The cutting wit of Alan Rickman

 In the late actors diaries his merciless verdicts on showbiz idiocy are tempered by a deep loyalty and humanity.

When Alan Rickman died of pancreatic cancer in January 2016 the New Yorker ran a cartoon that was widely shared online. Two characters from two of Rickmans best known blockbuster films are seated at a bar  a bespectacled Harry Potter and Die Hards John McClane muscles bursting from his tank top. They sombrely raise their glasses. The caption reads Heres to the best damned antagonist a guy could ask for.