Robbie Coltrane, best known for his role as Rebeus Hagrid in Harry Potter, died at the age of 72 in a hospital near Falkirk, Scotland, his agent of 40 years, Belinda Wright, confirmed on this weekend. In the wake of the sad news, Piers Morgan took to Twitter with an anecdote of his short time spent with the Scotsman. However, rather than pay a “fulsome tribute” to the “superb actor”, the veteran broadcaster shared an article discussing his one “comically unpleasant” encounter with him.
Coltrane, who played the psychologist “Fitz” in the series Cracker which won him three BAFTAs for best TV actor, encountered Morgan while he was dining at The Ivy in London on June 6, 2008.
Morgan, writing in the Mail on Sunday, recalled how he had only ever been punched by one celebrity at that time, Jeremy Clarkson, but added that he was sure he was going to receive a blow from Coltrane.
At approximately 11.30pm, Morgan wrote that Coltrane stared at him with an “evil intent that would put former boxer Joe Calzaghe to shame” before saying “I’ll f***ing do you, you f***ing w*****”.
Perplexed, he wrote: “Quite how things got to this stage remains a mystery, as I have never met Mr Coltrane before in my life, and to the best of my memory have never had any run-ins with him on any of the newspapers I have worked on.”
The former host of ITV’s Good Morning Britain said he was put on a table just two feet away from Coltrane who then said “oh f***ing hell! Not that f***ing w*****!” Morgan continued: “I turned to see who he was talking about, and then realised his drooping, inflamed eyes were looking at me.
“I sat down, feeling slightly disconcerted. Mr Coltrane, after all, is at least 30st, has a face like a gnarled warthog, and looks as if he could ‘handle himself’, as they say in his native Lanarkshire.”
He recalled how he had been eating with the former Daily Mirror editor and the now Head of TV at News UK Broadcasting, Richard Wallace, and other guests who found it “highly amusing”.
Then, Morgan revealed that the Fawlty Towers star John Cleese arrived with a “very attractive, leggy blonde date” who approached Coltrane, adding to the “surreal nature” of the evening.
READ MORE: Harry Potter star Robbie Coltrane was ‘fighting pain 24 hours a day’
Morgan then decided to introduce himself to Coltrane and offered to shake his hand which did not go down well after, he claimed, Coltrane’s face contorted “into blind, eye-popping fury” as he told him to “not come near him”.
He repeated himself, Morgan alleged, telling him to “not come near him if he knew what was good for him” before the Harry Potter star told him to “f*** off”.
The 57-year-old continued: “I pondered [Coltrane’s] behaviour over another bottle of Chateau Palmer Margaux, and decided to confront my antagonist directly at his table.
“‘I just want to clarify one thing,’ I said, stopping him in mid-bite. ‘We’ve never actually met, right?’
“‘F*** off,’ came the predictable reply. My patience spontaneously evaporated. ‘No, I’ve got a better idea, why don’t you f*** off, you rude little man.'”
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