Coltrane in a Cadillac
A Meridian Broadcasting television programme featuring Robbie Coltrane.
It features Robbie Coltrane, a Scottish actor known for his roles in the Harry Potter film series and the crime drama Cracker.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 31 March 1950
- Died
- 14 October 2022
- Birth name
- Anthony Robin McMillan
- Known for
- Rubeus Hagrid in Harry Potter films, Dr. Edward 'Fitz' Fitzgerald in Cracker
- Notable awards
- BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor (three consecutive years from 1994), OBE (2006)
Facts from the source article.
Early life and education
Born Anthony Robin McMillan on 31 March 1950 in Rutherglen, Scotland, his mother was a teacher and pianist, and his father a GP and forensic police surgeon. He had two sisters. After attending Belmont House School, he boarded at Glenalmond College, where he played rugby, led the debating society, and won art prizes. He later studied painting at the Glasgow School of Art. Known as "Red Robbie," he rebelled against his conservative upbringing by campaigning for private school abolition and supporting Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Labour Party, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Career
Coltrane moved into acting in his early twenties, adopting the stage name Coltrane in tribute to jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He appeared in the first stage production of John Byrne's The Slab Boys at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh in 1978. His comedic abilities brought him roles in The Comic Strip Presents and the sketch show Alfresco. In 1984 he appeared in A Kick Up the Eighties and Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee, and is credited as a writer for both. He moved into film roles including Flash Gordon, Death Watch, Krull, Mona Lisa, and The Fruit Machine. On television, he appeared in The Young Ones, Tutti Frutti, and as Samuel Johnson in Blackadder the Third. He played Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V and starred opposite Jeremy Irons in Danny, the Champion of the World. He co-starred with Eric Idle in Nuns on the Run and played the Pope in The Pope Must Die. He starred as forensic psychologist Dr. Edward 'Fitz' Fitzgerald in the TV series Cracker, winning three BAFTA awards. He appeared in the James Bond films GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough, a supporting role in From Hell, and as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films. J. K. Rowling had Coltrane at the top of her list to play Hagrid.
Personal life
Coltrane met Rhona Gemmell, an art student in Glasgow, during the late 1980s, and they had two children. They married in 1999, separated in 2003, and later divorced, but stayed close. In 2005, he spoke at a Scottish Labour event, saying he might eventually want an independent Labour Scotland, but that it required careful thought. He defended J. K. Rowling against transphobia accusations, arguing she had said nothing offensive and that online critics were too quick to take offense. In his later years, Coltrane had osteoarthritis, was in constant pain by 2016, and used a wheelchair from 2019. He died at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert on 14 October 2022, aged 72, after two years of illness. His ex-wife registered the death; the certificate listed multiple organ failure with sepsis, a lower respiratory infection, heart block, and type 2 diabetes.
Awards, honours and legacy
Coltrane won the Evening Standard British Film Award – Peter Sellers Award for Comedy in 1990. He was appointed OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours for services to drama. In 2011, he was honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to Film at the British Academy Scotland Awards. On 26 December 2022, BBC Four broadcast the tribute programme Robbie Coltrane at the BBC.
More in Television Shows Produced by Meridian Broadcasting
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced