# Robbie Coltrane
**Robbie Coltrane** (30 March 1950 – 14 October 2022) was the stage name of Anthony Robert McMillan, a Scottish actor and comedian known for the sketch comedy of the 1980s alternative scene, his BAFTA-winning portrayal of criminal psychologist Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in *[Cracker](https://www.edgepedia.org/cracker-british-tv-series)*, and his role as the half-giant gamekeeper [Rubeus Hagrid](https://www.edgepedia.org/rubeus-hagrid) in all eight [Harry Potter](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-potter) films.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Anthony Robert McMillan, 1950, Rutherglen, near Glasgow[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary) |
| Died | 14 October 2022, aged 72, in a hospital in Scotland; his family thanked Forth Valley Royal Hospital[3](https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/coltrane/5074417) |
| Stage name | Taken from the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane when he began acting[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star) |
| Signature TV role | Dr Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in *Cracker* (ITV, 1993–96, with a special in 2006); won the best actor BAFTA three years in succession[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary) |
| Hagrid | Played Rubeus Hagrid in all eight Harry Potter films, from *The Sorcerer's Stone* (2001) to *The Deathly Hallows Part 2* (2011), as author JK Rowling's first choice for the role[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) |
| James Bond | Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky, an ex-KGB officer turned Russian mafia head, in *GoldenEye* (1995) and *The World Is Not Enough* (1999)[5](https://news.stv.tv/entertainment/from-harry-potter-to-james-bond-a-look-back-at-robbie-coltranes-compelling-career) |
| Honors | OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours for services to drama[6](https://bbc.originals.watch/person/127844/robbie-coltrane) |
| Family | Married Rhona Gemmell in 1999, divorced 2010; survived by their son Spencer and daughter Alice[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) |
## Early life and training
Coltrane was born in the Glasgow suburb of Rutherglen to Jean, a teacher and pianist, and Ian Baxter McMillan, a general practitioner who also worked as a police surgeon.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) He was privately educated at Glenalmond College in [Perthshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/perthshire), an independent boarding school whose corporal punishment he described as "legalised violence"; he was nearly expelled for hanging prefects' gowns from the school clocktower, but also played rugby, captained the debating team, and won prizes for his art.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary)
He attended Glasgow School of Art from 1968 to 1972 and turned to standup comedy on leaving, dismayed by his inability to commit his vision to canvas.[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star) After further study at Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh, his pub performances came to the attention of the actors Bill Paterson and [Alex Norton](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-norton), who in 1974 pointed him toward the city's Traverse Theatre, where he began acting under the name Robbie Coltrane.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
His first stage success came in John Byrne's The Slab Boys (1978) at the Traverse, a play set in a 1950s Glasgow carpet factory and the first part of Byrne's trilogy about working-class Scots.[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star)
## Alternative comedy and television
Coltrane came to British television viewers in a string of 1980s sketch shows, including *Alfresco*, *A Kick Up the 80s*, and *Laugh? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee*, working alongside [Emma Thompson](https://www.edgepedia.org/emma-thompson), Hugh Laurie, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, and [Rik Mayall](https://www.edgepedia.org/rik-mayall).[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary) He appeared in 19 of the 42 *Comic Strip Presents* television stories between 1982 and 2012, and played a verbose Dr Johnson in *Blackadder the Third* (1987).[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
In 1987 he starred opposite Thompson in Byrne's six-part BBC drama *Tutti Frutti*, about a faded Scottish rock 'n' roll band, playing would-be rocker Danny McGlone; the role brought a BAFTA nomination and marked his shift toward combining comic and dramatic work.[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star)
**Cracker.** In Jimmy McGovern's ITV crime drama *Cracker* (1993 to 1996, with a special in 2006), Coltrane played Dr Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, an obese, alcoholic, foul-mouthed, sarcastic, yet cerebral forensic psychologist working with the Manchester police. He won the best actor BAFTA three years in succession for the role.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary)
## Hagrid and global fame
Coltrane's celebrity went global in 2001 when he was cast as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, in the first film adaptation of JK Rowling's Harry Potter novels, reportedly at Rowling's insistence; she based the casting on a Hell's Angel she knew in the west of England.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) He appeared in all eight films through *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2* (2011), and delivered the line "You're a wizard, Harry" in the first installment.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) • [4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star) According to one account, he took the role only after his children urged him to.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-cracker-harry-potter-dies-national-treasure)
## Film career
Having debuted on screen as [Romy Schneider](https://www.edgepedia.org/romy-schneider)'s chauffeur in Bertrand Tavernier's *Death Watch* (1980), Coltrane accumulated film credits including *Flash Gordon* (1980), *Krull* (1983), *Defence of the Realm* (1985), *Caravaggio*, *Absolute Beginners*, and *Mona Lisa* (all 1986).[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star) He played Sir John Falstaff in [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenneth-branagh)'s *Henry V* (1989), the Russian gangster Valentin Zukovsky opposite [Pierce Brosnan](https://www.edgepedia.org/pierce-brosnan)'s James Bond in *GoldenEye* (1995) and *The World Is Not Enough* (1999), and later took cameos as Mr Hyde in *Van Helsing* (2004), the informant Matsui in *Ocean's Twelve* (2004), and the lawyer Jaggers in a 2012 adaptation of *Great Expectations*.[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
His distinctive voice made him a regular in animation and family films: he voiced the title mouse in *The Gruffalo* (2009), appeared in *The Tale of Despereaux* (2008) and *Gooby* (2009), and voiced a Scottish lord in Pixar's *[Brave](https://www.edgepedia.org/brave-2012-film)* (2012).[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star) • [9](https://www.thewrap.com/robbie-coltrane-best-roles-movies-hagrid-cracker-brave/)
## Later work
In 2009 Coltrane played the investigating detective DI Douglas Hain in David Pirie's four-part drama *Murderland*, and appeared in the final episodes of the US sitcom *Frasier*.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary) His last major television role came in *National Treasure* (2016), [Jack Thorne](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-thorne)'s four-part [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4) drama written in the wake of the [Jimmy Savile](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-savile) scandal. Coltrane played Paul Finchley, a popular comedian turned quiz-show host accused of historical rape; the ambivalence of the performance, leaving viewers unsure of the character's innocence or guilt, won him a Broadcasting Press Guild Award as Best Actor.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
## Personal life
Coltrane married the sculptor Rhona Gemmell in 1999 and moved back to Scotland, settling outside the Stirlingshire village of Killearn; they separated four years later and divorced in 2010.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) • [5](https://news.stv.tv/entertainment/from-harry-potter-to-james-bond-a-look-back-at-robbie-coltranes-compelling-career) He is survived by their son Spencer and daughter Alice, an actor who appeared alongside her father in a 2020 *Urban Myths* television story.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html) Throughout his life he battled weight problems, and osteoarthritis left him using a wheelchair in his last few years.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
He was appointed an OBE in 2006.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
## References
1. [Robbie Coltrane obituary, The Guardian, 14 October 2022](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-obituary)
2. [Robbie Coltrane: Beloved Harry Potter star and esteemed actor, The Independent, 28 October 2022](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/robbie-coltrane-hagrid-harry-potter-b2207863.html)
3. [The obituary notice of Robbie Coltrane, Funeral Notices](https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/coltrane/5074417)
4. [Robbie Coltrane obituary: Blackadder, Cracker and Harry Potter star, BFI, 18 October 2022](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/robbie-coltrane-obituary-blackadder-cracker-harry-potter-star)
5. [From Harry Potter to James Bond: Robbie Coltrane's compelling career, STV News, 14 October 2022](https://news.stv.tv/entertainment/from-harry-potter-to-james-bond-a-look-back-at-robbie-coltranes-compelling-career)
6. [Robbie Coltrane, BBC Originals profile](https://bbc.originals.watch/person/127844/robbie-coltrane)
7. [Robbie Coltrane, star of Cracker and Harry Potter, dies aged 72, The Guardian, 14 October 2022](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/oct/14/robbie-coltrane-cracker-harry-potter-dies-national-treasure)
8. [Robbie Coltrane's 11 Best Roles, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/robbie-coltrane-best-roles-movies-hagrid-cracker-brave/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Scottish actors › Surnames A to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license