His agent, Scott Henderson, confirmed on Friday that Robbie Coltrane, who played the loving gamekeeper Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series, has passed away. He was 72.
In addition to “Cracker,” the Scottish-born actor also appeared in “GoldenEye” and “The World Is Not Enough,” both of which featured James Bond.
The circumstances surrounding the death were not immediately disclosed.
Coltrane honed his comedic skills on the stage before he became internationally famous as the bearded Hagrid.
He co-starred with Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, and Emma Thompson in a 1980s sketch series called “Alfresco,” but the show didn’t last long.
Friday, Fry tweeted a tribute to his former co-star.
Just around 40 years ago, I had my first encounter with Robbie Coltrane. It was equal parts amazing and terrifying and romantic for me. Those words he said, “Such depth, power, and talent: humorous enough to provoke hopeless hiccups and honking as we created our first TV show, ‘Alfresco,'” rang true when we filmed our pilot episode. Farewell, chum.
Coltrane’s first nomination for a British Academy Television Award for best actor came from their six-part drama series “Tutti Frutti,” in which they co-starred alongside Thompson.
Cracker, a television series he worked on in the ’90s, would be the source of his first Emmy Award. The criminal drama’s initial run was 1993–1995, and it was followed by two further one-offs.
Coltrane fit perfectly into the role of Hagrid, the half-giant, half-human figure. He had read the books to his kids, so he was familiar with them and enjoyed them, he said in an interview.
“If you want to be an actor, you have to perform the voices. This is what the kids have come to anticipate. The joker quipped that monotone speakers would be banned.
But it was his acting that made the character — a kind and compassionate half-giant — so memorable.
In the “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” special on HBO Max, Coltrane talked about his time in the films and the influence of Hagrid.
The plain truth is that everyone in the world wishes they had a large, strong, nice man on their side. The appeal of Superman and similar concepts, he explained, lies precisely in this. The decent man Hagrid always was, right?
According to a statement released by his UK agent, Belinda Wright, Coltrane is survived by his two children, Spencer and Alice; their mother, Rhona Gemmell; and his sister, Annie Rae.
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