Robbie Coltrane, who has died at the age of 72, rose to international stardom as the giant Hagrid in the Harry Potter films.
But his reputation in Britain was already sealed, notably as chain-smoking forensic psychologist Fitz in Cracker – one of several compelling and larger-than-life characters he made his own.
He cut his teeth in stand-up comedy before branching out into film and television, fitting into funny and dramatic roles comfortably.
And later he rebelled against his middle-class upbringing and fought a publicized battle with alcohol addiction.
- Actor Robbie Coltrane dies aged 72
He was born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950 in Rutherglen on the outskirts of Glasgow.
His parents were both Calvinists. His mother was a teacher while his father, a doctor, worked part-time as a police surgeon.
Coltrane later claimed his father was so busy that he hardly spoke to his son until he was six years old. He died of lung cancer when Coltrane was still a teenager.
His mother introduced him to literature and music, and he recalled lying under the piano while she played.
He was sent to Glenalmond Public School in Perthshire, sometimes referred to as Scotland’s Eton, where he began to buck authority.
“I didn’t really accept the hierarchy,” he later told the Guardian. “You crossed the quad and you have your hands in your pockets. That’s not very good, is it?
“But I’m very lucky because I was a big, strong boy. It’s essentially survival of the fittest and I was one of the fittest so I have no complaints.”
The experience later led him to call for all public schools to be banned and fueled his love of left-wing causes, earning him the nickname Red Robbie.
He was threatened with expulsion after hanging the prefect’s robes on the clock tower, but he tried enough to get a proper education and his size earned him a place in the school’s Rugby XV.
On leaving school he enrolled at Glasgow Art School, where he was teased for the classy voice he had struggled to acquire at Glenalmond, so he quickly reverted to his native Glasgow accent.
He decided to study painting. Though he quickly realized he would never excel, he persevered through to graduation.
“It was a horrible feeling. The ideas weren’t on the screen at all.”
By then he had decided that film was where he wanted to be. In 1973 his documentary Young Mental Health was voted Film of the Year by the Scottish Education Council.
He was a jazz fan and adopted the stage name Coltrane in homage to the famous saxophonist John Coltrane.
He began mingling with actors in Glasgow, taking part-time jobs while performing at the Edinburgh Fringe and with a number of small theater companies.
There have been small roles in films, including appearances in Flash Gordon and Lindsay Anderson’s black comedy Britannia Hospital.
He also starred in the TV series The Comic Strip Presents, which launched the careers of a variety of comedy stars such as Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders.
Arguably his big break as a straight actor came when he was cast in Neil Jordan’s 1986 film Mona Lisa opposite Bob Hoskins.
Over the next few years, his career vacillated between comedy and more serious roles.
There was Tutti Frutti, in which he played the lead singer of The Majestics, a chaotic Scottish rock ‘n’ roll band, and a hilarious performance as Samuel Johnson in Blackadder.
He also played Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh’s film version of Henry V.
But off the stage things got out of hand. He struggled with alcohol addiction and his friends worried that he had developed a tendency to self-destruct.
“Alcohol is my downfall. I can drink a gallon of beer and not feel the least bit drunk,” he said.
His long on-off relationship with artist Robin Paine, whom he met in art school, also ended around this time after she felt overwhelmed with his lifestyle.
The failure of two films, Nuns on the Run and The Pope Must Die, helped convince him to stray from comedy.
In a way, he did with Cracker, which first aired on ITV in 1993. Author Jimmy McGovern wanted actor Robert Lindsay for the role, but he turned to other projects.
The role of criminal psychologist Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald could have been made for Coltrane. His character, like Coltrane, was alcoholic, sarcastic, occasionally foul and not a little manic.
The series was a smash hit and Coltrane’s performance earned him three consecutive Bafta Awards.
His personal life also began to gain some stability. He met an 18-year-old student, Rhona Gemmel, and retired to a remote farmhouse near Loch Lomond, where they raised two children. The couple married in 1999.
“You can’t live the life of an existential hero and be a good father,” Coltrane observed.
He also managed to get his drinking under control, which had contributed to his obesity.
In 1995 he played Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky, the Russian mafia boss, in the James Bond film Goldeneye, and four years later he reprized the role in The World Is Not Enough.
When casting began for the first Harry Potter film in 2000, JK Rowling insisted that Coltrane be given the role of Hagrid, the friendly but somewhat indiscreet giant.
“Robbie is just perfect for Hagrid because Hagrid is a very lovable character, quite likeable, quite funny,” said the author. “But he had to – you really have to feel that – have a certain toughness underneath, and I think Robbie does that perfectly.”
Coltrane was nominated for a Bafta for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and played the role in the remaining films.
His marriage to Rhona fell apart while filming the third Harry Potter film.
The breakup hit him hard, and his issues with alcohol, depression, and his weight resurfaced, forcing him to seek professional help.
Hagrid made him famous around the world and a kind of role model for the young fans of the film.
“Kids come up to you and say, ‘Would you like to sign my book?’ with those big doe eyes And it’s a serious responsibility.
In 2012, he appeared in Mike Newell’s film Great Expectations as Mr. Jaggers, the attorney who handles Pip’s affairs.
As well as acting, he has indulged his passion for classic cars by driving his Jaguar XK150 around the UK on the TV show Robbie Coltrane’s B Road Britain.
Coltrane was a talented performer who seemed equally adept at both comedy and more serious roles.
But his insecurities often led him to periods of excess, and throughout his career he never took his success for granted.
“I’m not George Clooney,” he remarked in an interview with the Daily Record. “I certainly don’t have to wade through a mountain of scripts to get to the breakfast table every morning.”
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