Robbie Coltrane

Anthony Robert McMillan OBE (born 30 March 1950), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, is a Scottish actor and writer. He is known for his roles as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series (2001-2011), as Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the television series Cracker (1993-2006), and as Valentin Dmitrovich Zhukovsky in the James Bond films GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999). His other works include From Hell (2001), Stormbreaker (2006), Brave (2012), and Great Expectations (2012).

Robbie Coltrane OBE
Coltrane in April 2007
Born	Anthony Robert McMillan (1950-03-30) 30 March 1950 Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Occupation	Actor writer
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Rhona Gemmell ​ ( m. 1999; sep.  2003)
Children	2

Coltrane was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours for his services to drama.

Early life and education

Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of Jean Ross Howie, a teacher and pianist, and Ian Baxter McMillan, a general practitioner who also served as a forensic police surgeon.[1][2] He has an older sister, Annie, and a younger sister, Jane. Coltrane is the great-grandson of Scottish businessman Thomas W. Howie and the nephew of businessman Forbes Howie.

He started his education at Belmont House School in Newton Mearns before moving to Glenalmond College, an independent school in Perthshire. Though he later described his experiences there as deeply unhappy, he played for the rugby First XV, was head of the school's debating society and won prizes for his art.[3] From Glenalmond, Coltrane went on to Glasgow School of Art, where he was ridiculed for "having an accent like Prince Charles" (of which he quickly disposed, though not before gaining the nickname "Lord Fauntleroy"), and thereafter Moray House College of Education (now part of the University of Edinburgh) in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Coltrane later called for private schools to be banned and used to be known as "Red Robbie",[4] rebelling against his conservative upbringing through involvement with Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Labour Party and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Career

Coltrane in costume in the 1980s

Coltrane moved into acting in his early twenties, taking the stage name Coltrane (in tribute to jazz saxophonist John Coltrane)[5] and working in theatre and comedy. Appearing in the 1981 BBC television comedy series A Kick Up the Eighties, his comic skills also brought him roles in The Comic Strip Presents (1982) series and the comedy sketch shows Alfresco (1983–1984) and Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee (1984).

Coltrane moved into roles in films such as Flash Gordon (1980), Death Watch (1980), Balham, Gateway to the South (1981), Scrubbers (1983), Krull (1983), The Supergrass (1985), Defence of the Realm (1985), Absolute Beginners (1986), Mona Lisa (1986) and appeared as "Annabelle" in The Fruit Machine (1988).

On television, he appeared in The Young Ones, Tutti Frutti (1987), as Samuel Johnson in Blackadder (1987) (a role he later reprised in the more serious Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands (1993)), and in a number of stand-up and sketch comedy shows. He played the part of Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989) He co-starred with Eric Idle in Nuns on the Run (1990), and played the Pope in The Pope Must Die (1991). He also played a would-be private detective obsessed with Humphrey Bogart in the TV play The Bogie Man.

His roles continued in the 1990s with the TV series Cracker (1993–1996, returning in 2006 for a one-off special), in which he starred as forensic psychologist Dr. Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald.[6] The role won him three BAFTA awards.

Roles in bigger films followed; the James Bond films GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), a supporting role in From Hell (2001), as well as half-giant Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films (2001–2011). J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, had Coltrane at the top of her list to play Hagrid and, when asked whom she would like to see in the role, responded "Robbie Coltrane for Hagrid" in one quick breath.[7][8] The 7ft (2.13 m) ex-England and British Lions rugby player, Martin Bayfield stood in for the 6 ft 1in Coltrane in some scenes.[9][10]

Coltrane has also presented a number of documentary programmes for the British ITV network based around his twin passions for travel and transportation. Coltrane in a Cadillac (1993) saw him cross North America from Los Angeles to New York behind the wheel of a 1951 Cadillac Series 62 coupe convertible, a journey of 3,765 miles (6,059 km) which he completed in 32 days.

In 1997, Coltrane appeared in a series of six programmes under the title Coltrane's Planes and Automobiles, in which he extolled the virtues of the steam engine, the diesel engine, the supercharger, the V8 engine, the two-stroke engine, and the jet engine. In these programmes he dismantled and rebuilt several engines. He also single-handedly removed the engine from a Trabant car in 23 minutes.

In August 2007, Coltrane presented a series for ITV called B-Road Britain, in which he travelled from London to Glasgow, stopping in towns and villages along the way.

Coltrane was voted No. 11 in ITV's TV's 50 Greatest Stars and sixth in a poll of 2000 adults across the UK to find the 'most famous Scot', behind the Loch Ness Monster, Robert Burns, Sean Connery, Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.

Personal life

Coltrane married Rhona Gemmell on 11 December 1999. The couple have two children: son Spencer (b. 1992), and daughter Alice (b. 1998). Coltrane and Gemmell separated in 2003 and later divorced.[11]

Filmography and awards

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Flash Gordon	Man at air field
	Death Watch	Limousine Driver
1981	Subway Riders	Crime Detective
1982	Britannia Hospital	Striking worker on picket line	Non-speaking role
1983	Ghost Dance	George
	Krull	Rhun
1984	Chinese Boxes	Harwood
1985	National Lampoon's European Vacation	Man in bathroom
	The Supergrass	Det. Sgt. Troy
	Defence of the Realm	Leo McAskey
1986	Caravaggio	Scipione
	Mona Lisa	Thomas
1987	Eat the Rich	Jeremy
1988	The Fruit Machine	Annabelle
1989	Henry V	Falstaff
	Bert Rigby, You're a Fool	Sid Trample
	Let It Ride	Ticket Seller
	Danny, the Champion of the World	Victor Hazell
	Slipstream	Montclaire
1990	Midnight Breaks	Fat
	Nuns on the Run	Charlie McManus/Sister Inviolata
	Perfectly Normal	Alonzo Turner
1991	The Pope Must Die	The Pope
	Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole	Steffano Baccardi
1992	Oh, What a Night	Todd	Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
1993	Boswell & Johnson's Tour of the Western Isles	Dr. Samuel Johnson
	The Adventures of Huck Finn	Duke
1995	GoldenEye	Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky
1997	Buddy	Dr. Bill Lintz
1998	Frogs for Snakes	Al
	Montana	The Boss
1999	The World Is Not Enough	Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky
	Message in a Bottle	Charlie Toschi
2001	On the Nose	Delaney
	From Hell	Sergeant Peter Godley
	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Rubeus Hagrid	Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets		Nominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Acting
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
	Ocean's Twelve	Matsui
	Van Helsing: The London Assignment	Mr. Hyde	voice
	Van Helsing	Mr. Hyde	voice
2005	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Rubeus Hagrid
2006	Stormbreaker	The Prime Minister of Europe
	Provoked	Lord Edward Foster
2007	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Rubeus Hagrid
2008	The Tale of Despereaux	Gregory	voice
	The Brothers Bloom	The Curator
2009	Gooby	Gooby	voice
	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Rubeus Hagrid
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
2012	Brave	Lord Dingwall	voice
	Great Expectations	Mr. Jaggers
2014	Effie	Doctor

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Play for Today	Jimmie	"Waterloo Sunset"
1980	The Lost Tribe	Border Post Guard	"Keep Us Alive"
1981	Metal Mickey	Jason	"Mickey the Demon Barber"
1981–1984	A Kick Up the Eighties		All ten episodes
1981	Keep It in the Family	Mr. Conway	"A Matter of Principle"
1982	Sin on Saturday
1982	Five Go Mad in Dorset	Female shopkeeper / Male gypsy	Season 1, Episode 1 of The Comic Strip Presents
1983	Are You Being Served	Dynamite-truck driver on CB Radio	"Calling All Customers"
	Alfresco	various
1984	The Young Ones	Doctor in Episode "Bambi", Bouncer in Episode "Oil", Captain Blood in "Time"
1987	Blackadder the Third	Samuel Johnson	"Ink and Incapability"
1987	Tutti Frutti	Danny McGlone	Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
1988	Blackadder's Christmas Carol	The Spirit of Christmas
1989	The Robbie Coltrane Special		LWT comedy Special[12]
1990	Danny Champion of the World	Victor Hazell
1991	Screen One	Psychiatrist Liam Kane	"Alive And Kicking"
1993	The Legend of Lochnagar	The old man	TV film, voice
1993–1995 1996 2006	Cracker	Dr. Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald	Three British Academy Television Awards for Best Actor (1994, 1995 and 1996) Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actor Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor – Male Nominated – CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries For episode "Brotherly Love" (parts I, II and III).
1997	Coltrane's Planes and Automobiles		6-part Documentary
1998	The Ebb-Tide	Capt. Chisholm
1999	Alice in Wonderland	Ned Tweedledum
2003	Comic Relief: The Big Hair Do	Hagrid
2003	The Planman	Jack Lennox QC
2004	Pride	James
2004	Frasier	Michael Moon	"Goodnight, Seattle"
2005	Still Game	Davie	Season 4 Episode 3: "Dial-A-Bus"
2006	Cracker: Nine Eleven	Dr. Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald
2007	Robbie Coltrane – B Road Britain		TV Documentary
2009	Murderland	D.I. Douglas Hain
2009	The Gruffalo	The Gruffalo	TV film (children's), voice
2011	Lead Balloon	Donald	Series 4 Episode 4: "Off" Series 4 Episode 5: "Blade" Series 4 Episode 6: "End"
	50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments	Himself	Narrator
	The Gruffalo's Child[13]	The Gruffalo	TV film (children's), voice
2016	National Treasure	Paul Finchley	TV film Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
2016–present	Robbie Coltrane Critical Evidence	Host	true crime, non fiction, host

Other awards

• Won Evening Standard British Film Award – Peter Sellers Award for Comedy 1990.
• He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 New Year Honours for his services to drama.
• In 2011 was honoured for his "outstanding contribution" to film as the British Academy Scotland Awards ("BAFTA Scotland Awards").

References

1. "Robbie Coltrane Biography (1950–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
2. "Robbie Coltrane's magical career". BBC News. 31 December 2005.
3. "Robbie Coltrane biography". Tiscali.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
4. Paton, Maureen (20 March 2003). "'Hagrid? I'm just Dad'". Telegraph.co.uk. London.
5. "Scotland on Sunday". Scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
6. "Dr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald". Crackertv.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
7. "j.k. rowling". Neatorama.com. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
8. Alderson, Andrew (11 November 2001). "'They really do look as I'd imagined they would inside my head'". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 15 August 2011. (Accio Quote!, the Largest Archive of J.K. Rowling quotes on the web)
9. Ezard, John (5 June 2002). "Size means everything as Harry's big secret slips out". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
10. Femia, Will (13 November 2001). "Chat Flashback: The cinematic debut of Rubeus Hagrid". MSNBC. NBC News. Retrieved 1 October 2016. In real life, I'm 6'1" -- each way pretty well, north and south and east and west, unfortunately
11. Hughes, Sarah (17 September 2016). "Robbie Coltrane: the jovial giant with an enduring hint of menace". the Guardian.
12. "The Robbie Coltrane Special". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
13. "The Gruffalo's Child". BBC One. Retrieved 10 December 2011.

External links

• Robbie Coltrane on IMDb
• Robbie Coltrane at the BFI's Screenonline