Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, loved by audiences for his roles as groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films and as psychologist Eddie Fitzgerald in the ITV crime drama Cracker, died last week as a result of multiple organ failure.
The Sunday Mail revealed that cause of death on Saturday, October 22, eight days after Coltrane passed away at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Scotland. The newspaper reported that the 72-year-old also had sepsis, lower respiratory tract infection, Type 2 diabetes, and heart block — and that it was his ex-wife, pilates instructor Rhona Gemmell, who registered his death.
Following Coltrane’s death on October 14, many of his Harry Potter paid tribute to the actor and in statements to the press. “Robbie was one of the funniest people I’ve met and used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set,” Daniel Radcliffe said in a statement, per Deadline. “I’ve especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on Prisoner of Azkaban, when we were all hiding from the torrential rain for hours in Hagrid’s hut and he was telling stories and cracking jokes to keep morale up. I feel incredibly lucky that I got to meet and work with him and very sad that he’s passed. He was an incredible actor and a lovely man.”
Emma Watson, meanwhile, honored Coltrane in an Instagram update. “Robbie was like the most fun uncle I’ve ever had, but most of all, he was deeply caring, and compassionate towards me as a child and an adult,” she wrote, per HuffPost. “His talent was so immense, it made sense he played a giant ― he could fill any space with his brilliance. Robbie, if I ever get to be so kind as you were to me on a film set, I promise I’ll do it in your name and memory.”
And in his own Instagram post, Rupert Grint wrote, “Just as Hagrid was in the books and films Robbie was in life — warm, compassionate and hilarious. A giant-hearted man who was still looking out for us even decades later. Sending love to his family. See you on the other side, Bobser.”
