Robbie Coltrane, OBE is atelevision and film actor, and was born in Rutherglen in March 1950.


Career

He moved into acting in his early twenties, taking the stage name Coltrane, working in theatre and stand-up comedy. Appearing in the BBC television comedy series A Kick Up the Eighties, his skills also brought him roles in the The Comic Strip Presents, and was one of the stars of Laugh? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee.


Film and Television Career

He moved into films, starring in a number of movies such as Flash Gordon (1980), Death Watch (1980), Scrubbers (1983), Krull (1983), Absolute Beginners (1986), Mona Lisa (1986) and appeared as "Annabelle" in The Fruit Machine (1988). On television, he also appeared in The Young Ones, Tutti Frutti (1987), as Samuel Johnson in Blackadder (1987)

He starred with Eric Idle in Nuns on the Run (1990), and played the Pope in The Pope Must Die (1991). He also appeared as a private detective obsessed with Humphrey Bogart in The Bogie Man, a TV play.In the 1990s he was the main star of Cracker where he won a BAFTA award this led to parts in films such as GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough and a major role in From Hell (2001) as well as appearing as half-giant Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films (2001-present).

In August 2007, Coltrane presented a series for ITV1 called 'B-Road Britain' in which he travelled from London to Glasgow, taking routes other than the main motorways, passing through small towns and villages.


Trivia.

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, has stated that she created the character of Hagrid based on Coltrane's likeness. He also collects vintage cars.