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08 FEBRUARY 2016
EXTRAS
DAVID BOWIE
ALAN
RICKMAN
A lan Rickman was a much loved screen
icon and arguably one of the best movie
villains of all time. As with many British stars,
he first came to attention on the stage,
winning global acclaim as the original star of
Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which premiered at
the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1985. He
made his screen debut in Die Hard as Euro
villain Hans Gruber in what would be the first
of many movie-hijacking performances.
All in all, Rickman made more than 70 film
and TV appearances, as well as directing two
films, The Winter Guest and last year’s A Little
Chaos. There are also a few new films to
come, including the drone thriller Eye In The
Sky and the Tim Burton sequel Alice Through
The Looking Glass , where he will once again
voice the character of the Blue Caterpillar.
It's hard to think of a poor Rickman
performance, with memorable turns in Die
Hard (1988), Truly Madly Deeply (1990), Robin
Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Harry
Potter (2001-2011) and films as diverse as
Close My Eyes (1991), Sense & Sensibility
(1995), Michael Collins (1996), Dogma (1999),
Snow Cake (2006),and Love, Actually (2003).
Then there is his TV work: he won a Golden
Globe for the mini-series Rasputin and also
made an early impression in the BBC period
drama The Barchester Chronicles (1982).
Rickman married his partner of 25 years, Rima
Horton,
last year.
GLENN FREY
i t's hard to imagine a more influential
artist than David Bowie who passed away
in January following an 18 month battle with
cancer, a fight he insisted on keeping private.
Born in Brixton in 1947, his family moved to
Bromley in Kent, where, as a bored teenager
Bowie learned to play the play the saxophone,
dropped out from college and decided he
wanted a career in rock music. He came to
prominence in 1969 releasing Space Oddity
aged only 22 years-old.
A master of manipulating his public and stage
persona, evident in his controversial portrayal
of Ziggy Stardust in the early '70s that shocked
media commentators and parents all over
Britain, Bowie worked tirelessly throughout
a career that spanned 50 years continuously
experimenting with his sound and image.
An insatiable creative, in his lifetime Bowie
excelled within the arenas of music, drama,
painting and visual arts. Reinvention and
imagination were the cornerstones of a career
that saw him release 26 studio albums (with
140 million sold), appear in more than 30 film
and television roles (leading, supporting and
documentary), and inspire millions of people
around the world to proudly let their freak
flag fly.
His final album Blackstar was released two
days before his death on January 8, his 69th
birthday. He is survived by his wife Iman and
two adult children.
T he founding member of the Eagles,
Glenn Frey, also joined the roll call of
dearly departed in January, aged 67. Frey, along
with singer-drummer Don Henley, formed the
Eagles in 1971 when the pair met in Los
Angeles.
From humble beginnings, Frey helped
shape the band into a stadium-conquering giant
that blazed a trail through the '70s, defining
a generation with a sound that fused country
with rock 'n' roll.
The Eagles' success lay in the accessibility
of their music; uncomplicated, well-produced,
catchy melodies, and it was Frey together with
Henley that penned the majority of the band's
best sellers including Take It Easy, One Of
These Nights and Desperado.
However, with success came the
trappings of fame, and Frey famously
described his time in the Eagles during the '70s
as “got crazy, got drunk, got high, had girls,
played music and made money." Eventually
in-fighting caused the band to implode and in
1980, the Eagles split up.
Frey embarked on a successful solo career
in the age of MTV, penning the '80s anthem
The Heat is On from the 1984 film Beverley
Hills Cop, and turned his hand to acting too.
Eventually in 1994 the Eagles reunited and
performed up until last year. Frey is survived by
his wife of 26 years Cindy Millican, a daughter
and two sons.
GONE - BUT NOT FORGOTTEN