Robbie Coltrane, star of Cracker and Harry Potter, dies aged 72



Robbie Coltrane died connected Friday, successful keeping with his agent. Photograph: ITV/REX/ShutterstockRobbie Coltrane died connected Friday, successful measurement with his agent. Photograph: ITV/REX/Shutterstock

Scottish histrion who graduated from the alternate drama country to look arsenic a main performer recognised for taking implicit analyzable and hard roles

Peter Bradshaw connected Robbie Coltrane

@Andrew_PulverFri 14 Oct 2022 12.52 EDTLast changed connected Fri 14 Oct 2022 thirteen.10 EDT

Robbie Coltrane, whose appearing assemblage spanned the full happening from Bond movies to Cracker to Harry Potter, has died aged 72.

The accusation was confirmed by his cause connected Friday.

Born Anthony Robert McMillan successful the affluent Glaswegian suburb of Rutherglen, Coltrane became knowledgeable astatine Glenalmond College, an impartial boarding module whose corporal punishment helium defined arsenic “legalised violence”, earlier than going to the Glasgow School of Art. He had 2nd caput astir his quality arsenic a painter, and switched to enactment wide performance, acting successful extremist theatre organizations (which includes a troupe from San Quentin State prison) and doing standup, taking the pseudonym Coltrane arsenic homage to celebrated jazz instrumentalist John Coltrane.

His archetypal show recognition people go Waterloo Sunset, the Richard Eyre-directed Play for Today successful 1979, successful which helium played other Queenie Watts’s care-home escapee. Thereafter, helium had tiny appearances successful movies and TV suggests, including Flash Gordon, Are You Being Served?, Krull and Britannia Hospital, his antithetic look and sheer size helping him basal arrogant of the group. Coltrane’s drama abilities commenced to instrumentality precedence, arsenic helium determined accomplishment successful the aboriginal Nineteen Eighties successful TV comic portion shows consisting of Alfresco and A Kick Up the 1980s. These positioned him firmly successful the schoolhouse of 80s accidental drama alongside Ben Elton, Emma Thompson and Rik Mayall – an recognition reinforced done his mundane information successful Comic Strip Presents films consisting of specified cardinal entries arsenic Five Go Mad successful Dorset, The Beat Generation and The Bullshitters.

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However, Coltrane’s skills arsenic an histrion were much and much successful evidence, and helium had sizeable fulfillment successful 1987 with Tutti Frutti, the John Byrne-scripted, Bafta-winning TV postulation astir a washed-up Scottish rock’n’roll band. Coltrane located himself much and much admired for bigger roles successful higher-profile tasks, from Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio (wherein helium played a cardinal) to Falstaff successful Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V. However, it changed into 2 non secular-themed drama films – Nuns astatine the Run and The Pope Must Die – that propelled Coltrane to main-man repute, and positioned him connected the representation wrong the US.

Coltrane’s raised repute turned into confirmed by mode of his casting due to the fact that the crook scientist “Fitz” Fitzgerald successful Jimmy McGovern’s TV postulation Cracker, which archetypal aired successful 1993. A defiantly non-comic role, Fitzgerald became a groundbreaking introduction: astonishing astatine his process but a messiness successful his backstage existence. Coltrane won the first-rate TV histrion Bafta successful 1994, 1995 and 1996 for the function. Fitzgerald’s addictive mode of beingness additionally meditated the actor’s: Coltrane admitted to being a dense drinker wrong the Eighties, and remained famously combative, once threatening to flooded up Piers Morgan successful a London eating place. He past located himself coagulated successful Bond movies, GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough, arsenic morally ambiguous KGB cause Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky.

Coltrane settled close into a mid-period assemblage of alternating roles successful plush Hollywood productions (Message successful a Bottle, From Hell, Ocean’s Twelve) with easygoing TV appearances (Alice successful Wonderland, The Gruffalo). He additionally indulged his involvement successful vintage cars wrong the 1997 bid Coltrane’s Planes and Automobiles. However, helium discovered himself astatine the pinnacle of the listing for the casting of Hogwarts’ module caretaker Rubeus Hagrid wrong the movie exemplary of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter collection. The archetypal wrong the collection, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released successful 2001, and gained Coltrane a caller people assemblage of much youthful fanatics, and helped re-energise his career, specifically connected British TV. In 2009, helium played investigating detective DI Hain successful David Pirie’s Murderland, and his wide show arsenic a TV prima accused of intersexual maltreatment wrong the 2016 Channel 4 amusement National Treasure turned into greeted with acclaim.

Coltrane joined the sculptor Rhona Gemmell successful 1999, however they separated successful 2003. They had 2 youngsters.