About the Author

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (born 21 February 1946) was an English actor and theatre director. He was a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In film his best-known work featured roles in Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, the Harry Potter series, Sense & Sensibility and Love, Actually. He won numerous awards including a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy. He died on 14 January 2016.Alan Taylor is a journalist and writer. He was founding editor of The Scottish Review of Books. He has edited several acclaimed anthologies, including The Assassin's Cloak, a collection of the world's best diarists. He is the author of Appointment in Arezzo: A Friendship with Muriel Spark and is the series editor of Spark's collected novels.

Reviews

'Mesmerising . . . Witty and debonair, caustic and fretful, for which some readers may like him less, others love him more. Madly, deeply and, better, truly he writes about what it is to be an actor' - Telegraph

'Fascinating . . . Mostly pithy, always frank' - The Times

'The star's thoughts reveal a man unwilling to suffer fools or mince his words - most of the time Alan Rickman's voice was a purr, but it masked sharp claws . . . I got the feeling he was wonderful company. These diaries confirm it' - Anthony Quinn

'Insightful, moving and entertaining . . . The posthumously released diaries of Alan Rickman showcase both the late actor's self-doubt and savage film criticism' - The Guide 2022

'His merciless verdicts on showbiz idiocy are tempered by a deep loyalty and humanity . . . So much of Rickman's character as it was preserved on screen cannot be captured in words - his unmistakable voice, his towering presence and charisma. But on the page, six years after his death, new parts of him can be found' - New Statesman