Few acting careers stretch from a galaxy far, far away to the corridors of Hogwarts, yet Warwick Davis has lived both — and collected an OBE along the way. The 54-year-old from Surrey started as Wicket the Ewok at 11, then anchored Willow, the Harry Potter films, and ITV’s Tenable, and what follows sorts the confirmed milestones from the speculation: what the 2022 honor really means, what happened to his wife Samantha, and where those net worth estimates come from.
Full Name: Warwick Ashley Davis ·
Born: 3 February 1970 (age 54) ·
Occupation: Actor, TV presenter, writer, director, comedian, producer ·
Height: 3 ft 6 in (107 cm) ·
Spouse: Samantha Davis (m. 1991–2024) ·
Children: 2
Quick snapshot
- Appointed OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours (The Independent (UK national newspaper))
- Wife Samantha died 24 March 2024 (Lucasfilm (the studio behind Star Wars))
- Children: Harrison and Annabelle (Lucasfilm) (The Independent (UK national newspaper))
- Samantha’s cause of death has not been officially disclosed (BBC News (UK public broadcaster))
- Net worth figures are tracker estimates, not audited accounts (BBC News (UK public broadcaster))
- Acting debut at 11 as Wicket the Ewok (The Independent)
- Wife died in March 2024, more than three decades after their 1991 wedding (BBC News)
- Little People UK, co-founded with Samantha, continues its work (Lucasfilm)
Ten entries, one pattern: the record tracks Davis’s career closely, while his private finances stay off it.
| Detail | Record | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Date and place of birth | 3 February 1970, Epsom, Surrey | Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia) |
| Height | 3 ft 6 in (107 cm) | Wikipedia |
| Disability | Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita | Hello! Magazine (UK celebrity outlet) |
| First film role | Wicket the Ewok, Return of the Jedi (1983) | The Independent |
| Defining franchises | Willow, Star Wars, Harry Potter | The Standard (London newspaper) |
| Spouse | Samantha Davis (married 1991–2024) | BBC News |
| Children | Harrison (b. 1997), Annabelle (b. 2000) | Lucasfilm |
| TV presenting | Tenable (ITV, 2016–2024) | Wikipedia |
| Honours | OBE (2022) | The Standard |
| Charity | Co-founded Little People UK (2012) | Lucasfilm |
Has Warwick Davis been knighted?
Short answer: no — and the mix-up is understandable. The 2022 New Year Honours named Warwick Davis an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, an OBE, and many headlines quickly compressed that into a knighthood. The honor is real; the title, however, is not.
What honor was Warwick Davis awarded?
- Rank: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (The Independent)
- Announced: 2022 New Year Honours (Hello! Magazine)
- Citation: services to drama and charity (The Independent)
The honors system places OBE below CBE and above MBE, while a knighthood sits separately and higher, with the right to the title “Sir.” Davis has never been called “Sir Warwick” in any official communication. For an actor whose face was often hidden behind prosthetics, the OBE was also a moment of visibility: the honors-list photograph showed the man rather than the makeup.
What is an OBE?
- Full name: Officer of the Order of the British Empire
- Created to recognize contributions to the arts, charity, and public service
- Holders add “OBE” after their name, not “Sir” before it
In practice, an OBE is how the British state says thank you to someone whose work improved the country’s cultural life. Davis’s citation covered both halves of his career: drama — the films that made him a household name — and the charity work he shared with Samantha. The full arc, from Ewok to honors list, is mapped in our feature From Star Wars Ewok to BAFTA Fellowship.
An OBE is recognition, not a title: Davis’s honor is real, but it does not make him “Sir Warwick.” The distinction matters because every future headline about him will probably get it wrong again.
What TV game show is hosted by Warwick Davis?
Tenable, the ITV daytime quiz show, is the one that stuck. Davis has been its presenter since 2016 — a run that, according to Wikipedia, continued into 2024 — and the role turned him into a regular presence in British living rooms long after the Ewok years left the big screen.
What is Tenable?
- Format: teams of five recall answers from a board of ten to bank prize money (Wikipedia)
- Network: ITV daytime schedule (Wikipedia)
- Davis’s tenure: host from 2016, with a run documented through 2024 (Wikipedia)
Tenable’s slow-burn format needs a host who can hold tension without raising his voice. Davis, who spent years acting opposite green screens, puppets, and goblin masks, delivers exactly that kind of controlled performance — calm, dry, and quietly amused.
Other TV presenting roles by Warwick Davis
- Celebrity Squares: ITV game show hosted by Davis (Wikipedia)
- The Crystal Maze: a two-series revival in 2017–2018
The two shows bookended his move from guest presenter to series anchor, and both leaned on the comic timing he had already sharpened in mockumentaries such as Life’s Too Short, where he played a fictionalized version of himself (Wikipedia).
The pattern: Davis has quietly built a second career out of game shows — and in doing so, he has stayed in front of British audiences longer than most of his fantasy-film co-stars.
What happened to Warwick Davis’ wife?
Samantha Davis, Warwick’s wife of 33 years, died on 24 March 2024 at the age of 53 (Lucasfilm). Lucasfilm, the studio behind Star Wars, released a family statement on 17 April 2024 confirming the loss. Samantha was an actress who had appeared alongside Warwick in earlier productions, and the couple had been married since 1991 (BBC News).
Samantha Davis’s life and career
- Met Warwick on the set of Willow in 1988 (BBC News)
- Married him in 1991 (BBC News)
- Co-founded Little People UK with him in 2012 (Lucasfilm)
The marriage anchored Davis’s public image. The couple shared not just a home but a cause: Little People UK, founded in 2012 to support families affected by dwarfism, merged Samantha’s advocacy with Warwick’s fame. Their children were grown by the time of her death, which made the family’s statement about “our beloved wife and mother” also the statement of two adult children.
Tributes and legacy
- Warwick called Samantha his “favourite human” (BBC News)
- He said her death left a huge hole in their lives and that he missed her hugs (BBC News)
- The official statements did not disclose a cause of death (BBC News)
The wording of the announcement — “favourite human,” “miss her hugs” — spread quickly because it read like grief, not public relations. It also left a vacuum that speculation duly filled, which is why the family’s own words remain the safest record of who Samantha Davis was.
Because no cause of death was officially released, online tributes and forums have produced conflicting stories. The disciplined move is to repeat what the family actually said — and nothing more.
How much money has Warwick Davis got?
There is no verified figure. Celebrity wealth trackers put Davis’s net worth at roughly $5 million to $10 million, but their formulas are built on guesswork, not accounts. Packaged as an exact number, any single estimate should be treated as speculation.
Warwick Davis net worth estimates
- Celebrity trackers range from about $5 million to $10 million
- No audited or official figure has ever been published
- Estimates typically blend film salaries, TV fees, and public appearances
The spread between $5 million and $10 million is not a sign of secret knowledge; it is a sign of different assumptions. One tracker may assume Harry Potter residuals stretch for years; another may discount them entirely. His career and family story — including life with SED — is covered in more depth in Acting Career, Family, and Living with SED.
Sources of income
- Star Wars, Willow, and Harry Potter franchises (The Standard)
- ITV game shows including Tenable (Wikipedia)
- Five decades of acting credits from 1983 onward (Wikipedia)
Davis’s income base is broader than most actors of his generation. The Harry Potter series alone accounted for a decade of work, and Tenable added steady daytime-television fees — enough to make any net worth estimate a moving target.
The catch: the same privacy that kept Davis’s finances off the record means every figure online is a projection. Treat the range as direction, not diagnosis.
How many kids does Warwick Davis have?
He has two living children: Harrison, born in 1997, and Annabelle, born in 2000. Both were the children of Warwick and Samantha Davis, and both appeared with their father at the celebration of his OBE.
Children: Harrison and Annabelle
- Harrison Davis — born 1997 (Lucasfilm)
- Annabelle Davis — born 2000 (Lucasfilm)
- Both joined Warwick for the OBE celebration (Hello! Magazine)
Harrison and Annabelle have made occasional appearances in their father’s projects over the years, but they have stayed largely out of the spotlight.
Family life and parenting
- The couple’s first child, Lloyd, died nine days after birth in 1991 (The Standard)
- Harrison and Annabelle followed in later years (Lucasfilm)
The “lost a son” question is real and deserves precision: the loss happened in 1991, and it was Lloyd, a newborn. The internet’s habit of recycling the story as if it were new has kept the loss in public circulation — but it changes nothing about the current family picture.
Harrison and Annabelle are Warwick’s children, and no recent report supports any other claim.
The pattern: Davis’s family history is a mix of open tragedy and fierce privacy. The facts are known; the grief is not; and the internet keeps confusing the two.
Warwick Davis: key dates in a five-decade career
Ten dates, one shape: every career landmark arrived through an imaginary world, while the family milestones stayed deliberately private.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Born in Epsom, Surrey. | Wikipedia |
| 1983 | Cast as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi. | The Independent |
| 1988 | Stars as Willow Ufgood in Willow. | The Standard |
| 1991 | Marries Samantha; son Lloyd is born and dies nine days later. | The Standard |
| 1997 | Son Harrison is born. | Lucasfilm |
| 2000 | Daughter Annabelle is born. | Lucasfilm |
| 2001–2011 | Portrays Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films. | The Standard |
| 2016 | Begins presenting ITV’s Tenable. | Wikipedia |
| 2022 | Appointed OBE in the New Year Honours. | The Independent |
| March 2024 | Samantha Davis dies at 53. | Lucasfilm |
The OBE in early 2022 and Samantha’s death in March 2024 sit a little over two years apart — a short window between the highest public honor of Davis’s career and the deepest personal loss of his life.
The larger point: Davis’s professional life is a continuous thread from 1983 to the present. The breaks in the timeline are personal, not professional — and the family chose to keep those private.
Confirmed facts vs. what’s still unclear
Confirmed facts
- Warwick Davis was born 3 February 1970 in Epsom, Surrey (Wikipedia)
- He received an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours (The Independent)
- His wife Samantha died 24 March 2024 at age 53 (Lucasfilm)
- He has two living children, Harrison and Annabelle (Lucasfilm)
- The couple’s son Lloyd died in 1991, nine days after birth (The Standard)
What’s unclear
- The cause of Samantha’s death has not been officially disclosed (BBC News)
- Net worth estimates range from about $5 million to $10 million, without audited figures
- Whether Warwick Davis will remarry is unknown
- His current residence is not part of the public record
- Davis’s exact financial arrangements and investments are private
The balance: five confirmed facts against five open questions, with the largest gaps sitting exactly where readers are most curious — money, health, and what happens next.
What Warwick Davis and his family have said
Two voices, one throughline: the words chosen after Samantha’s death were plain, warm, and unpolished — the opposite of a celebrity eulogy.
“She was my favourite human.”
Warwick Davis, in the family statement reported by BBC News (UK public broadcaster)
“I miss her hugs.”
Warwick Davis, in the same family statement as carried by BBC News
“We are devastated to announce the passing of our beloved wife and mother.”
Davis family statement, published by Lucasfilm (the studio behind Star Wars)
The difference between the two statements is telling: the family’s line is formal and devastating, while Warwick’s personal additions — “favourite human,” “miss her hugs” — are the details that made the announcement feel human.
Warwick Davis’s life after Samantha is a study in continuity: the same dry voice that introduced him to a generation now introduces Tenable’s contestants, and the charity work continues in her name. The public record is clear about what happened — the OBE, the children, the loss — and honest about what it cannot verify, like his net worth. For UK broadcasters, the choice is clear: keep booking Davis, or lose a presenter whose audience trust spans four decades.
Frequently asked questions
What is Warwick Davis’s most famous role?
Most profiles put Professor Flitwick from the Harry Potter films and Wicket the Ewok from Return of the Jedi at the top, with Willow Ufgood close behind. The Standard describes Davis as a defining presence across those three franchises.
How tall is Warwick Davis?
Davis is 3 ft 6 in (107 cm). His short stature comes from spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a form of dwarfism he was born with (Wikipedia).
Does Warwick Davis have a disability?
Yes. He was born with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SED), a skeletal condition that causes short stature (Hello! Magazine).
What did Warwick Davis do in Star Wars?
He played Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi (1983). It was his first film role, and he was 11 when he was cast (The Independent).
Is Warwick Davis still acting?
Yes. Davis’s career spans film and television from 1983 to the present, and he remained active as a game-show presenter through the 2020s.
Where was Warwick Davis born?
He was born on 3 February 1970 in Epsom, Surrey, England.
What is Warwick Davis’s net worth exactly?
There is no exact verified figure. Celebrity wealth trackers estimate between $5 million and $10 million, but the estimates are not audited and should be treated as speculation.
The practical takeaway: trust the OBE, the children, and the charity work as facts about Warwick Davis; treat the net worth and the rumors as open questions.
Alex Chen is Editor-in-Chief at Reef Brief, overseeing editorial standards, publication decisions and corrections.