Poor Harry Potter lived in the stairwell of his unfriendly aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley. He was not a happy child. Suddenly, admission letters began to arrive at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An email that his uncle systematically hid and tore up. Harry’s future looked very dark until Hagrid arrived, a huge giant who ripped him from the clutches of his undesirable relatives and took him to that magical school where he would live a thousand adventures.
The versatile Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Rubeus Hagrid during the eight installments of the Harry Potter film adventures, died last night at the age of 72, according to his agent. The actor became an unforgettable figure in cinema since he made that entrance into the magical world devised by J. K. Rowling in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Chris Columbus, 2001). Children (and some older ones) of several generations adored him for always keeping an eye on the brave Harry until the last film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (David Yates, 2011).
But before reaching that blockbuster saga, Coltrane already had an extensive career behind him in cinema, theater and television in the United Kingdom. Born Robert McMillan, the Scottish actor changed his name in the 1970s after saxophonist John Coltrane. He maintained throughout his life that artistic nickname with which he debuted in theater clubs.
Those theaters served as a forge for many of the great British actors who emerged in the 90s. Robbie Coltrane acted alongside Emma Thompson and later joined the great family that cinematically revived the Shakespearean classics under the baton of the great Kenneth Branagh. Coltrane was the best imaginable Falstaff in Henry V (1989), a film in which he worked alongside Thompson, Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, Ian Holm… the cream of the British scene.
But it wasn’t Shakespeare who made Coltrane a familiar face. The actor became famous in his country as the protagonist of the series Cracker, which was broadcast for several seasons between 1993 and 1996, where he was Fitz, the protagonist, a psychologist who led a somewhat quarrelsome life but who became serious when the police He asked for his help in questioning murder suspects.
He combined with the series his participation in the famous James Bond saga where he played Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky, agent 007’s old enemy. Over time Zukovsky, a former KGB agent, owner of a casino and a caviar factory, became He went over to Bond’s side and came to save his life in The World Is Never Enough (Michael Apted, 1999).
And although Harry Potter kept the actor busy between 2001 and 2011, Coltrane had the opportunity to participate in other successful films such as the white-collar thief Ocean’s Twelve (Steven Soderbergh, 2004) alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Andy Garcia. Or the vampire Van Helsing (Stephen Sommers, 2004) where he shared the poster with Hugh Jackman.
Coltrane, who was married to Rhona Gemmell between 1999 and 2003, had two children. The actor, who won several Bafta awards, died last night after a long illness. Movie lovers will remember him as that giant who always helped little Potter. In real life he was 1.85 meters tall.
