Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in “Harry Potter,” dies at 72

Robbie Coltrane, the Scottish actor who played a crime-solving psychologist on the TV series “Cracker” and the half-giant Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, has died. He was 72.

Coltrane’s agent Belinda Wright said he died Friday at a hospital in Scotland. She did not give a cause.

Coltrane came to fame as a hard-bitten detective in the 1990s series “Cracker,” for which he won best actor at the British Academy Television Awards three years running.

Robbie Coltrane arrives in Trafalgar Square, central London, for the world premiere of “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” the last film in the series on July 7, 2011. 
Jonathan Short/AP

 He played gentle half-giant Hagrid, a mentor to the boy wizard, in all eight Harry Potter films, released between 2001 and 2011.

Other roles include a Russian crime boss in the James Bond thrillers “GoldenEye” and “The World is Not Enough.”

Coltrane gained rave reviews for playing a beloved TV star who may harbor a dark secret in the 2016 miniseries “National Treasure.”

Wright said that “as well as being a wonderful actor, he was forensically intelligent, brilliantly witty and after 40 years of being proud to be called his agent, I shall miss him.”

Wright said Coltrane is survived by his sister Annie Rae, his ex-wife Rhona Gemmell and his children Spencer and Alice. 

Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.

Leave a Comment