Scottish actor and comedian Robbie Coltrane died on Friday at the age of 72. He was best known to the general public for his role as the half-giant Hagrid in Harry Potter and had won 3 BAFTAs for his detective series Cracker.
After brilliant studies in painting and cinema at the Glasgow School of Art, Anthony Robert McMillan directed the documentary “Young mental health”, winner of the Scottish Education Council Prize in 1973, and took the pseudonym Robbie Coltrane in homage to Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He then made himself known thanks to his comic talents by joining the troupe The Comic Strip.
After a first appearance on the big screen in La Mort en direct by Bertrand Tavernier, Robbie Coltrane demonstrated true eclecticism by strolling his imposing silhouette between all genres: fantasy (Flash Gordon, 1980; Krull, 1983), film of war (Revolution, 1985), the thriller (Mona Lisa, 1986; From hell, 2002), the musical (Absolute Beginners, 1986), the historical film (Henry V, 1989) and the romance (A bottle in the sea , 1999) are thus visited. He also appears in many television series and is, for three years, the hero of the detective series Cracker (1993-1996).
Robbie Coltrane also stands out by working for successful film franchises. He thus appears in the credits of two parts of the adventures of James Bond, Goldeneye (1995) and The World is not enough (1999). He then played the giant Rubeus Hagrid in the eight films of one of the most popular and lucrative sagas for teenagers: Harry Potter. Robbie Coltrane is therefore now forever associated with the character of Hagrid, one of the most faithful allies of the hero and one of the characters most appreciated by fans.
MGM Robbie Coltrane appeared twice in James Bond
However, in parallel with the saga, the actor continues to turn with the same eclecticism as in his beginnings: he thus plays in the film of monster Van Helsing (2004), joins the band of Ocean’s Twelve (id.), embodies the British Prime Minister in the spy comedy Alex Rider: Stormbreaker (2006) and participated in An almost perfect scam in 2009. The same year, he tried his hand at dubbing with The Legend of Despereaux. The experience must please him, because he renews it several times, notably for Le Gruffalo (2011), Mission: Noël The adventures of the Noël family (id.) and Rebelle (2012).
In 2014, he appeared as a doctor in the biographical film about the unhappy marriage of Effie Gray and art critic John Ruskin, as well as in the miniseries Sacred Monster, which he starred with Julie Walters, who played Molly Weasley in Harry Potter. Five years later, he played Orson Welles in two episodes of Urban Myths, which would mark his last screen appearance.
Sky News announced his death at the age of 72 on October 14, 2022.