Robbie Coltrane, Harry Potter’s Hagrid, dies at 72

Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, best known for playing the lovable half-giant Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, has died. He was 72. The actor gained fame for playing a crime-solving psychologist on the popular TV series Cracker.

The actor’s agent Belinda Wright said he died Friday at a hospital in Scotland. She did not give a cause. In her statement about his death, Belinda Wright said that “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.” She added that Coltrane is survived by his sister Annie Rae, his ex-wife Rhona Gemmell and his children Spencer and Alice.

Robbie Coltrane first found fame in the 1990s as a hard-bitten detective in Cracker. For his performance on the show, he won the best actor award at the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) three years running.

He then found worldwide recognition as Hagrid in the film adaptation of JK Rowling’s beloved and bestselling Harry Potter series. He played the gentle half-giant, who acts as a mentor and friend to the boy wizard, in all eight Harry Potter films, released between 2001 and 2011. Other roles include a Russian crime boss in the James Bond thrillers GoldenEye and The World is Not Enough.

In the recent years, he earned critical acclaim for his performance as a beloved TV star who may harbor a dark secret in the 2016 miniseries National Treasure. He was last seen in Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.