--- description: Alan Rickman, the British actor most well known for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, has died at the age of 69. title: Read Alan Rickman's Touching Goodbye Letter to Harry Potter image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt995589fdc828d1a6/698879280a4a22b3ed9c7e7d/alan-rickman-goodbye-to-harry-potter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read Alan Rickman's Touching Goodbye Letter to _Harry Potter_  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jan 14, 2016 5:06 PM CUT  lan Rickman attends Apple Store Soho: Meet the Filmmaker: Alan Rickman, 'A Little Chaos' at Apple Store Soho on June 19, 2015 in New York City. lan Rickman attends Apple Store Soho: Meet the Filmmaker: Alan Rickman, 'A Little Chaos' at Apple Store Soho on June 19, 2015 in New York City.Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jan 14, 2016 5:06 PM CUT Alan Rickman, the British actor known for his role as Severus Snape in the _Harry Potter_ series, has [died at the age of 69](http://time.com/4180354/alan-rickman-dead/ "undefined") after a battle with cancer. Rickman portrayed the dark potions professor in all eight of the _Harry Potter_ films and was beloved by many for the manner in which he brought to life the [multi-dimensional character](http://time.com/4180502/alan-rickman-dead-snape-harry-potter/ "undefined"). **Read More:** [Fans Pay Tribute to Alan Rickman by ‘Raising Their Wands’](http://time.com/4180498/alan-rickman-tribute-raise-your-wands/?xid=homepage "undefined") _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2_, the last movie in the franchise, was released in July 2011, but Rickman said his goodbyes to the magical wizarding world in April of that year. After the final wrap on his part in the series’ conclusion, he wrote the letter below to [Empire Magazine](http://www.empireonline.com "undefined"). --- > “” --- Rickman accepted the role of Snape when J.K. Rowling’s seven-book series was still incomplete, leading to [speculation](http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/harry-potter-alan-rickman-looks-back-on-decade-of-dark-magic/#/0 "undefined") over how much the author revealed to him about the character’s fate in order to convince him to take the job. However, in an [interview with HitFix](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/alan-rickman-clarifies-just-how-much-j-k-rowling-told-him-about-snapes-fate-in-the-harry-potter-series "undefined"), Rickman denied that Rowling told him Snape wasn’t actually a true villain. ### Alan Rickman: A Career in Pictures  Die Hard, 1988. 20th Century Fox  Truly, Madly, Deeply, 1990. BBC Films  Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, 1991. Warner Bros.  Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, 1996. Getty Images  Dogma, 1999. Lionsgate  Galaxy Quest, 1999. DreamWorks Pictures  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 2001. Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  Love Actually, 2003. Universal Pictures  Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 2007. DreamWorks Pictures  The Butler, 2013. The Weinstein Company “Not true. I don’t know who thinks that is true, but it’s not true,” he said. “She gave me one tiny, little, left of field piece of information that helped me think that he was more complicated and that the story was not going to be as straight down the line as everybody thought.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4180663/alan-rickman-goodbye-to-harry-potter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4180663/alan-rickman-goodbye-to-harry-potter/"},"headline":"Read Alan Rickman's Touching Goodbye Letter to Harry Potter","datePublished":"2016-01-14T17:06:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:43.297Z","description":"\"It is an ancient need to be told in stories\"","url":"https://time.com/4180663/alan-rickman-goodbye-to-harry-potter/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","celebrities","Harry Potter","Actors","J.K. Rowling"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt995589fdc828d1a6/698879280a4a22b3ed9c7e7d/alan-rickman-goodbye-to-harry-potter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt995589fdc828d1a6/698879280a4a22b3ed9c7e7d/alan-rickman-goodbye-to-harry-potter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apple Store Soho: Meet the Filmmaker: Alan Rickman, \"A Little Chaos\"","caption":"lan Rickman attends Apple Store Soho: Meet the Filmmaker: Alan Rickman, 'A Little Chaos' at Apple Store Soho on June 19, 2015 in New York City.","creditText":"Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4180663/alan-rickman-goodbye-to-harry-potter/","name":"Read Alan Rickman's Touching Goodbye Letter to Harry Potter"}}]}] ```