Harry Potter and Star Wars actor Warwick Davis made an OBE in New Year Honours
Davis got his first break in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi at the age of just 11.
Warwick Davis has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours.
The 55-year-old, who is best known for his roles as Wicket the Ewok in the Star Wars franchise and Professor Filius Flitwick and goblin Griphook in the Harry Potter series, was honoured for his services to drama and charity.
It comes after he was given Bafta’s highest honour at its annual film awards, the Bafta Fellowship, for his performing and advocacy work in February.
On accepting his fellowship, Davis said: “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’ve been in Star Wars.”
He dedicated the award to his late wife Samantha, who was also an actress and died in March 2024, during an emotional tribute at the ceremony.
Davis co-founded the charity Little People UK in 2012 alongside Samantha to help individuals with dwarfism and their families.
The pair starred together in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, where Mrs Davis also played a goblin.
He said “life has been pretty tough” since she died, and “she was always so supportive of my career, encouraging me to grab every opportunity with both hands”.
The couple met during the filming of 1988 fantasy movie Willow, in which he had a starring role as the hero Willow Ufgood. They married in 1991 and had three children together, with their eldest son Lloyd dying just nine days after his birth in 1991.
Davis was born with a rare form of dwarfism called Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita.
He got his first break in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi at the age of just 11.
Davis also starred alongside the late David Bowie in Labyrinth, was cast as the eponymous hero of Ron Howard’s fantasy adventure Willow, and also featured in BBC adaptations of CS Lewis’s Narnia books.
Over the years he has become one of Britain’s most in-demand actors, featuring in Jack The Giant Slayer, the Leprechaun movies, Ricky Gervais’ Extras series, and also working with Gervais on BBC mockumentary Life’s Too Short.
He has hosted ITV quiz show Tenable, voiced a character on the Moominvalley TV series, and runs the talent agency Willow Management, which represents actors under 5ft and over 7ft.
