The Magnificent Alan Rickman Trivia Quiz

Answer: London

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman, to give him his full name, was born in Acton, London. He and his three siblings were mostly raised only by his mother as their father died in 1954. His interest in acting was sparked at school when he became involved in drama but he also excelled in art including painting and calligraphy.

Answer: Graphic design

Alan studied graphic design at the Chelsea College of Art and Design between 1965 and 1968 before attending the Royal College of Art as a post-graduate student. Following this, he established a graphic design business with friends, using the name 'Graphiti'.

Although the business was successful, Alan decided to pursue his first love of acting, and made a successful application to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1972.

Answer: Die Hard

Playing the role of Hans Gruber, the leader of the gang which took over a New York tower on Christmas Eve during a party held by a company from the building, gave Alan a chance to display his talent to the world. Bruce Willis plays John McClane, a New York police detective, whose estranged wife is one of the hostages.

Rickman's languid, almost casual, depiction of Gruber's violence set a new style for film villains who had often been portrayed as one-dimensional and without much in the way of motivation. Gruber had charm and intelligence and Alan's performance set a new standard, not to mention paving the way for many other British actors as Hollywood decided that they made the best villains.

The other films listed all starred Bruce Willis.

Answer: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

This is the film which made many of us root for the Sheriff of Nottingham, the villain, rather than the hero Robin Hood (or was that just me?). The film stars Kevin Costner as Robin with Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Robin's companion. The English folk tale has been told many times, and all the elements were in there with Christian Slater playing Will Scarlet with Nick Brimble as Little John, two of Robin's 'Merry Men'. A surprise appearance by Sean Connery, as King Richard the Lionheart, at the end also helped.

Rickman's performance was extraordinary with lines such as 'no more merciful beheadings and cancel Christmas' and 'I'm gonna cut your heart out with a spoon' making an impact. BAFTA enjoyed it so much he won the award detailed in the question, but sadly the Oscars passed him by completely.

Answer: True

Alan and Rima Horton met at an amateur theatre group, and lived together from the 1970s. They eventually married in 2012, although kept it a secret until 2015. Rima was active in politics and was a councillor on Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council for the Labour Party, a role she fulfilled for twenty years. Rickman described himself as having been born a Labour supporter.

Answer: Ghost

Anthony Minghella wrote and directed the film which appeared in 1990, the same year as 'Ghost' and has certain resemblances in the themes covered. Juliet Stevenson plays Nina who is grieving the recent sudden death of her partner Jamie, Rickman, killed by a throat infection. Just when it seems that Nina is going to succumb to despair, Jamie suddenly appears, as a very solid ghost, in her flat, filling her with joy. The pair have fun together, play music, sing (not terribly well) although Jamie is never seen outside the flat.

Meanwhile, Nina has met another man, played by Michael Maloney, and starts to fall for him. Relations with Jamie deteriorate when he brings ghostly friends into the flat to watch films, depriving Nina of her privacy. Some of his irritating habits start to annoy her too as her idealised memory of Jamie begins to break down. This enables her to move on in her life and Jamie disappears enabling us to realise that he came back to free her to live a new life.

If you've never seen it, give it a try.

Answer: False

UK knighthoods are given out as awards acknowledging the recipients' contributions to public life and excellence in their area of expertise. There have been many acting knights, such as Alec Guinness, Roger Moore, and Anthony Hopkins.

Since the decisions are made in private, we will never know if Rickman was ever considered. He may well have rejected the offer if it had been made - his diary records that he was offered a CBE (itself a high honour on the scale) in 2005 but declined it, possibly because of his socialist beliefs.

Answer: Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Christopher Hampton wrote this 1985 play as an adaptation of a 1782 novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, hence the French title, changed to the literal translation of 'Dangerous Liaisons' for the Hollywood film of 1988. The plot involves two French aristocrats, Valmont (Rickman) and the Marquise de Merteuil, played by Lindsay Duncan, as they take a malicious pleasure in manipulating the love lives of their acquaintances for their own amusement.

Originally performed in Stratford-upon-Avon, as it was a Royal Shakespeare Company production, and then transferring to London, initially with the same cast, the play drew much praise from critics.

Answer: Metatron

Described as a 'fantasy comedy', this film was created and directed by Kevin Smith as part of his series called 'View Askewniverse' which began with 'Clerks' in 1994. The film also stars Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Salma Hayek, and Alanis Morissette, who plays God. Smith himself appears in the film as his usual character of 'Silent Bob'.

The, somewhat controversial, plot involves two fallen angels (Affleck and Damon) who are banished from Heaven They discover a way to get back using Catholic dogma during a rededication service. The downside is that this would prove God is not omnipotent and lead to the end of human life. Metatron (Rickman) is a seraph, a type of angel, who tasks a human being to prevent this disaster.

Even this brief description of the plot should be enough to make you understand why the Catholic Church wasn't happy about the film, but I'm sure Alan made a great angel.

Answer: Cancer

Alan was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer in 2005, which led to the removal of his prostate the following year. The disease struck during the making of the 'Harry Potter' films, and he considered relinquishing the role of Professor Snape but, thankfully, decided to continue.

Following a stroke in 2015 Alan discovered that he had pancreatic cancer, one of the few cancers for which the prognosis remains poor. His condition was a well-guarded secret so his death was totally unexpected to his fans. He was only sixty-nine, which is much below the average age of death in the UK, which is around eighty for men.