The British actor, known as the world’s most loved villain, has died aged 69 after battling cancer.

The venerated British actor, Alan Rickman, has died, aged 69. His death was confirmed by his family earlier today. He had been battling cancer.

Rickman was one of the most recognised and revered film and stage actors of his generation, featuring in blockbuster hits and theatre triumphs. Roles in some of cinema’s most cherished films won him generations of fans, and in particular his vigour for playing villains was unmatched. In 1988 he shot to global attention as he clashed with Bruce Willis as German terrorist Hans Gruber in the cult hit Die Hard, in 1991 he was the foil for Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, as the repugnant yet irresistible Sheriff of Nottingham; in 1995 he appeared as the Tsar’s svengali, Rasputin, in an HBO film, and in 2001 he premiered one of his most popular roles, that of Professor Snape in the Harry Potter franchise.

Yet his capacity for tenderness and pathos as an actor was equally titanic. His leading role opposite Juliet Stevenson in Anthony Minghella’s heartbreaking and tear-jerking romance, Truly, Madly, Deeply,...