As the enormous Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, Robbie Coltrane, who passed away at the age of 72, rose to fame around the world.
He had already established himself as a well-known actor in the UK, most notably with his portrayal of the crack-smoking forensic psychologist Fitz in the television series Cracker, one of several captivating and imposing characters he created.
He began his career in stand-up comedy before moving on to movies and television, where he was equally at home in comedic and serious parts.
Later, he rebelled against his middle-class upbringing and engaged in a highly publicized struggle with alcoholism.
On March 30, 1950, Anthony Robert McMillan was born in Rutherglen, a suburb of Glasgow.
Both of his parents were Calvinists. His father, a doctor, also worked part-time as a police surgeon, and his mother was a teacher.
Coltrane subsequently said that because of his busy schedule, his father barely spoke to him until he was six years old. When Coltrane was only a teenager, he passed away from lung cancer.
He remembered sleeping under the piano when she played, and how his mother had taught him to literature and music.
Robbie was transferred to the public school in Perthshire known as the Scottish Eton, Glenalmond, where he started to rebel against authority.
He later said to the Guardian, “I didn’t accept the hierarchy.” “Your hands are in your pockets and you’ve already crossed the quad. That can’t be good, can it?
But because I was a large, robust youngster, I’m fortunate. Survival of the fittest is essentially what it is, and I was one of the fittest, so I have no complaints.
Artistic Instruction
His love of left-wing ideas was encouraged by the event, which later inspired him to advocate for the closure of all public schools, giving him the moniker Red Robbie.
After hanging the prefects’ robes on the clock tower, he faced expulsion; but, he put forth enough effort to amass a respectable degree, and his stature earned him a spot in the school’s rugby XV.
At Glasgow Art School, where he eventually entered after graduating from high school, he was taunted for the posh voice he had painstakingly developed at Glenalmond, so he swiftly reverted to his natural Glaswegian accent.
He decided to pursue art. He quickly realized he would never be successful, yet he persisted in graduation.
It was a terrible sensation. The concepts were completely absent from the canvas.
Then, he made up his mind that he wanted to work in movies. The Scottish Education Council named his documentary Young Mental Health as the best movie of 1973.
He loved jazz and took on the stage name Coltrane in homage to the legendary saxophonist John Coltrane.
In Glasgow, he started socializing with actors and working part-time jobs while performing on the Edinburgh Fringe and with other tiny theater companies.
There were modest roles in movies, such as cameos in Britannia Hospital by Lindsay Anderson and Flash Gordon by Lindsay Anderson.
Along with other comedic artists including Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, and Jennifer Saunders, he also appeared in the TV show The Comic Strip Presents.
He was cast alongside Bob Hoskins in the 1986 Neil Jordan film Mona Lisa, which is arguably where he got his major break as a straight actor.
His acting career oscillated between comedic and serious roles during the following several years.
He portrayed the Majestics’ lead singer in the wild Scottish rock and roll band Tutti Frutti. He also had a funny performance as Samuel Johnson in Blackadder.
Additionally, he portrayed Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V movie.
Failed Movies
Off-stage, however, chaos was escalating. He was battling alcoholism, and his friends were concerned that he had started to exhibit self-destructive tendencies.
“I’m ruined by alcohol. I don’t even feel somewhat inebriated after drinking a gallon of beer,” he stated.
At this time, he called it quits on his lengthy, on-and-off romance with artist Robin Paine, whom he had met while attending art school since she found his way of life intolerable.
He was persuaded to avoid comedy by the failure of the movies Nuns on the Run and The Pope Must Die.
With the 1993 ITV debut of Cracker, he accomplished that in some style. Jimmy McGovern, the author, originally intended for actor Robert Lindsay to play the part, but he had other commitments.
Coltrane could have been tailor-made for the part of Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald, a criminal psychologist. Similar to John Coltrane, his persona was sardonic, oftentimes vulgar, and borderline insane.
Coltrane’s performance earned him three straight Bafta Awards, and the series was a major success.
Mafia Leader
His private life was likewise starting to seem more secure. He moved to a rural farmhouse close to Loch Lomond after meeting Rhona Gemmel, an 18-year-old student, and raising his two children there. In 1999, the couple got hitched.
Coltrane said,
“You can’t be a decent father and live the life of an existential hero.”
He also controlled his drinking, which had been a factor in his enormous weight.
Robbie first appeared in the character of Valentin Domitrovich Zukovsky, the head of the Russian Mafia, in the James Bond movie Goldeneye in 1995. He returned to the role in The World Is Not Enough four years later.
Coltrane was cast as Hagrid, the amiable but occasionally impolite giant when J.K. Rowling insisted on it during the casting process for the first Harry Potter movie in 2000.
The author claimed that Robbie was “absolutely wonderful for Hagrid since Hagrid is a loveable guy, extremely charming, and somewhat humorous.” But he has to have—you really must sense—some underlying hardness, and I believe Robbie nails that.
For Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Coltrane was nominated for a Bafta, and he continued to portray the character in the remaining movies.
Significant Accountability
His marriage to Rhona fell apart as the third Harry Potter movie was being filmed.
He was severely impacted by the breakup, and as a result, he had to seek professional assistance for his alcoholism, depression, and weight issues.
Hagrid made him a household name and something of a hero to the younger viewers of the movie.
“Kids approach you and ask, “Would you like to autograph my book? ” while giving you those huge doe eyes. It’s also a big responsibility.
In Mike Newell’s 2012 adaptation of Great Expectations, he played Mr. Jaggers, the attorney who handles Pip’s business.
Additionally, he indulged his love of vintage automobiles by driving his Jaguar XK150 around the UK for the television show Robbie Coltrane’s B Road Britain.
For one of his final significant appearances in Channel 4’s National Treasure, in which he played a TV personality accused of rape, he received a second Bafta nomination.
And at their television reunion for the Harry Potter series, which aired earlier this year, he started to get a bit sentimental. It is currently his swan song on the screen.
According to him, the legacy of the films is that my children’s generation will pass them down to their offspring.
“So it’s quite possible that you’ll be viewing it in 50 years. Sadly, I won’t be present. Hagrid, however, will.
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