Anthony Robert McMillan

Anthony Robert McMillan was born in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. He studied painting at the Glasgow School of Art before taking up stand-up comedy and acting, adopting the surname Coltrane as a tribute to jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He gained early notice in British alternative comedy on The Comic Strip Presents... and A Kick Up the Eighties.

In the 1990s, Coltrane achieved critical superstardom as forensic psychologist Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the gritty ITV drama Cracker (1993–1996), winning the BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor three years in a row. He starred as Russian mafia boss Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky in two James Bond blockbusters: GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999). In 2001, hand-picked by J. K. Rowling, Coltrane took on the defining role of his career: Rubeus Hagrid, the gentle, dragon-loving half-giant gamekeeper in the Harry Potter film franchise. His warmth, comic timing, and deep tenderness touched generations of children and adults across the globe. He was appointed OBE in 2006.