According to hollywoodreporter.com, Robbie Coltrane, the comic and actor know for his role in the British crime series Cracker and the Harry Potter movie franchise, has passed away on Friday at the age of 72 years old. Coltrane’s agent, Belinda Wright called him a “unique talent,” that she will remember as “an abidingly loyal client. As well as being a wonderful actor, he was forensically intelligent and brilliantly witty, and after 40 years of being proud to be to called his agent, I shall miss him.”
Coltrane got his start in comedy and theater, and also starred in two James Bond films during a career on both sides of the Atlantic. Coltrane was born as Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30th, 1950, in Glasgow, Scotland, as the son of a doctor and a teacher. He graduated from Glasgow Art School and decided to continue his studies in art at Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh. As his attempts as an artist failed, he took up stand-up comedy in Edinburgh clubs, changing his last name in honor of the jazz legend John Coltrane as he made his way into acting in London.
Coltrane’s early TV features included 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. His break out role was playing Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald, in Jimmy McGovern’s Cracker series that ran over 25 episodes between 1993 and 2006. Coltrane won three consecutive BAFTA best television actor awards for that role, sharing a record set for the most wins in a row. This led to him performing in roles in two James Bond films, as well as Rubeus Hagrid, the giant groundskeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from the Harry Potter films.
J.K. Rowling remembered Coltrane on social media stating, “I’ll never know anyone remotely like Robbie again. He was an incredible talent, a complete one off, and I was beyond fortunate to know him, work with him and laugh my head off with him. I send my love and deepest condolences to his family, above all his children.”
Others including Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson from the Harry Potter Series also took to social media in order to say some last words in honor of Coltrane. Coltrane is survived by a sister, Annie Rae, his children, Spencer and Alice, and their mother, Rhona Gemmell. The family, Wright stated, “would like to thank the medical staff at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Scotland for their care and diplomacy.”
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