Warwick Davis' wife Samantha tragically dies aged 53

Harry Potter star Warwick Davis had tonight paid tribute to his wife following her death aged 53.

Samantha Davis, who was an actor herself and met her husband when she had an uncredited role in his 1988 film Willow, tragically died on March 24.

Star Wars actor Davis paid an emotional tribute to his ‘favourite human’ who he was married to for more than 30 years and shared three children with.

‘Her passing has left a huge hole in our lives as a family. I miss her hugs,’ the 54-year-old said in a statement to the BBC.

He described Sammy, as he called her, as his ‘most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career’.

‘She was a unique character, always seeing the sunny side of life she had a wicked sense of humour and always laughed at my bad jokes,’ Davis added.

The couple’s children, Harrison and Annabelle, said ‘her love and happiness carried us through our whole lives’. ‘Mum is our best friend and we’re honoured to have received a love like hers,’ they added.

Davis said he felt like he could achieve anything with his wife by his side, comparing it to the feeling of having a ‘superpower’.

Warwick and Samantha Davis with their children Harrison and Annabelle at the premiere of Star Wars: the Last Jedi in California in 2017

Warwick Davis and his wife Samantha Burroughs on their wedding day in 1991

He said her mobility had become impaired in recent years but shared how she was determined not to let it bring her down.

She had a brush with death in 2019 when she fell ill with sepsis ahead of a family holiday.

Davis previously told how he and the couple’s children ‘sort of said goodbye’ by her bedside before she pulled through.

The actor and his wife lost baby son Lloyd just nine days after he was born in 1991 – the year they got married.

Davis said in 2022 that he would not wish the ‘devastating’ experience on anyone and added: ‘You never get over it.’

He and Samantha met when Davis starred as sorcerer Willow Ufgood in the 1988 film named after the character.

Samantha and her father Peter – who is Davis’s business partner – had minor roles as villagers.

She also had an uncredited role as a a goblin in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in 2011, in which Davis portrayed Filius Flitwick – Hogwarts’ charms professor – for the final time.

In 1989, she had a part in BBC educational series Through the Dragon’s Eye.

Davis and Mr Burroughs, 77, co-founded Willow Management in 1995 with the aim of changing the way people with dwarfism were represented on screen.

Mr Burroughs is also an actor and has appeared both on stage and in TV and film productions including The Legend of King Arthur, Hamlet, and as an Ewok in 1983 Star Wars film Return of the Jedi.

Davis and his wife have actress daughter Annabelle, 27, and son Harrison, 21, together.

Samantha Davis and Warwick Davis attend the ITV Palooza! held at The Royal Festival Hall on October 16, 2018

Harrison also appeared as a goblin in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Annabelle portrayed Lacey Lloyd in Hollyoaks until January this year.

Speaking of his first son’s death to People in 2022, Davis said: ‘I think it brings you closer together, or something like that, but it’s an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone, it’s devastating.

‘You do learn to live with it, eventually, over time, you’re able to better understand why it happened and can come to terms with it a bit more, but you never get over it.

‘I think the losses shaped our family dynamic, we love Annabelle and Harrison all that more because they’re here with us.’

Lloyd inherited dwarfism from both his parents and died from complications caused by the condition.

The couple lost a second child – who they named George – when Samantha miscarried at 20 weeks in 1993.

Samantha Davis with her husband when he starred in Spamalot at the Playhouse Theatre, London, in 2013

Warwick Davis, wife Samantha, daughter Annabelle and son Harrison attend the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Leicester Square on December 16, 2015

Warwick with his wife Samantha and children Harrison and Annabelle at the screening of Disney+ series Willow

Davis and his wife Samantha at the London Palladium in 2015

Samantha Davis had a brush with death in 2019 when she fell ill with sepsis ahead of a family holiday. Above: Being hugged by her daughter in hospital

Davis added: ‘We’ll always remember what happened with George and Lloyd. We’ll always be grateful that we had them for the short time that we did.’

The star previously said the tragedies made him and Samantha stronger as a couple.

Speaking on Bear Grylls’ television show Bear’s Mission in 2018, he said: ‘Prior to Annabelle and Harrison we had a baby boy, Lloyd, who inherited both our conditions… and that is something that proves fatal.

‘It’s something that a baby won’t survive. But Lloyd he lived for survived for nine days, but yeah he was beautiful… but it was a tough time. And yeah, we had a stillborn too.’

The star said he and his wife had made it through the painful time together, saying: ‘That kind of stuff it just makes you stronger [as a couple].’

Davis was born with an extremely rare condition called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SED), where the bone endings fail to form. It meant he never grew taller than 3ft 6in.

His wife had a different form of dwarfism called achondroplasia.

Samantha fell ill with sepsis ahead of a family caravan holiday in 2019.

She initially thought that her symptoms were caused by stress from preparing for the trip.

When her exhaustion led to her not being able to stand without support, her husband called an out-of-hours doctor and she was rushed to hospital.

Davis said in 2022: ‘The next few hours were the longest of my life as I waited on the ward with our children in the empty space left by Sam’s hospital bed. I hoped it would not symbolise a future for us without her.’

He continued: Our family gathered by her bedside; although optimistic, we were sort of saying goodbye in case Sam didn’t survive.’

Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick in Harry Potter. He portrayed the charms professor in all of the Harry Potter films

Davis with Val Kilmer in 1988 film Willow. He met his future wife Samantha while making the film

Warwick Davis meets King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, at the charity premiere of Willow

Warwick Davis as sorcerer Willow Ufgood in 1988 film Willow

‘It’s so hard to see someone you love more than anything in the world fighting to stay alive without the strength to even roll over in bed.’

Doctors became concerned about a scar on Samantha’s back from a recent spinal surgery she had undergone. Davis said it was ‘inflamed with fluid, red, and hot to touch.’

Tests came back showing Sam had a deadly Streptococcus bacteria and meningitis infection, meaning she needed emergency surgery.

However, she pulled through and was nursed back to help by Davis over the course of three months.

Davis reprised his role as Ufgood in TV series Willow, which aired in 2022 but was then cancelled after just one season.

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