STACK #136 Feb 2016

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GONE - BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

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.

DAVID BOWIE

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.

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FEBRUARY 2016

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