Alan Rickman, an unforgettable actor who was able to play any role with creativity and character recently passed away on January 14th.

Rickman was well known for his intense role of the villainous German terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard. For younger viewers, the star is also known for playing the bitter, despicable Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

The sixty-nine year old British actor had suffered a stroke back in August, which led to his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. He battled pancreatic cancer for a short time and died at a hospital in London comforted by his family and friends around him.

Rickman’s death came as a surprise not only to his fans, but also to his co-stars and his friends. Many Harry Potter co-stars and the author of the series, J.K. Rowling, wrote meaningful tweets after finding out about his death.

Rowling tweeted: “There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman’s death. He was a magnificent actor & a wonderful man.” following with, “My thoughts are with Rima [Rickman’s wife] and the rest of Alan’s family. We have all lost a great talent. They have lost part of their hearts.”

Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series tweeted: “I’m very sad to hear about Alan today. I feel so lucky to have worked and spent time with such a special man and actor. I’ll really miss our conversations. RIP Alan. We love you.”

Although Rickman was well-known as playing villain, he was a versatile actor. In Galaxy Quest, Rickman played Alexander Dane, a stage-trained British actor who could only get work on the fictitious sci-fi show of the same name, His role showed that he not only has a sense of humor, but could also laugh at himself since he was also a classically trained actor.

He also showed that he could play in more romantic movies in Sense and Sensibility, director Ang Lee’s adaption of a Jane Austen novel, and the winter holiday favorite Love Actually. In both movies and in a few of the Harry Potter films, he worked with longtime friend and actress Emma Thompson. Thompson also directed Rickman in The Winter Guest.

According to the BBC, Thompson considered Rickman “the finest of actors and directors” and that “the was, above all things, a rare and unique human being and we shall not see his like again.”

The world has lost not only an incredible actor, but also a wonderful man who believed in hard work and talent.