Actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, has died aged 72. (File)
London:
Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, has died aged 72, his representative said on Friday.
“My client and friend Robbie Coltrane OBE passed away on Friday, October 14,” Belinda Wright said in a statement, calling him “a unique talent.”
Coltrane, born Anthony Robert McMillan on 30 March 1950, in Rutherglen, near Glasgow, forged a career as an actor, comedian and writer.
On television, he co-starred with Emma Thompson in the hit BBC mini-series “Tutti Frutti” in 1987.
He rose to fame and won more awards for his role as alcoholic criminal psychologist, Dr. Eddie “Fitz” Fitzgerald in the ITV series “Cracker” (1993-2006).
He is the English author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson on the television comedy series “Blackadder the Third” alongside “Mr Bean” stars Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie (“House”).
On the big screen, he had a role in Neil Jordan’s 1987 crime drama “Mona Lisa” and teamed up with former Monty Python star Eric Idle in the 1990 comedy “Nuns on the Run”.
He also played a former KGB agent turned Russian mafia boss in two James Bond films – “Goldeneye” (1995) and “The World Is Not Enough” (1999) – with Pierce Brosnan.
But he will be remembered globally as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-human, half-giant steward and Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts in JK Rowling’s best-selling Harry Potter series.
The role “brings joy to children and adults around the world, driving a weekly fan mailing for more than 20 years,” Ms. Wright said.
She added: “For me personally, I will remember him as an absolute loyal customer.
“Unfortunately a great actor, he’s really smart, has a great sense of wit and after 40 years of being proud to be called my agent, I’ll miss him.”
Coltrane is survived by her sister Annie Rae, children Spencer and Alice, and their mother Rhona Gemmell.
No cause of death was given but Wright thanked the medical staff at Royal Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert, central Scotland, “for their care and diplomacy”.
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