Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane OBE
Born	Anthony Robert McMillan (1950-03-30)30 March 1950 Rutherglen, Scotland
Died	14 October 2022(2022-10-14) (aged 72) Larbert, Scotland
Alma mater	Glasgow School of Art
Occupations	Actor comedian writer
Years active	1978–2022
Known for	Role of Rubeus Hagrid in Harry Potter
Spouse	Rhona Gemmell ​ ​ (m. 1999; div. 2003)​
Children	2

Anthony Robert McMillan OBE (30 March 1950 – 14 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series. He was appointed an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama. In 1990, Coltrane received the Evening Standard British Film Award – Peter Sellers Award for Comedy. In 2011, he was honoured for his "outstanding contribution" to film at the British Academy Scotland Awards.

Coltrane started his career appearing alongside Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, and Emma Thompson in the sketch series Alfresco. In 1987, he starred in the BBC miniseries Tutti Frutti with Thompson, for which he received his first British Academy Television Award for Best Actor nomination. Coltrane then gained national prominence starring as criminal psychologist Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the ITV television series Cracker, a role which saw him receive the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in three consecutive years from 1994 to 1996. In 2006, Coltrane came eleventh in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars, voted by the public. In 2016, he starred in the four-part Channel 4 series National Treasure alongside Julie Walters, a role for which he received a British Academy Television Award nomination.

Coltrane appeared in n's films Mona Lisa and Nuns on the Run and as Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky in the James Bond films GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. He also appeared in the films Henry V, Let It Ride, Danny, the Champion of the World, Ocean's Twelve, The Brothers Bloom, Great Expectations, and Effie Gray, and provided voice acting roles in the animated films The Tale of Despereaux and Brave.

Early life and education

Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan on 30 March 1950 in Rutherglen, Scotland, the son of Jean Ross Howie, a teacher and pianist, and Ian Baxter McMillan, a GP who also served as a forensic police surgeon. He had an older sister, Annie, and a younger sister, Jane. Coltrane was the great-grandson of Scottish businessman Thomas W. Howie and the nephew of businessman Forbes Howie.

He started his education at Belmont House School in Newton Mearns before moving to Glenalmond College, an independent school in Perthshire. Though he later described his experiences there as deeply unhappy, he played for the rugby First XV, was head of the school's debating society, and won prizes for his art. He studied painting at the Glasgow School of Art.

Coltrane later called for private schools to be banned and used to be known as "Red Robbie", rebelling against his conservative upbringing through involvement with Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Labour Party, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Career

Coltrane moved into acting in his early twenties, adopting the stage name Coltrane (in tribute to jazz saxophonist John Coltrane) and working in theatre and comedy. He appeared in the first stage production of John Byrne's The Slab Boys, at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh (1978). His comedic abilities brought him roles in The Comic Strip Presents (1982–2012) series (in 1993 he directed and co-wrote the episode "Jealousy" for series 5), as well as the comedy sketch show Alfresco (1983–1984). In 1984 he appeared in A Kick Up the Eighties (Series 2) and Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee, and is credited as a writer for both.

Coltrane in costume in the 1980s

Coltrane moved into roles in films such as Flash Gordon (1980), Death Watch (1980), Balham, Gateway to the South (1981), Scrubbers (1983), Krull (1983), The Supergrass (1985), Defence of the Realm (1985), Absolute Beginners (1986), Mona Lisa (1986), and appeared as "Annabelle" in The Fruit Machine (1988).

On television, he appeared in The Young Ones, Tutti Frutti (1987), as Samuel Johnson in Blackadder the Third (1987) (a role he later reprised in the more serious Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands (1993)), LWT's The Robbie Coltrane Special (1989, which he also co-wrote), and in other stand-up and sketch comedy shows. He played the part of Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989). The same year he starred opposite Jeremy Irons in the television film adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book Danny, the Champion of the World.

He co-starred with Eric Idle in Nuns on the Run (1990) and played the Pope in The Pope Must Die (1991). He also played a would-be private detective obsessed with Humphrey Bogart in the TV film The Bogie Man (1992). His roles continued in the 1990s with the TV series Cracker (1993–1996, returning in 2006 for a one-off special), in which he starred as forensic psychologist Dr. Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald. The role won him three BAFTA awards.

Roles in bigger films followed: the James Bond films GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), a supporting role in From Hell (2001), as well as half-giant Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films (2001–2011). J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, had Coltrane at the top of her list to play Hagrid and, when asked whom she would like to see in the role, responded "Robbie Coltrane for Hagrid" in one quick breath.

Coltrane also presented a number of documentary programmes for the British ITV network based around his twin passions for travel and transportation. Coltrane in a Cadillac (1993) saw him cross North America from Los Angeles to New York City behind the wheel of a 1951 Cadillac Series 62 coupe convertible, a journey of 3,765 miles (6,059 km), which he completed in 32 days.

In 1997, Coltrane appeared in a series of six programmes under the title Coltrane's Planes and Automobiles, in which he extolled the virtues of the steam engine, the diesel engine, the supercharger, the V8 engine, the two-stroke engine, and the jet engine. In these programmes he dismantled and rebuilt several engines. He also single-handedly removed the engine from a Trabant car in 23 minutes.

In September 2006, Coltrane was voted No. 11 in ITV's TV's 50 Greatest Stars and sixth in a poll of 2000 adults across the UK to find the 'most famous Scot', behind the Loch Ness Monster, Robert Burns, Sean Connery, Robert the Bruce, and William Wallace.

In August 2007, Coltrane presented a series for ITV called B-Road Britain, in which he travelled from London to Glasgow, stopping in towns and villages along the way.

Coltrane voiced characters in several animated films, including The Tale of Despereaux (2008) Pixar's Brave (2012), as well as the title roles of Gooby and The Gruffalo (both 2009).

In 2016, Coltrane starred in National Treasure, a four-part drama in which he played a former comedian accused of historic sexual offences. He was nominated for Best Actor at the 2017 British Academy Television Awards, and won in the category at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards. Maureen Ryan of Variety wrote that "Coltrane does a masterful job of depicting every nuance of the character, whose wicked sense of humor masks a startling, and possibly intentional, lack of self-awareness".

Personal life

Coltrane met Rhona Gemmell, a pilates instructor, in the late 1980s.

The couple had two children: son Spencer (b. 1992), and daughter Alice (b. 1998). Coltrane and Gemmell married in 1999, but separated in 2003, and later divorced but the two remained close.

In February 2005, Coltrane appeared at a Scottish Labour event, in which he said on the question of Scottish independence "It's a very complicated issue. I would think, probably, eventually I would like to see independence but only an independent Labour Scotland", while adding "It would have to be terribly carefully considered. There are all sorts of advantages to being part of the United Kingdom and it would be foolish to throw it away immediately" and "I have no time for the nationalists – all they can do is split the vote for home rule and let the Tories in".

Illness and death

Coltrane suffered from osteoarthritis in later life. He said he was in "constant pain all day" in 2016, and from 2019 on he employed a wheelchair.

Coltrane died at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Scotland, on 14 October 2022, at the age of 72. He had been ill for two years prior to his death. His death was registered by his ex-wife Rhona Gemmel, the death certificate listed the causes as multiple organ failure complicated by sepsis, a lower respiratory tract infection, and heart block. He had also been diagnosed with obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Acting credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Flash Gordon	Man at airfield
	Death Watch	Limousine Driver
1981	Subway Riders	Crime Detective
1982	Britannia Hospital	Striking worker on picket line	Cameo role
1983	Ghost Dance	George
	Krull	Rhun
1984	Chinese Boxes	Harwood
1985	National Lampoon's European Vacation	Man in bathroom
	The Supergrass	Det. Sgt. Troy
	Defence of the Realm	Leo McAskey
1986	Caravaggio	Scipione
	Absolute Beginners	Mario
	Mona Lisa	Thomas
1987	Eat the Rich	Jeremy
1988	The Fruit Machine	Annabelle
1989	Henry V	Falstaff
	Bert Rigby, You're a Fool	Sid Trample
	Let It Ride	Ticket Seller
	Danny, the Champion of the World	Victor Hazell
	Slipstream	Montclaire
1990	Midnight Breaks	Hudge
	Nuns on the Run	Charlie McManus Sister Inviolata
	Perfectly Normal	Alonzo Turner
1991	The Pope Must Die	The Pope
	Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole	Steffano Baccardi
1992	Oh, What a Night	Todd
1993	Boswell & Johnson's Tour of the Western Isles	Dr. Samuel Johnson
	The Adventures of Huck Finn	Duke
1995	GoldenEye	Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky
1997	Buddy	Dr. Bill Lintz
1998	Frogs for Snakes	Al Santana
	Montana	The Boss
1999	The World Is Not Enough	Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky
	Message in a Bottle	Charlie Toschi
2001	On the Nose	Delaney
	From Hell	Sergeant Peter Godley
	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Rubeus Hagrid
2002	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
	Ocean's Twelve	Ian Nicholas McNally / Matsui
	Van Helsing: The London Assignment	Mr. Hyde	Voice role
	Van Helsing
2005	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Rubeus Hagrid
2006	Stormbreaker	The Prime Minister
	Provoked	Lord Edward Foster
2007	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Rubeus Hagrid
2008	The Tale of Despereaux	Gregory	Voice role
	The Brothers Bloom	The Curator
2009	Gooby	Gooby	Voice role
	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Rubeus Hagrid
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
2012	Brave	Lord Dingwall	Voice role
	Great Expectations	Mr. Jaggers
2014	Effie Gray	Doctor

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Play for Today	Jimmie	"Waterloo Sunset"
1980	The Lost Tribe	Border Post Guard	"Keep Us Alive"
1981	Metal Mickey	Jason	"Mickey the Demon Barber"
	Keep It in the Family	Mr. Conway	"A Matter of Principle"
1982	Sin on Saturday	Himself	2 episodes: "Lust", "Covetousness"
	The Young Ones	Slobber	Season 1, episode 2: "Oil"
1982–2012	The Comic Strip Presents...	Various roles	Series 1–5; Special: "Five Go Mad in Dorset" Director & co-writer – Episode: "Jealousy" (1993)
1983	Are You Being Served	C.B. Voice	Voice; Episode: "Calling All Customers"
	Alfresco	Various roles	13 episodes
1984	A Kick Up the Eighties	Various roles	Replaced Richard Stilgoe. Writer credits.
	Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee	Various roles	Writer credits.
	The Young Ones	Dr Carlisle / Captain Blood	Season 2, episode 1: "Bambi" & episode 4: "Time"
1987	Blackadder the Third	Samuel Johnson	Episode 2: "Ink and Incapability"
	Tutti Frutti	Danny McGlone	6 episodes
1988	Friday Night Live	Various roles "Uncle Don Corleone"	Show 6
	Blackadder's Christmas Carol	The Spirit of Christmas	Christmas special
1989	The Robbie Coltrane Special	Himself	LWT comedy special; co-writer
1991	Screen One	Psychiatrist Liam Kane	Episode: "Alive and Kicking"
1992	The Bogie Man	Francis Forbes Clunie	TV film
1993	The Legend of Lochnagar	The old man	Television film, voice role
	Coltrane in a Cadillac	Himself	4-part documentary
1993–2006	Cracker	Dr. Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald	25 episodes
1997	Coltrane's Planes and Automobiles	Himself	6-part documentary
1998	The Ebb-Tide	Capt. Chisholm	TV film
1999	Alice in Wonderland	Ned Tweedledum	Television movie
2003	The Planman	Jack Lennox QC
2004	Pride	James	Television film, voice
	Frasier	Michael Moon	Episode: "Goodnight, Seattle"
2005	Still Game	Davie	Series 4, episode 3: "Dial-A-Bus"
2006	Cracker: Nine Eleven	Dr. Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald	Television film
2007	Robbie Coltrane – B Road Britain	Himself	TV documentary
2009	Murderland	D.I. Douglas Hain	3-part TV drama
	The Gruffalo	The Gruffalo	Short film; voice role
2011	Lead Balloon	Donald	Series 4, episode 4: "Off" Series 4, episode 5: "Blade"
	50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments	Himself	Narrator
	The Gruffalo's Child	The Gruffalo	Voice; Short
2013	The Many Faces of Robbie Coltrane	Himself	TV documentary
2016	National Treasure	Paul Finchley	4-part TV drama
2016–18	Robbie Coltrane Critical Evidence	Host	True crime, non-fiction
2020	Urban Myths	Orson Welles	1 episode
2022	Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts	Himself	HBO Max special

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	The Slab Boys	Jack Hogg	Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
1980	Threads	Performer	Hampstead Theatre, London

Music video

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Deeper Understanding	Computer Junkie	Kate Bush album Director's Cut

Awards and honours

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref
1988	British Academy Television Award	Best Actor	Tutti Frutti	Nominated
1994			Cracker	Won
1995				Won
1996				Won
1993	Royal Television Society Award	Performance Award – Male		Won
1995	Broadcasting Press Guild Award	Best Actor		Won
2002	British Academy Film Award	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Nominated
2001	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2017	British Academy Television Award	Best Actor	National Treasure	Nominated
2017	Royal Television Society Award	Best Actor – Male		Won
2017	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Long Fiction Program. Outstanding Actor		Won
2017	Broadcasting Press Guild Award	Best Actor		Won

Honorary awards

• Coltrane won the Evening Standard British Film Award – Peter Sellers Award for Comedy 1990.
• He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 New Year Honours for his services to drama.
• In 2011, he was honoured for his "Outstanding Contribution to Film" at the British Academy Scotland Awards ("BAFTA Scotland Awards").

Publications

• Coltrane, Robbie; Stuart, Graham (May 1993). Coltrane in a Cadillac. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-1-85702-120-2.
• Coltrane, Robbie (October 1997). Coltrane's Planes & Automobiles. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81957-0.
• Coltrane, Robbie (June 2008). Robbie Coltrane's B-Road Britain. Transworld. ISBN 978-0-593-05996-8.

External links

• Robbie Coltrane at IMDb
• Robbie Coltrane at the BFI's Screenonline
• Robbie Coltrane discography at Discogs
• Portraits of Robbie Coltrane at the National Portrait Gallery