Robbie Coltrane, a veteran Scottish-born comic and actor known for his star turns in the British crime series Cracker and the Harry Potter movie franchise, has died, his agency WME told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 72 years old.
The boisterous and decidedly eccentric Scotsman, who began his career in comedy and theater, also commanded the screen in two James Bond films during an illustrious career on both sides of the Atlantic.
Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950, in Glasgow, Scotland as the son of a doctor and teacher. After graduating from Glasgow Art School, he continued his studies in art at Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh.
But as his attempts to become an artist failed to pan out, Coltrane took up stand-up comedy in Edinburgh clubs. And he changed his last name in honor of the jazz legend John Coltrane as he turned to acting in London.
Coltrane’s early TV credits include Flash Gordon, Blackadder and Keep It in the Family. His other comedy credits included series like A Kick Up the Eighties, The Comic Strip and Alfresco as he became a mainstay on British TV screens.
Coltrane’s breakout role was playing Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald, an anti-social criminal psychologist with a gift for solving crimes, in Jimmy McGovern’s Cracker series, which ran over 25 episodes between 1993 and 2006.
That BAFTA-winning performance led Coltrane to roles in two James Bond films as he played Valentin Zukovsky in GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. Coltrane’s other big supporting roles came as he played Rubeus Hagrid the Giant in the Harry Potter films, starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001.
In 2019, among his more recent performances, Coltrane reprised his role as Hagrid in the fantasy short film Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. Coltrane penned an autobiography, Coltrane in a Cadillac, and also starred in the TV series of the same name in 1993, where he drove across America from Los Angeles to New York City in a classic 1951 Cadillac car.
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