Posted By: Nazia Mughal | December 6, 2018
Robbie Coltrane Biography
Robbie Coltrane was born on March 30, 1950, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. He is a comic actor and has got great success on the big screen and television, with the famous British television series Cracker and the Harry Potter film series.
Robbie is Scottish actor and best known for his roles such as Hagrid, the Giant in the Harry Potter tv series and Mr. Hyde in Van Helsing.
He made his name in the United Kingdom for his cameo performances in such films as ‘henry v’ and ‘Mona Lisa’. Robbie continues to appear in movies enjoying great success in such family films as ‘the adventure of Huckleberry Finn’ and the Harry Potter series in which he plays kindly gamekeeper Hagrid, the Giant.
Robbie Coltrane Early life
He is the son of a teacher and a doctor. In the beginning, he started performing as a student at Glenalmond College. He has an elder sister, Annie, and a younger sister, Jane. Robbie is the great-grandson of Scottish businessman Thomas W. Howie and the nephew of businessman Forbes Howie. When he motivated towards acting, he decided to follow his passion for art. He got his early education at Glenalmond College, an independent school in Perthshire, from which he nearly expelled after hanging the prefects’ gowns from the school clock tower. Later he shared his views as totally unhappy, he performed for the rugby First XV, was head of the school’s debating society and won prizes for his art. After leaving Glenalmond, Robbie joined Glasgow School of Art, where he ridiculed for ‘having an accent like Prince Charles.’ After that, he attended Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Robbie later known for private schools to be banned and used to be called as “red Robbie, for rebelling against his conservative upbringing through involvement with Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Labour Party and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
After completing his schooling, Robbie moved towards improvisational stand-up. He took his stage name as Robbie Coltrane. Later he branched out in acting. He became known for such television shows as Alfresco and Tutti Frutti. He also made cameo performances in such films as Mona Lisa in 1986 and Henry V in 1989.
Robbie Coltrane Career
Coltrane came towards acting in his early twenties, taking the stage name Coltrane and started working in theatre and comedy. By emerging in the 1981 BBC television comedy series, ‘a kick up the eighties’ his comic skills also provided his roles in ‘the comic strip presents’ in 1982 and the comedy sketch shows Alfresco from 1983 to 1984 and ‘laugh I nearly paid my license fee’ in 1984.
Robbie Coltrane joined his roles in films such as Flash Gordon in 1980, Death Watch in 1980, Gateway to the South in 1981, Scrubbers in 1983, Krull in 1983, The Supergrass in 1985, Defence of the Realm in 1985, Absolute Beginners in 1986, Mona Lisa in 1986, etc.
On television, Robbie appeared in The Young Ones, Tutti Frutti in 1987, as Samuel Johnson in Blackadder in 1987, etc. He played the part of Falstaff in Henry V in 1989. Robbie co-starred with Eric Idle in Nuns on the Run in 1990. And played the role of Pope in The Pope Must Die in 1991. He also performed in the TV play The Bogie Man.
Roles of Robbie continued in the 1990s with the TV series Cracker from 1993 to 1996. Returning in 2006 in which he starred as forensic psychologist Dr. Edward.
Robbie has presented some documentary programs for the British ITV network based on his passions for transportation and travel.
In 1997, Robbie emerged in a series of six programs under the title Coltrane’s Planes and Automobiles in which Robbie extolled the virtues of the steam engine, the diesel engine, the supercharger, the V8 engine, the two-stroke engine, and the jet engine.
In Aug 2007, Robbie presented a series for ITV called B-Road Britain, in which he moved from London to Glasgow, stopping in towns and villages along the way.
Robbie Coltrane Fame and Success
Moving towards bigger roles of films, Robbie starred with Monty Python alum Eric Idle in the 1990 comedy ‘nuns on the run.’ He found himself in the controversy, the following year, with ‘the pope must die’ he played a flawed priest who winds up becoming the pope in this comedy. But the title of the film caused such an outcry that it was renamed ‘the pope must diet.’
In the mid of 990s, Robbie played the lead in the popular crime series ‘cracker’ in Britain. He was featured as Dr. Eddie ‘fitz’ a brilliant forensic psychologist with an excessive lifestyle. This sho later aired on American television, and Robbie earned a cable ACE award for his brilliant performance. He also played in roles in two James Bond films, 1995’s GoldenEye and 1999’s the World Is Not Enough, by starring alongside Pierce Brosnan.
Robbie started his run as the kindly gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid in the first installment of the film Harry Potter film series in 2001. His great role here served as a friend and ally to little title character throughout the series. Which concluded with 2011’s ‘Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows.’ The following year, Robbie lent his voice to the hit animated film ‘brave.’ He also performed a role in the latest film adaptation of Charles Dicken’s Great Expectation. Appearing alongside Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter.
Robbie Coltrane Personal life
Robbie married her long-time girlfriend Rhona Gemmell. The couple has two children, and their names are Alice and Spencer.
Robbie Coltrane Facts
Robbie posses a handsome height of 6 feet and 1 inch. He married with Gammell in 1999. Robbie is the author of certain books, including Coltrane’s Planes & Automobiles: Engines that turned the world and he has been active since 1979.
Fans voted Robbie as no 11 in 50 Greatest Stars of ITV. And sixth in the poll of two thousand adults across the UK to find the most famous Scot. Behind the Loch Ness Monster, Robert Burns, Robert the Bruce Sean Connery and William Wallace.
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