Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center

Warwick Davis Biography

Warwick Davis was born on February 3, 1970 in Epsom, Surrey, England. His father is an insurance broker, his mother is a homemaker, and he has a younger sister. Warwick still resides in England, although his professional commitments frequently bring him to the U.S. and other countries.

Behind the scenes of Return of the Jedi
Left photo courtesy of T'bone's Star Wars Universe

Warwick got his first movie role when he was 11 years old, after his grandmother heard a radio ad announcing a casting call for little people to act in a new movie. Warwick, an avid Star Wars fan, was thrilled to find out that the movie was Return of the Jedi. By the time Warwick arrived for an audition, they already had enough actors, and they had never intended to use children. But as soon as they saw Warwick, they cast him as an Ewok extra. As the youngest and smallest of the Ewok actors, Warwick came in for a lot of attention. Mark Hamill gave him Star Wars toys. Carrie Fisher served him milk and cookies. The assistant director devoted his free time to making a short fantasy film about Warwick's behind-the-scenes adventures. This fun, still-unfinished film, Return of the Ewok, had its first public showing at a sci-fi convention in 1999, and Warwick has continued to show it frequently at conventions since then.

Warwick's professional behavior also received favorable attention. His ability to keep going despite the discomfort of the costume earned him the nickname "The Ever-Ready Ewok". And his realistic portrayal of Ewok behavior caught the eye of Star Wars creator George Lucas.The part of Wicket was originally supposed to be played by Kenny "R2-D2" Baker. When Baker became ill on the day of Wicket's big scene, Warwick was chosen to take over the role. In 1984 and 1985, Warwick played Wicket again in two made-for-TV movies about the Ewoks. During the filming of one of these movies, Lucas told Warwick's mother that he was writing something for Warwick to do in a few years' time. That "something" turned out to be Willow.

Behind the scenes of Willow
Left picture: Tony Cox (left) handed out chocolate coins in Leprechaun 2 and was a stunt double for the Lep in the first movie. He and Phil Fondacaro (right) both played Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. Fondacaro tried out for the part of the Leprechaun when the first movie was being cast, but it was the guy in the center front who actually got the part.

In the interim, Warwick played the role of two goblins in the Lucas-produced, Jim Henson-directed movie Labyrinth, with David Bowie. Since Warwick was essentially an extra in this film, it wasn't very significant for him professionally. But a behind-the-scenes meeting later turned out to be very personally significant.

In 1987, Lucas started production on Willow. He casually mentioned Warwick to director Ron Howard as someone who might be good in the lead role. Howard was unconvinced, fearing that Warwick was too young, and embarked on a two-continent search for actors. It was only after he independently concluded that Warwick was the best man for the part that Howard learned the role had been written with Warwick in mind. Willow is Warwick's biggest role to date, and is still the part he is most recognized for. The film didn't become the mega-blockbuster that was hoped for, but still has a loyal fan following. The 1990s saw the publication of a book trilogy based on the movie, and George Lucas reportedly has not ruled out doing a sequel after he completes a few other projects.

After Willow, Warwick returned to England, and in 1989 and 1990 played the heavy-costume roles of Reepicheep the mouse and Glimfeather the owl in the BBC's Chronicles of Narnia series. In 1991, Warwick married Samantha Burroughs, whom he first met on the set of Labyrinth back in 1985.

Behind the scenes of Leprechaun.

The first installment of the Leprechaun series was released in 1993 after a lengthy post-production delay. When Warwick was first asked to star in Leprechaun, it was feared that he would be "too nice" to accept the part. However, Warwick jumped at the chance to play an evil role. The character of the Leprechaun had not been well defined at that point; all that had really been decided was that the Leprechaun was a shoemaker who liked a spot of whiskey. Warwick had free rein to improvise and create the character. His enthusiastic efforts were so successful that three more installments in the "so-bad-it's-good" series were quickly released, all carried along solely by the Leprechaun's wicked charm.

After starring in four Leprechaun movies in rapid succession, Warwick was worried about becoming typecast. But this problem was eliminated after he obtained a series of other roles. He made a 1996 appearance in the TV miniseries

Gulliver's Travels, starring Ted Danson. In 1997 he costarred in the adventure movie Prince Valiant as the title character's squire. However, his biggest new role that year was the one he took on in real life, when he and his wife became parents of a daughter, Annabelle. Perhaps this event left him concerned about the lack of Leprechaun entertainment for youngsters; at any rate, the following year he starred in A Very Unlucky Leprechaun, a children's movie about a nice leprechaun's friendship with a little girl, as well as starting a three-year run in Jamboree, a British educational series for children.

Warwick and his wife at the March 1997 Star Wars Royal Premiere for the special edition. Prince Charles was there, but apparently missed his chance for a photo with Warwick.

In 1999 Warwick was filmed playing four roles (two masked and two unmasked) in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This revisit to the world of Star Wars started out as a single role as Wald; the role as podrace spectator Weazel was added when George Lucas started feeling guilty about putting Warwick in a mask again, and the character of Grimy was added on the spur of the moment one day when Lucas noticed Warwick hanging around watching the filming. And when an actor was needed to play Yoda in a walking scene, Warwick was tapped for the job.

Warwick has continued to take on increasingly numerous and diverse roles, working in a wide variety of movies with every possible distribution mode (theatrical, straight-to-video, and made-for-TV). He appeared in various TV series, sometimes as a regular cast member and sometimes as a guest star. This biography is intended to tell a story, not to serve as a resume, so the remaining paragraphs will describe only the projects that represent a significant development. But whether the role is large or small, masked or unmasked, Warwick always demonstrates a commitment to making every character distinctive and to doing the job well.

In 1999, it turned out that Warwick was the star of two very different movie series about leprechauns; that was the year that The White Pony, a sequel to A Very Unlucky Leprechaun, was released. But this wasn't what the fans were really thirsting for, so after a four-year vacation from the Leprechaun horror series, Warwick returned in early 2000 as the title character in Leprechaun in the Hood. The acquisition of Trimark pictures by Lions Gate Films in the fall of 2000 threatened to put a permanent end to the Leprechaun's evil doings, but the series' devoted followers would not be denied. In 2003, Lions Gate answered the pleas of the fans and released Leprechaun Back 2 tha Hood; this is a fitting tribute to the enduring appeal of this character, and the only higher praise would be to continue the series with Leprechaun 7.

In 2001 Warwick auditioned for a role that would take him back to the world of big-budget blockbuster movie series. He had to endure a nerve-wracking three-week wait for the answer, but when it finally came the news was good. Warwick had won the role of Professor Flitwick in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the high-profile movie based on the immensely popular children's book series. Later, he was asked to take on the role of the Goblin Bank Teller as well. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who is well known for speaking her mind, said that Warwick's portrayal of Flitwick was great. Warwick returned to the role in the following installments of the series, although a dramatic change in the character's appearance in movie #3 was not officially confirmed as still being Flitwick until movie #4.

2005 photo of Warwick and family.

In 2001 he revisited the world of Willow with a wonderful, critically acclaimed audio commentary on the movie's Special Edition DVD. He has had other forays into voice work since then.

Agent One Half marked a significant career milestone. The concept for this movie was created by Warwick in 1987 on the set of Willow. Once again Warwick will play the title character in a movie, something he has done many times. But for the first time, he is also playing a major behind the scenes role on a movie; he is a co-producer and co-storywriter for this film. Preproduction on the movie began in 2003; a release date has not been set.

In 2003 Warwick landed a role in another major movie based on a very popular book series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The movie was released in 2005. In his most strenuous role ever, Warwick donned a 56-pound costume to play Marvin the Paranoid Android, an important character who was voiced by Alan Rickman.

These career developments were important, but probably the biggest event for Warwick in 2003 was the birth of a son in the early part of the year.

Warwick works behind the camera when he's not working in front of it, making short films, training videos, and the like; his experiences during his Ewok days gave him an enduring interest in filmmaking that resulted in several film festival awards by the time he was 18. The filming of Willow interrupted his college education in film, television, and journalism, but he gained a useful background there nonetheless.

Warwick performs in UK Christmas season pantomimes and also appears in commercials. He makes frequent appearances at sci fi and comics conventions, and also visits schools and appears at civic events. He is the owner of Willow Personal Management, a casting agency for actors under five feet tall or over seven feet tall. He is working on developing other projects of his own in addition to his frequent work in large and small films, television, and radio.

In addition to his professionalism and dedication and his impressive array of talents, Warwick continually demonstrates that he really appreciates his fans. It's no wonder he has so many of them!

For more information on Warwick's movies and TV series, check the Filmography section. For information on Warwick's TV guest appearances, convention appearances, and play schedule, check the Filmography's Other Appearances section.