Rickman was born in Acton, London, to a working-class family, the son of Margaret Doreen Rose (Bartlett), a housewife, and Bernard Rickman, a factory worker. His ancestry was English, Irish and Welsh; his father was Catholic and his mother a Methodist. His family included an older brother, David , a graphic designer; a younger brother, Michael , a tennis coach; and a younger sister, Sheila .Rickman attended Derwentwater Primary School in Acton, a school that followed the Montessori method of education.