Robbie Coltrane

Born: 31 March 1950
Where: Glasgow, Scotland

Although an accomplished comic actor, Robbie Coltrane first made his name as the obsessive forensic psychologist Cracker in the 1990s British TV series.

The 6'3", 18 stone actor played Russian gangster Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky in two Bond films, GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough.

But he won legions of new fans when he appeared as the gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The son of a physician and a teacher, Coltrane contemplated following in his older sister's wake as an artist but drifted into film after deciding his art was not up to scratch.

In 1973, he made a 50-minute documentary, Your Mental Health. After much stage work, he had his first major film role as a police detective tracking a killer in Subway Riders.

He went on to work with Chevy Chase in European Vacation and Al Pacino in the forgettable Revolution.

Coltrane won notice for his turn as Bob Hoskins' mechanic pal in Mona Lisa and as the corrupt cardinal in Caravaggio. Kenneth Branagh tapped him to play Falstaff in the 1989 remake Henry V.

He returned to comedy in the Nineties with Nuns on the Run and The Pope Must Die.

1993 was a turning point as he landed the role of Fitz in Cracker but he carried on with film, with Buddy, Message In a Bottle and another Scottish detective in Ripper movie From Hell, before delighting millions as Hagrid, in a recurring role that will hopefully span up to 7 movies.

Coltrane also appeared in Van Helsing as he CGI-based monster, Mr Hyde.