Warwick Davis
Areas of Interest
Arts, CampaignerHonorary Award
Doctor of Arts, 2013Biography
Standing at just three feet six inches tall, Warwick Davis is the world's leading short actor. On the screen and on the stage, he has starred alongside the likes of Robert Powell, Alec Guinness, Alan Rickman, Jennifer Aniston, Val Kilmer, David Bowie and Harrison Ford, so we are all familiar with his screen presence. Besides Stars Wars, his film credits include playing the title roles in Willow and the Leprechaun series, and Professor Filius Flitwick in the enormously successful Harry Potter films, Warwick has also starred as a fictionalised version of himself in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Most recently, he has appeared on television in the moving documentary The Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz, featuring the Ovitz family - a touring Jewish musical troupe.
He is married to fellow actor Samantha Davis and they have two children. His family lives in Peterborough, where - along with his father-in-law, fellow short actor Peter Burroughs - Warwick set up the talent agency Willow Management, the world's biggest agency for short actors. Warwick says that his agency, which now also represents very tall actors, was set up "to change the way that short people are represented in films and on television". The success of the agency meant that over forty members of Willow Management were cast as goblins in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two.
In 2010, Warwick published his autobiography, Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life and Career of Warwick Davis. In the foreword, movie producer and director George Lucas says of him:
"Warwick has already led an extraordinary life - actor, director, businessman and devoted husband and father. He has undergone tremendous physical and other challenges and has become an even stronger force of nature by overcoming them. For all that he has done and for his innate decency and integrity, he's my hero."
Citation
Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to read the citation for Warwick Davis for the award of Doctor of Arts, honoris causa.
Warwick Davis is a man whose dream came true. When he was 11, his grandmother heard a radio advert calling for people who were four feet tall or shorter to be in Star Wars Episode Six: Return of the Jedi. Since he was already a huge fan of the Star Wars movies, Warwick applied and was cast as the Ewok 'Wicket' - and the rest is big-screen history.
Standing at just three feet six inches tall, Warwick Davis is now the world's leading short actor. On the screen and on the stage, he has starred alongside the likes of Robert Powell, Alec Guinness, Alan Rickman, Jennifer Aniston, Val Kilmer, David Bowie and Harrison Ford, so we are all familiar with his screen presence. Besides Stars Wars, his film credits include playing the title roles in Willow and the Leprechaun series, and Professor Filius Flitwick in the enormously successful Harry Potter films. Warwick has also starred as a fictionalised version of himself in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Most recently, he has appeared on television in the moving documentary The Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz, featuring the Ovitz family ? a touring Jewish musical troupe.
He is married to fellow actor Samantha Davis and they have two children. The family lives in Peterborough, where - along with his father-in-law, fellow short actor Peter Burroughs - Warwick set up the talent agency Willow Management, the world's biggest agency for short actors. Warwick says that his agency, which now also represents very tall actors, was set up "to change the way that short people are represented in films and on television". The success of the agency meant that over forty members of Willow Management were cast as goblins in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two.
Warwick has a healthily wry outlook on life and stature, as evidenced by his website, where you can download an app called 'Pocket Warwick'. Just like with a Tamagotchi, you have to make sure Pocket Warwick is entertained, fed, educated and washed - but with the catch that you also have to manage his career!
In 2010, Warwick published his autobiography, Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life and Career of Warwick Davis. In the foreword, movie producer and director George Lucas says of him:
"Warwick has already led an extraordinary life - actor, director, businessman and devoted husband and father. He has undergone tremendous physical and other challenges and has become an even stronger force of nature by overcoming them. For all that he has done and for his innate decency and integrity, he's my hero."
It is for these reasons, Vice Chancellor, that it is my pleasure to present Warwick Davis for the award of Doctor of Arts, honoris causa.