Robbie Coltrane died Friday, according to his agent. [Photo: Italy/Rex/Shutter]
Scottish actor, graduate of alternative comedy who became a major performer known for taking on complex and difficult roles
Peter Bradshaw on Robbie Coltrane
Luo Bee Coltrane, whose career spanned everything from Bond movies to cookies to Harry Potter, has died at the age of 72.
His agent confirmed the news on Friday.
Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan in the prosperous Glasgow suburb of Rutherglen, where he was accepted at Glenalmond College before entering Glasgow School of Art Education, the academy's corporal punishment he described as "legalized violence". He had new ideas about his abilities as a painter, and turned to live performance, performing with radical theatre companies (including the San Quentin State Penitentiary troupe) and doing talk shows, under the pseudonym Coltrane as a sympathy for the famous jazz musician John Tribute to Coltrane.
His first screen work was Waterloo Sunset in 1979's Richard Eyre 's Drama of the Day, in which he played Queenie Watts' nursing home runaway. He has since made a handful of appearances in movies and TV shows, including The Flash Gordon, Are You Served? , Krul and Britannia Hospital, his unique appearance and massive stature help him stand out from the crowd. Coltrane's comedic skills began to dominate, as he found success on TV sketch shows like "The Heat in the Open" and "Kick Up the Eighties" in the early 1980s. These put him firmly into the school of '80s alternative comedy along with Ben Elton, , Emma Thompson, and Rick Mayal - an identity reinforced by his regular participation in comic-presentation films, in which Including Five Madness in Dorset, Beat Generation and Bullshit.
Robbie Coltrane: "I don't talk nonsense"
However, Coltrane's abilities as an actor became increasingly evident, and he had considerable success with Tutti Frutti in 1987, which Written by John Byrne (John Byrne), Bafta's award-winning TV series about a scrubbed Scottish rock band. Coltrane finds himself increasingly sought after for larger roles in high-profile projects, from Derek Jarman's Caravaggio (in which he plays Cardinal ) to Kenneth Falstaff in Branagh's Henry V. However, it was the two religiously-themed comedies — "The Nun on the Run" and "The Pope Must Die" — that propelled Coltrane into the male lead and put him on the American map.
Coltrane's ascension was confirmed by his role as criminal psychologist "Fitz" Fitzgerald in Jimmy McGovern's TV series "Cookies," which first aired in 1993. A provocative non-comedy character, Fitzgerald is a seminal creation: his work is brilliant, but his personal life is a mess. Coltrane won the Bafta Award for Best Television Actor for the role in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Fitzgerald's addictive lifestyle mirrors that of the actor: Coltrane admitted to drinking heavily in the 1980s and still retains his famously combative nature, once threatening to beat Piers Morgan in a London restaurant. He then found himself in two Bond films, "Goldeneye" and "The World Isn't Enough," as morally ambiguous KGB operative Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky.
Coltrane alternated roles in posh Hollywood productions (Message in a Bottle, From Hell, Twelve of the Seas) and easygoing television appearances (Alice in Wonderland, The Gruffalo) during his mid-career career . He was still at the Coltra in 1997ne's interest in vintage cars was indulged in his collection of planes and cars. However, he found himself at the top of the casting for JK Rowling's Harry Potter films as schoolkeeper Rubeus Hagrid at Hogwarts. The first in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , was released in 2001, and won Coltrane a new audience of young fans and helped him re-energize his career, especially on British TV superior. In 2009 he played investigative detective D.I. Hain in David Pirie's "Badlands", and he played the role of the suspect in the 2016 Channel 4 show " National Treasure ". TV star accused of sexual abuse, well received.
Coltrane married sculptor Rhona Gommel in 1999, but they separated in 2003. They have two children.
