Robbie Coltrane omission from BAFTA tribute sparks complaints

15 May, 2023

Robbie Coltrane

Viewers of this year’s BAFTA Awards were left disappointed following the omission of Robbie Coltrane from the in-memoriam segment.

The television award ceremony took place at London’s Royal Festival Hall yesterday (May 14), and featured a moving In Memory Of… section — designed to honour actors that have passed away over the past year, along with late creatives who played integral roles behind the scenes.

This year’s package included obituaries for Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman and Dame Edna Everage star Barry Humphries, who both passed away in April, as well as comedian and television presenter Paul O’Grady, who died the month prior.

Other late television stars that were acknowledged on the night included Emmerdale star Dale Meeks, Hi-Di-Hi! actress Ruth Madoc and Doctor Who actor Bernard Cribbins.

Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane. CREDIT: Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

Some viewers, however, were left disappointed at the tribute section at the awards ceremony — namely due to the absence of Robbie Coltrane. The actor, who was renowned for his role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, died last October following multiple organ failure.

Yet, despite appearances in other films, such as Brave and GoldenEye, and a leading role in the 2016 television series, National Treasure, the Scottish actor was left out of the section — leading to some backlash from fans on social media.

“Robbie Coltrane won three BAFTAs concurrently for his TV work, setting a record yet to be broken. Might have been worth mentioning his passing,” wrote one user, disappointed by the lack of coverage Coltrane received.

Another agreed: “@bafta no recognition for Robbie Coltrane, he died in October and is one of Britain’s most successful actors.” A third weighed in too, adding: “What about Robbie Coltrane in your obituaries? Great actor which seems forgotten about tonight.”

Responding to the latter, event organisers provided an explanation to fans about why Coltrane wasn’t included in the Memoriam segment — forwarding a link to an update shared on their official website.

According to the statement, the tribute section was launched in 2006, but is “unable to provide a definitive list of every person with industry credits who has passed away”. It also explained that Coltrane was honoured at the Film Awards earlier this year, hence his absence from the BAFTA segment.

Winners at this year’s ceremony included Kate Winslet, for her performance in I Am Ruth, and Ben Whishaw for his role in This Is Going To Hurt.

Other shows that proved popular on the night included the Channel 4 series Derry Girls, as well as the BBC series The Traitors.

In other news, back in January, fellow Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint explained why he chose not to attend Robbie Coltrane’s funeral, saying that while he saw the actor as “family”, he didn’t know him “outside of work”.

Instead, the actor paid tribute to his co-worker on Instagram, writing: “Heartbroken to hear that Robbie is gone. I’ll never forget the smell of cigars and beard glue- a wonderful combination. No one else on this planet could of played Hagrid, only Robbie.”

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