His role as the giant game warden and mentor to wizard student Harry Potter brought him fans worldwide. Hagrid actor Robbie Coltrane has died at the age of 72.
London – “You are a wizard Harry” – with these words the giant Hogwarts gamekeeper “Hagrid” opens the eleven-year-old Harry Potter in the first film of the series as a magician. “Hagrid” actor Robbie Coltrane has died at the age of 72, his agent Belinda Wright said, according to the British news agency PA.
Accordingly, the native of Scotland, whose real name was Anthony Robert McMillan, died on Friday in a hospital near the Scottish city of Falkirk.
Wright called Coltrane a “unique talent”. According to the agent, his role as “Hagrid” has earned him a weekly stream of fan letters for more than 20 years. As Rubeus Hagrid, Coltrane gave Harry Potter the gigantic but lovable, if somewhat goofy, wizard student mentor who rescues him from the hands of his jealous foster family.
Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe was saddened by the news of Coltrane’s death. The 33-year-old wrote that the “Hagrid” actor was one of the funniest people he had ever met. He added, “He kept us laughing all the time on the movie set as kids.”
Rowling pays tribute to Coltrane on Twitter
Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted that Coltrane was “an incredible talent, one of a kind.” “I consider myself beyond lucky to have known him, to have worked with him and to have laughed my ass off with him,” she said.
British actor and comedian Stephen Fry also tweeted, praising “the depth, power and talent” of Coltrane. He added: “Goodbye old comrade, you will be missed terribly.”
Coltrane also starred in the James Bond films GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan. He was known to an older generation primarily through his role as criminal psychologist Dr. Eddie Fitzgerald “Fitz” in the crime series Just In Case Fitz, which ran under the UK name Cracker. In 1994, 1995 and 1996 he received the award for best actor at the British Bafta television awards for his portrayal of “Fitz”.
She also liked to see him as “Fitz”, wrote the Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Twitter. “He had such range and depth as an actor, from brilliant comedy to hard-edged drama,” continued Sturgeon, who described Coltrane as “a Scottish entertainment legend”.
Many Potter fans also mourned the death of the “Hagrid” actor. A quote from the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was a common feature on social media. “Hogwarts isn’t Hogwarts without you,” Harry Potter says to his friend “Hagrid”. dpa
