Venerable Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, best known as the dragon-loving half-giant Hagrid from the Harry Potter film franchise, died on Friday, his managers said.
He was 72.
A representative with the actor’s agency, William Morris Endeavor, confirmed his passing to NBC News, saying Coltrane had been ill and wasn’t active recently.
His cause of death wasn’t immediately disclosed.
“For me personally I shall remember him as an abidingly loyal client,” his agent Belinda Wright said in statement to the Press Association.
“As well as being a wonderful actor, he was forensically intelligent, brilliantly witty and after 40 years of being proud to be called his agent, I shall miss him.”
While U.S. and worldwide viewers know him best for playing Harry Potter’s friend and pseudo-parent figure, British audiences have long adored him as Dr. Edward ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald on the long-running crime drama “Cracker.”
He won three consecutive British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for best actor from his work on “Cracker,” playing a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking, gambling-addicted forensic psychologist.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said “Ftiz” was one her favorite TV characters and called Coltrane a “Scottish entertainment legend.”
“Very sad news. He had such range and depth as an actor, from brilliant comedy to hard-edged drama,” the Scottish National Party leader said in statement.
His last credit came in 2020 on the British comedy drama, “Urban Myths,” with an off-beat, amusing take on Orson Welles.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Liam Woods and Maya Brown contributed.