Hagrid’s portrayer in the Harry Potter movies, actor Robbie Coltrane, passed away on Saturday at the age of 72.
Coltrane co-starred with Pierce Brosnan in two James Bond movies, “Goldeneye” (1995) and “The World Is Not Enough” (1999), as a former KGB agent who became a Russian mafia lord.
J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, and British actor Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, both paid tribute to the late Robbie Coltrane with sincere words.
From “Sorcerer’s Stone” in 2001 to “Death Hallows -Part 2” in 2011, Coltrane appeared in every “Harry Potter” film. He was praised for bringing the character from J.K. Rowling’s book series to life.
He was among the first characters to make appearance, and he gave a young Daniel Radcliffe the line, “Yer a wizard, Harry,” as he set off on his adventure into the wizarding world.
In the 1995 film “GoldenEye” and the 1999 film “The World Is Not Enough,” the Scottish actor, comedian, and author also played the role of Russian mafia boss Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky.
In 1983, he made one of his earliest significant appearances on the British sketch comedy programme “Alfresco.” Alongside other future greats like Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, and Stephen Fry, he co-starred in movies. A few years later, he worked with Thompson once more on the BBC Scotland drama “Tutti Frutti” (1987), when he received his first British Academy Television Award nomination for best actor. He won three British Academy Television awards for his performance as criminal psychologist Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald in the ITV crime thriller “Cracker” from 1993 to 1995. Coltrane played a retired comic who is accused of sexual assault in the famous Channel 4 drama “National Treasure” after hanging up Hagrid’s moleskin cloak. He received several best actor nominations from British organizations for the part.
Belinda Wright, his longtime agent, talked about their past collaborations. He will likely be best known for his performance as Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, which delighted audiences worldwide and prompted a steady trickle of fan mail for more than 20 years, according to Wright, who wrote to Variety through email. “For myself, I will remember him as a steadfastly devoted customer. In addition to being a fantastic actor, he was also brilliantly humorous and forensically knowledgeable, and after 40 years of being honoured to be called his Agent, I shall miss him.