Robbie Coltrane, the baby-faced comedian and character actor whose hundreds of roles included a crime-solving psychologist on the TV series “Cracker” and the gentle half-giant Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, has died. He was 72.
Robbie Coltrane died Friday at a hospital in his native Scotland,
Born Anthony Robert McMillan in Rutherglen, Scotland, Coltrane was in his early 20s when he began pursuing an acting career and renamed himself in honor of jazz musician John Coltrane.
He already had a notable screen career, with credits including “Mona Lisa,” “Nuns on the Run” and Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of “Henry V” when he broke through on his own as a hard-bitten detective in “Cracker,” the 1990s TV series for which he won best actor at the British Academy Television Awards three years running.
As the young wizard's mentor, he continued to appear in all eight "Harry Potter" films. He also played a variety of other roles, such as a Russian crime boss in the James Bond thrillers "GoldenEye" and "The World is Not Enough," as well as Pip's guardian Mr. Jaggers in a 2012 adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations." More recently, he won praise for his performance in the 2016 miniseries "National Treasure" as a beloved TV star who might be hiding a sinister secret.