The Story of Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane (1950-) Robbie Coltrane has shown to be one of the most adaptable actors of the generation that rose to fame with the alternative comedy boom of the early 1980s despite his imposing size (6'1" and heavy with it), which may have restricted his choice of roles throughout the years. None of his contemporaries, with the exception of Hugh Laurie, have transitioned into "straight" parts and Hollywood favor with such ease. The son of...
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Robbie Coltrane (1950-)

Robbie Coltrane has shown to be one of the most adaptable actors of the generation that rose to fame with the alternative comedy boom of the early 1980s despite his imposing size (6'1" and heavy with it), which may have restricted his choice of roles throughout the years. None of his contemporaries, with the exception of Hugh Laurie, have transitioned into "straight" parts and Hollywood favor with such ease.

The son of well-educated Scottish Calvinists, Anthony Robert McMillan was born on March 30, 1950, in Rutherglen, Glasgow. At the age of 23, he received a Scottish Education Council award for a mental health documentary. He joined many theater groups in his twenties, notably John Byrne's Traverse Theatre, and honed his stand-up and improvisational comedy abilities at the same time. His earliest screen work further exemplifies the diversity of work that has characterized his career since. He made his television debut in the Play for Today "Waterloo Sunset" (BBC, tx. 23/1/1979), the same year that he made appearances in the comedic short Balham: Gateway to the South (d. Mickey Dolenz), based on an idea by Peter Sellers, and Bertrand Tavernier's Glasgow-set sci-fi La Mort en direct

With "Five Go Mad in Dorset" (tx. 11/2/1982), he started a long relationship with The Comic Strip Presents... team (Channel 4, 1982-88; 1998-2000; BBC, 1990-93). He would appear in a further fifteen episodes of the series, including one as writer/director ("Jealousy," BBC, tx. 27/5/1993), but his performance as Ken Livingstone in the delirious cod-Hollywood retelling of the fall of the Greater London Council, "GLC: The Carnage Continues" (tx. 15/2/1988), as Charles Bronson, stands out as the most memorable. He collaborated with Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, and others on Granada's Alfresco (ITV, 1983-84), took over for Richard Stilgoe as presenter of A Kick Up the Eighties (BBC, 1981-84), and stayed on for its sequel, Laugh? Making cameo appearances in Blackadder (BBC, 1983-89), Girls on Top (ITV, 1985-86), and Comic Strip associate Peter Richardson's two big-screen outings of the decade, The Supergrass (1985) and the disastrous Eat the Rich (1986), in addition to appearing in I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee (BBC, 1984), Blackadder guest appearances, and Girls on Top guest appearances (1987).

He also played minor roles in 1982 films by Lindsay Anderson and Mai Zetterling, Britannia Hospital and Scrubbers; a cynical hack in Defence of the Realm (deceased by David Drury in 1985); Bob Hoskins' mechanic friend in Mona Lisa (deceased by Neil Jordan in 1986); and an almost typecast role as Falstaff in Branagh's Henry V. (1989). There were numerous pieces in more underground or experimental work in addition to this pretty popular fare: As a Cardinal in Derek Jarman's Carravaggio, Subway Riders (US, d. Amos Poe, 1981), Ghost Dance (UK, W. Germany, d. Ken McMullan, 1983), Chinese Boxes (d. Chris Petit), and Chinese Boxes (d. Chris Petit, 1984). (1986; the first of a surprising number of Catholic roles).

His most well-known part to date was as the erratic rock'n'roller Danny McGlone in the exquisitely observed tragicomic Tutti-Frutti (BBC), alongside his Alfresco co-star Emma Thompson. This brought him back together with John Byrne.

During his performance, John Coltrane displayed a startling sensitivity that set him apart from his obnoxious, destructive bandmates.