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(CNN)Alan Rickman, the British actor with the unforgettable voice who played the brooding Professor Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" films as well as "Die Hard" villain Hans Gruber, died Thursday after a short battle with cancer, according to his representatives at Independent Talent Group.

He was 69.
"There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman's death," "Potter" author J.K. Rowling tweeted Thursday.
Fans had lost "a great talent," she said, and his family "have lost a part of their hearts."
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.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 14, 2016
Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the films, posted a statement on Google+ calling Rickman "one of the greatest actors I will ever work with" and one of the nicest, as well.
"Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and funny," Radcliffe wrote. "And certain things obviously became even funnier when delivered in his unmistakable double-bass."
Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
A smooth-voiced London native, Rickman worked on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in UK television projects before earning his first film role as German terrorist Gruber, opposite Bruce Willis' John McClane, in 1988's "Die Hard."
He had been in Hollywood only two days, but he almost didn't take the role.
"I read it, and I said, 'What the hell is this? I'm not doing an action movie,' " he recounted in a 2015 interview with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
It ended up being one of the most memorably villainous roles in film history.
In the 2015 interview, Rickman recounted that he helped shape the role, despite being a novice film actor hired because he would work cheap.
After being fitted to wear a militaristic outfit as leader of a band of terrorists, Rickman suggested that perhaps Gruber could wear a suit, affect an American accent and pretend to be a civilian trapped in the building for a scene with Willis' cop character.
He said he was told, "You'll wear what you're told."
"But then I came back, and they handed me the new script" that included the revisions.
"So you know, it just pays to occasionally use a little bit of theater training when you're doing a movie."
'Harry Potter' actor Alan Rickman dies

'Harry Potter' actor Alan Rickman dies 02:02
Despite acclaim for his portrayal of Gruber and performances in movies such as "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "Truly Madly Deeply" and "Sense and Sensibility," Rickman was never nominated for an Oscar.
He did win a BAFTA Award for supporting actor in "Robin Hood" and was nominated three other times, including for "Truly Madly Deeply," in 1990, and "Sense and Sensibility" in 1995.
He also won a Golden Globe in 1997 for best actor in the HBO biopic "Rasputin."
Although he carried on a lifelong love affair with stage acting, Rickman is probably best known to younger filmgoers as Snape, the antagonistic and bullying wizard who, in the end, plays a crucial role in the Potter saga.
He took the role in 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" without knowing much about the character.
"People thought I knew a lot, and I didn't," he said. "When I was asked to do it, there were only three books written."
People we've lost in 2016
Photos: People we've lost in 2016
But he did have a clue, he said in a 2011 thank-you letter to Rowling at the conclusion of the film series, which saw stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint grow up on screen.
"Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands."
That knowledge helped shape his portrayal of the character, he told the Los Angeles Times in 2011.
"It was a punctuation mark in my life every year, because I would be doing other things but always come back to that, and I was always aware of my place in the story even as others around me were not," Rickman told the newspaper.
His presence was invaluable, "Potter" producer David Heyman told the Los Angeles Times.
"He had a real understanding of the character, and now looking back, you can see there was always more going on there -- a look, an expression, a sentiment -- that hint at what is to come," Heyman said. "The shadow that he casts in these films is a huge one, and the emotion he conveys is immeasurable."