Robbie Coltrane’s ashes are exclusively scattered at his favorite New York haunts – including a deli where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm in Harry and Sally
- Harry Potter and Cracker star, who died in October aged 72, loved the Big Apple
- He practically “lived” in New York in the 1970s and got his break in Subway Riders
- His son Spencer McMillan and sister Alice scattered ashes around Manhattan
Acting giant Robbie Coltrane’s ashes have been scattered at his favorite New York haunts – including the deli where the famous orgasm scene in Harry and Sally was filmed.
The Harry Potter and Cracker actor, who died in October aged 72, loved the Big Apple and especially Katz’s on the Lower East Side.
Coltrane once said of the 135-year-old institution, “Oh, the smell when they took the pastrami out of the oven. They hung my photo, three of Frank Sinatra. Proudest moment of my life.’
Though she has long been popular with New Yorkers, Katz’s found greater fame on the 1989 rom-com, when she was the setting for Meg Ryan’s Sally, who faked an orgasm and prompted another diner to tell a waitress, “I will have what she has.”
Acting giant Robbie Coltrane’s ashes have been scattered over his favorite spots in New York
The Harry Potter and Cracker actor, who died in October aged 72, loved the Big Apple and especially Katz’s on the Lower East Side
Coltrane practically “lived” in New York in the 1970s, where he got his big break when filmmaker Amos Poe cast him in the 1979 thriller Subway Riders.
Poe joined Coltrane’s son Spencer McMillan and sister Alice to scatter the ashes across Manhattan.
Photos posted to social media show them being evicted from a small tube in Washington Square Park and independent cinema The New York Film Forum, as well as Katz’s, where they took his remains to the pastrami counter before Spencer and Poe hugged emotionally.
Michelin reviewers describe the Jewish-run deli as “crowded, wacky, and packed with a plethora of characters weirder than a jury pool” and comment on the notoriously impatient staff.
Poe told his friends online: “Look who’s dropped by, like prodigal Scottish son Spencer McMillan.
Though Katz has long been a New Yorkers favorite, he rose to fame with the 1989 rom-com when he was the setting for Meg Ryan’s Sally faking an orgasm
“He’s bringing his father’s ashes – Robbie Coltrane – to spread around his beloved New York. Honored and appropriate. Stop first at Washington Square Park… then Katz’s Deli, Pastrami Counter… the Film Forum…”
Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, died at Forth Valley Hospital in Scotland from diseases including sepsis, diabetes and obesity that led to multiple organ failure.
Spencer, an artist, brought his father’s ashes to America to scatter in his favorite places.
Coltrane once said, “Don’t tell the immigrants, but I practically lived there [New York] in the late 1970s.’
And he revealed he was friends with Blondie singer Debbie Harry, which at the time “was kind of like knowing God.”