Warwick Davis: Wicket, Willow, and Flitwick

February 3 is the birthday of Warwick Davis (b. 1970), quite possibly the most successful Little Person actor in history.

Davis was 13 when he got elevated to the role of the Ewok warrior Wicket in 1983’s The Return of the Jedi (he’d initially been cast as a crowd extra). He’s been in nearly every Star Wars movie since, sometimes as Wicket, sometimes as other characters.

The George Lucas relationship resulted in his being cast as magical characters in Labyrinth (1986) and Willow (1988), the latter of which gave him his largest role, as the title character (pictured at the top of the post).

He’s also the mischievous title character in the Leprechaun films (1993-2003).

And Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films (2001-2011), shown here with both looks, as well as the Goblin Griphook. This is far from all.

Most of Davis’s other movies have been in the fantasy genre in one way or another. They include Prince Valiant (1997), Roger Corman’sA Very Unlucky Leprechaun (1998), The New Adventures of Pinocchio (1999), The Tenth Kingdom (2000), Snow White: The Fairest of The All (2001), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), Get Santa (2014), and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019).

From 2011 to 2013 he starred in the Ricky Gervais sitcom Life’s Too Short, among dozens of other TV roles.

Davis was a presenter in a 2013 documentary about the Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz. Since 2016 he has hosted the game show Tenable. As of 2022, he has starred in a new series that serves as a sequel to Willow!

For more on performing little people please check out Rose’s Royal Midgets and Other Little People in Vaudeville.