry Potter’ Star Alan Rickman’s Life And Career With Today’s Doodle

Alan Rickman is the subject of Google’s homepage Doodle today, celebrating the life and work of the actor. Rickman was born in London, UK on February 21st, 1946 and died on January 14th, 2016 after a long and esteemed career as an actor.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Rickman’s breakout role as anti-hero Le Vicomte de Valmont in the play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) in 1985. This was the turning point for the Royal Shakespeare Company stage actor, who was soon receiving film offers.

In 1988, Rickman made a name for himself as the diabolical Hans Gruber in the film Die Hard starring across from Bruce Willis as John McClane. I think the first movie I saw him in, however, was Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, where he uttered one of my favorite film lines of all time:

Rickman went on to play in many major roles before joining the sprawling cast of the Harry Potter films, where he played the dark and brooding Severus Snape in a role it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else playing.

Indeed, Rickman’s performance as Snape is as iconic as any of the other Harry Potter actors, including Daniel Radcliffe’s titular role, and Robbie Coltrane’s Hagrid. This is one reason why I, among many others, have a hard time imagining how Warner Bros. will be able to pull off a multi-season Harry Potter TV series with an entirely new cast. We shall see.

In any case, it’s cool to see Google pay tribute to such a legendary actor. Pour yourself a glass of butterbeer and drink a toast to Alan Rickman today, young wizards.