Robbie Coltrane, the Scottish actor best known for his role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter franchise, has died at age 72, his agent confirmed on Friday.
Coltrane’s agent Belinda Wright confirmed to The Daily Beast that the actor died in a hospital near his home in Larbert, Scotland. She added to the BBC that Coltrane had been ill for the last two years, but she did not disclose what the illness was.
“For me personally, I shall remember him as an abidingly loyal client. 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 added. “Please respect Robbie’s family’s privacy at this distressing time.”
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In a statement to The Daily Beast, Daniel Radcliffe called his Harry Potter co-star “one of the funniest people I’ve met” and remembered how Coltrane “used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set.”
“I’ve especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on Prisoner of Azkaban, when we were all hiding from the torrential rain for hours in Hagrid’s hut and he was telling stories and cracking jokes to keep morale up,” Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the series, added. “I feel incredibly lucky that I got to meet and work with him and very sad that he’s passed. He was an incredible actor and a lovely man.”
Born Anthony Robert McMillan in 1950, Coltrane first made his name in the U.K. as a TV comedian, but his breakout dramatic role was in Jimmy McGovern’s series Cracker, in which he played Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald from 1993 until 2006. He won BAFTAs (British Golden Globes) in three consecutive years for his role as the criminal psychologist who solved crimes.
Coltrane also starred in two Bond films with Pierce Brosnan, but shot to international fame playing Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant-half-wizard Hogwarts gamekeeper in the eight-movie Harry Potter franchise.
“I first met Robbie Coltrane almost exactly 40 years ago. I was awe/terror/love struck all at the same time,” actor Stephen Fry said in a Friday tweet. “Such depth, power & talent: funny enough to cause helpless hiccups & honking as we made our first TV show, ‘Alfresco.’ Farewell, old fellow. You’ll be so dreadfully missed.”
At the 2oth anniversary of the first Harry Potter film, several of the series’ stars recalled Coltrane’s kind demeanor on set. “He was such a kid. So immature and just... so much fun,” Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, said in a 2022 reunion HBO special. “He loved making us laugh, and he was incredibly good at it.”
In his own interview for the special, Coltrane became emotional as he described the impact his character had on his career and how it could impact future generations. “The legacy of the movies is, I suspect, that my children’s generation will show them to their children. So you could be watching it in 50 years’ time, easy. I’ll not be here, sadly, but... But Hagrid will, yes,” Coltrane said while wiping a tear.
Several other members of the Harry Potter community offered their condolences online. James Phelps, who played Fred Weasley in the series, tweeted that he will miss “random chats about all subjects under the sun” with Coltrane. J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, also tweeted a heartfelt tribute to the actor, calling him “an incredible talent” and saying that she was “beyond fortunate to know him, work with him and laugh my head off with him.” Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom, tweeted that he and Coltrane shared “a love of the final frontier” and reminisced that the actor “didn’t give a fuck and it always made you smile.”
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed her condolences Friday, tweeting that “he had such range and depth as an actor, from brilliant comedy to hard-edged drama. I think my favourite of all his roles was Fitz in Cracker.”
“Robbie Coltrane, Scottish entertainment legend—you will be hugely missed. RIP,” she added.
Coltrane married the sculptor Rhona Gemmell in 1999. The pair separated in 2003 and share two children.
