Dhe British actor Robbie Coltrane, world famous for his role as “Hagrid” in the Harry Potter films, died on Friday. This was reported by the British news agency PA, citing the 72-year-old’s agent, Belinda Wright.
Born Anthony Robert McMillan in Scotland, the actor adopted the surname Coltrane – because he admired jazz musician John Coltrane. He attended Glasgow School of Art and worked as a stand-up comedian. He had his first success on the stage of the Traverse Theater in Edinburgh in 1978 in the play The Slab Boys. On television he appeared in the BBC series The Lost Tribe in the 1980s. He got a formative role in the crime series “For All Cases Fitz”, in which he played the criminal psychologist Dr. Eddie “Fitz” Fitzgerald played. In the “James Bond” films “Golden Eye” (1995) and “The World Is Not Enough” (1999) he played a former KGB agent. Films based on the books by Joanne K. Rowling, in which he played the half-giant Hagrid.
Robbie Coltrane was a “unique talent,” said his agent Belinda Wright. His role as gamekeeper Hagrid at Hogwarts School of Magic earned him a weekly stream of fan letters for more than 20 years. As Rubeus Hagrid, Coltrane gave Harry Potter the gigantic but lovable, if somewhat goofy, wizard student mentor who rescues him from the hands of his jealous foster family.
