ACTOR and film director Alan Rickman died from cancer yesterday aged 69.

The highly respected star and Labour supporter, hailing from a working-class west London family, had a prolific career on stage and screen after graduating from drama school Rada in 1974.

He shot to stardom in 1988 when he played Bruce Willis’s nemesis Hans Gruber in Die Hard before attracting a new generation of fans playing Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.