We’ve learned the very sad news today that veteran Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, best known for his role in the Harry Potter movies, has passed away this week at the age of 72.
Deadline reports that Coltrane “passed away in hospital near his home in Larbert, Scotland. The award-winning actor had been in ill health for the past two years.”
Robbie Coltrane became beloved to Harry Potter fans around the world thanks to his role as the lovable Rubeus Hagrid in the hugely successful live action film franchise, a role he first played in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and continued to play straight through to the final film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in 2011.
Outside the world of Harry Potter, Robbie Coltrane amassed well over 100 additional film and television credits dating back to 1979, with notable projects including Krull (1983), National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Henry V (1989), The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), GoldenEye (1995), Alice in Wonderland (1999), From Hell (2001), Van Helsing (2004), Ocean’s Twelve (2004), The Brothers Bloom (2008), Arthur Christmas (2011), and Brave (2012).
Deadline recalls, “Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan in Rutherglen, Scotland in 1950. He took the stage name Coltrane in his early 20s in tribute to jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and broke through in Byrne’s theater production of The Slab Boys.
“Early film roles included Flash Gordon and Mona Lisa before he appeared on the small screen in Tutti Frutti then Blackadder the Third.”
Robbie Coltrane is survived by two children.
Thank you Robbie Coltrane for leaving us with Hagrid forever, you were a treasure.
RIP 🖤 pic.twitter.com/Lo1PbWnBpj— Ren Geekness @ LFF (@RenGeekness) October 14, 2022