A lasting legacy. Harry Potter and James Bond star Robbie Coltrane died on Friday, October 14, Us Weekly confirms. He was 72.
“We can confirm that Robbie Coltrane has died,” a representative for the Scottish actor said in a statement to Us. “He is survived by his sister Annie Rae, his children Spencer and Alice and their mother Rhona Gemmell.” A cause of death has not yet been revealed.
Coltrane, who was born Anthony Robert McMillan, was best known for playing Hogwarts groundskeeper Hagrid in the Harry Potter franchise. After a career as a stand-up comic in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Brave voice actor starred on several British sitcoms like Blackadder and Alfresco before landing his breakout role as criminal psychologist Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald on Cracker. He earned three consecutive BAFTA TV awards for his work on the series, which ran from 1993 to 2006.
In addition to Harry Potter, Coltrane also starred opposite Pierce Brosnan in two James Bond films — 1995’s GoldenEye and 1999’s The World is Not Enough — as Valentin Zukovsky.
“I first met Robbie Coltrane almost exactly 40 years ago. I was awe/terror/love struck all at the same time,” Stephen Fry wrote via Twitter shortly after the news broke. “Such depth, power & talent: funny enough to cause helpless hiccups & honking as we made our first TV show, Alfresco.”
The Bit of Fry and Laurie star, 65, continued: “Farewell, old fellow. You’ll be so dreadfully missed.”
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe also remembered Coltrane, describing him as “one of the funniest people I’ve met” in a statement to Deadline. “[He] used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set,” the Lost City actor, 33, recalled. “I’ve especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on Prisoner of Azkaban, when we were all hiding from the torrential rain for hours in Hagrid’s hut and he was telling stories and cracking jokes to keep morale up.”
He concluded: “I feel incredibly lucky that I got to meet and work with him and very sad that he’s passed. He was an incredible actor and a lovely man.”
In January, Coltrane took part in HBO Max’s Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special, where he spoke about the lasting impact of the beloved series. “I just think it’s an end of an era. It’s ten years of my life,” the Coltrane in a Cadillac author said at the time. “My children have grown up during this. The legacy of the movies is that my children’s generation will show them to their children. So you can be watching them in 50 years’ time, easy.”
An emotional Coltrane continued: “I’ll not be here. But Hagrid will, yes.”
