Anna Chancellor’s partner Redha Debbah was in their kitchen in west London when somebody rang from New York to say she’d been rushed to hospital with viral meningitis.

Rich, sonorous, fruity, hypnotic... many adjectives have been deployed to describe the voice of Alan Rickman, writes BRIAN VINER.

The actor and director became a household name on the big screen after appearing to huge critical acclaim as Hans Gruber, Bruce Willis’s sardonic adversary, in Die Hard.

Alan Rickman, who died yesterday aged 69, recorded a voiceover for a Save the Children and Refugee Council joint charity appeal in what is thought to be one of his last ever pieces of work.

As thespian friends pay tribute to the late Alan Rickman, a further poignant detail emerges. The star, pictured, was planning to buy a new house, writes SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE.

In a 2011 interview the actor, who died last week aged 69, said author Rowling had given him a 'tiny, little, left of field' detail to help his portrayal of antihero Professor Severus Snape.

His last work was lending his trademark dulcet tones to the character of the Blue Caterpillar in the sequel to 2010's Alice In Wonderland.

Director Richard Curtis revealed that the upcoming Love Actually Comic Relief special will not pay tribute to the late Alan Rickman, after he tragically passed away last year.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday - the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts - she wrote: 'Please don't start flame wars over it, but this year I'd like to apologise for killing (whispers)... Snape.'

The actor, who died in 2016 aged 69 from pancreatic cancer, reveals his misgivings in his archive of personal papers covering more than 40 years on stage and screen.

EDDIE HEARN: The heavyweight world is total carnage right now. Tyson Fury did an incredible job to shake up the division last year but now he has done it again without even stepping inside the ropes.

EDDIE HEARN: Social media is a funny thing. I was bemused to see comments on Twitter this week that Kell Brook wants to swerve a fight with Errol Spence – pretty odd as he fought Gennady Golovkin.

EDDIE HEARN: Around 27,000 will be there to witness a sporting event that I believe the city of Sheffield will never forget. But it's funny, it's a fight I wasn't sure Kell should take.

The 30-year-old Victoria's Secret Angel flashed her stunning figure in a skimpy bikini top as she documented her vacation with beau Tom Daley to her Instagram followers

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY LAURA LAMBERT: Jack Laugher is trying to explain how hard it is to string together six perfect dives. 'It is like taking a penalty in a World Cup final,' he tells Sportsmail.

The pair looked every inch the happy couple as they attended the Pride of Britain Awards at Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Monday.

SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Tom Daley's knitting hobby, which he took up to deal with self-isolation, is not going down too well with his husband, film producer Dustin Lance Black.

An Australian who was drugged and raped in Korea said she has felt trapped in a 'never ending nightmare' since having to start an online campaign to push police to take her case seriously.

The man allegedly paid $115,000 by Channel Nine's 60 Minutes to orchestrate the child recovery in Lebanon in April has walked out of jail and says the 'truth will come out soon'.

The mother-of-two said her Instagram star daughter 'cried for the whole day' after talking to the disgraced investment banker - who was jailed for two years in June.

Michael Clarke addresses rumours ex-fiancée Lara Bingle flushed her $200,000 engagement ring down the toilet for the first time in his tell-all interview with 60 Minutes.

Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner has revealed the chilling moment she realised her estranged husband Ali Elamine had taken her two children to Lebanon and had no intention of returning them.

Allison Langdon debuted her baby bump on the red carpet at Channel Nine's Upfront event in Sydney on Tuesday, two months after reports surfaced that the 60 Minutes reporter is expecting her first child.

Joanne Lees has revealed the chilling moment she realised police were treating her as a potential suspect in the case of her murdered boyfriend Peter Falconio, who was killed in 2001 in outback Australia.

Benjamin Ferencz, 97, is the last living prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Ferencz spoke out against war, saying 'all wars' make murderers out of 'all decent people'.

The fiance of accused drug mule Cassandra Sainsbury is now considered a 'person of interest' to Colombian prosecutors investigating the 5.8kg of cocaine found in her bag.

Fiance of accused cocaine smuggler Cassie Sainsbury, Scott Broadbridge, hasn't spoke to her mother since her arrest over a month ago.

Peter Stefanovic has spent time apart from wife Sylvia Jeffreys as he visits multi-million dollar 'survivalist condo'

It looks like the fun has continued for Peter Stefanovic, who shared a comical photo of himself to Instagram on Thursday.

On Sunday night, a report aired on 60 Minutes about a new test that some say could 'effectively end Down Syndrome' in Australia. Here, mother Joelle Kelly shares why this is a bad idea.

Renee McBryde, the daughter of Australian convicted murderer Michael Caldwell has opened up about what her life has been like as the child of killer and discovering the secret.

Filmmaker James Cameron was revealed the terrifying moment he almost lost his life during one of his deep sea dives.

She's one of Australia's biggest Hollywood exports, having appearing in films including The Others and Eyes Wide Shut. 

Chris Froome has become the 2011 Spanish Vuelta winner because of Juan Jose Cobo's disqualification for blood doping. Cobo did not meet a deadline to challenge his three-year ban.

The 34-year-old suffered multiple broken bones after he collided with a wall during this year's event, but is ahead in his recovery and is targeting next year's race as a potential return date.

Froome posted a picture on social media following the operation, restating his goals of getting back to full fitness in time for next summer's Tour de France and the Olympic road race in Japan.

Retired engineer Richard Keedwell, 71, has spent nearly three years, attended seven court hearings and spent £30,000 of his sons' inheritance disputing a £100 speeding fine.

During an alarmingly meandering and sweary after-dinner speech for online LGBT newspaper PinkNews earlier this month, Dawn Butler declared that almost all giraffes were gay.

A.N. WILSON: Peter Phillips' tacky and absurd milk advertisement, reported in yesterday's Daily Mail, has provoked understandable laughter and contempt.

Exactly 1,000 days ago today, the British electorate went to the ballot box for the EU referendum. How long ago it now seems! Today the dream, if not dead, is on life support.

CHARLES SALE - SPORTS AGENDA: BBC are making significant changes to their flagship Sports Personality of the Year programme that turned into a shambles in Liverpool last year.

CHARLES SALE - SPORTS AGENDA: The most fascinating insight from a Ryder Cup pundit this week will be delivered by former European captain Ian Woosnam.

CHARLES SALE: The European Tour have thrown in the towel in their attempts to stop Ryder Cup stars ambush marketing timekeeper sponsors Rolex on the official team photographs.

CHARLES SALE - SPORTS AGENDA IN PARIS: It has emerged on the eve of the Ryder Cup that European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley earned a salary of £2.78million last year.

CHARLES SALE: Sky's continued coverage of the Ryder Cup for the next two tournaments is by far the most crucial aspect of their new four-year deal with the European Tour, agreed on the eve of the event.

John Oliver, who plays Zazu in the new Lion King, confirmed speculations that Beyonce, who stars alongside him as Nala, was not actually present for the cast's official photo shoot.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z enjoyed some sweet family time with a beach picnic on Sunday. The couple were spotted with their twins, Sir and Rumi, one, while lounging around in The Hamptons.

She impressed Ricki-Lee Coulter with her first performance on Australia's Got Talent.  

Brandon Fries, who works at Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio, executed the tricky choreography from the 2003 number one hit at a disco.

A jeweller who started her business at just 21 from the kitchen table of her parents' home in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire has revealed how some of the world's biggest stars now wear her designs.