Harry Potter’s Hagrid, Robbie Coltrane, dies

LONDON: Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, has died aged 72, his agent said on Friday.

He also played a former KGB agent-turned-Russian mafia boss in two James Bond films -- “Goldeneye” (1995) and “The World Is Not Enough” (1999) -- with Pierce Brosnan. “My client and friend Robbie Coltrane OBE passed away on Friday October 14,” Belinda Wright said in a statement, calling him “a unique talent”.

Coltrane, who was born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950, in Rutherglen, near Glasgow, forged a career as an actor, comedian and writer. On television, he starred alongside Emma Thompson in the cult BAFTA-winning BBC mini-series “Tutti Frutti” in 1987.

He came to prominence and won more awards for his portrayal of the hard-drinking criminal psychologist Dr Eddie “Fitz” Fitzgerald in the ITV series “Cracker” (1993-2006). He was the English author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson in the TV comedy series “Blackadder the Third” alongside “Mr Bean” star Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie (“House”). Frequent co-star Stephen Fry tweeted that he was “awe/terror/love struck all at the same time” when he first met Coltrane 40 years ago.