Robbie Coltrane, ‘Harry Potter’s Hagrid, Dead at 72

Robbie Coltrane, the Scottish actor best known for his role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, has died, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 72 years old. According to TMZ, Coltrane has been sick for years and died in a hospital near his home in Lambert, Scotland. The cause of death has not been announced.

Coltrane, who is a Scotland native, appeared in all eight Harry Potter films from 2001-2011. He was also featured in the reunion show Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts which aired earlier this year on HBO Max. Coltrane also starred as Valentin Zukovsky in the James Bond films GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. 

For his work as Hagrid, Coltrane was nominated for multiple awards. During his appearance on Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, Coltrane got emotional when talking about what Hagrid meant to him. “It’s the end of an era. Ten years of my life. My children have grown up during it,” he said per Daily Record. “The legacy of the movies is that my children’s generation will show them to their children … So you could be watching it in 50 years’ time, easily … I’ll not be here, sadly … but Hagrid will, yes.”

Before appearing in the Harry Potter movies, Coltrane gained success while appearing on the British TV series Cracker in the 1990s. As mentioned by Deadline, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling had Coltrane at the top of her list to play Hagrid. Once Coltrane was finished with the Harry Potter franchise, he appeared in the films Brave, Great Expectations and Effie Gray, which starred Dakota Fanning and Emma Thompson. 

When speaking to The Guardian in 2012, Coltrane was asked if he ever thought he would be an idol for children. “It is a little strange, to go from something like Cracker, where children are sent to bed before it comes on, to suddenly being confronted by doe-eyed children in a supermarket, telling you their mummy says you’re Hagrid,” he said. “You just have to adapt. I have children of my own, and I recall sitting with my wife watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – when your children are about nine, you must watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang every day for a month – and thinking it would be wonderful to be in something like that and leave a legacy. And then Harry Potter happened.”