Alan Rickman has died at the age of 69.  As an actor, Rickman had near 70 roles to his credit.  Though, no role was more memorable than Die Hard’s Hans Gruber.

Alan Rickman may not be a household name to you, despite having acted in close to 70 films.  On his shelf, Rickman even had a Golden Globe award for Best Actor, an Emmy Award and also an award from the Screen Actors Guild.   However, if I say two words to you, you instantly remember Alan – Hans. Gruber.

Die Hard, 1988, one of the most manly movies of all-time.   To this day, if Die Hard is on TV, we stop clicking and hide the remote.  We recite EVERY line in the film. At the holidays, we argue whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie (it is).  It was Alan Rickman that played the evil genius, Hans Gruber, taking over the Nakatomi building. At the very end of the film, Bill Clay Gruber has one of the greatest death scenes on the silver screen, falling off a skyscraper in slow motion as 640 million dollars rains from the clouds.

Alan Rickman will always be Hans Gruber. Not Severus Snape from Harry Potter.  Not Absolem the Caterpillar.  Not even the Sheriff of Nottingham.  Rickman is Gruber.  The greatest villain of our generation, done only by a masterful, phenomenal actor – Alan Rickman. Yippie-ki-yay, Hans.