Samantha Davis, the wife of Star Wars and Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis, has died aged 53.
Warwick announced the news in a statement shared to the BBC, revealing she had died on March 24.
Samantha co-founded the dwarfism charity Little People UK and featured in the final Harry Potter film, alongside Warwick.
“Her passing has left a huge hole in our lives as a family. I miss her hugs,” Warwick said in the statement to the BBC.
He added that she was his “most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career”.
The actor continued: “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.”
The couple met on the set of George Lucas’s film Willow and married three years later in 1991.
Samantha also played a goblin in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 while her husband played both Professor Flitwick and the goblin Griphook in all eight films in the franchise.
Their two children together, Annabelle and Harrison, also paid tribute to their mother, saying: “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.”
In an interview with People in 2022, Warwick opened up about the grief he and Samantha went through after their first son died shortly after he was born due to complications from the dwarfism genes he inherited from both of his parents.
He told the US outlet: “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.”
A few years later they experienced more heartbreak when Samantha had a miscarriage with their second child.
They later welcomed their daughter Annabelle and son Harrison, with Warwick saying the couple loved their children “all that more because they’re here with us”.
Annabelle, 27, has followed in her parents’ acting footsteps, starring in CBBC’s The Dumping Ground and Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.
Warwick starred as the titular hero Willow Ufgood in the 1988 original film Willow and reprised the role for the 2022 sequel.
He also played several characters in the Star Wars film series.
Samantha and Warwick co-founded Little People UK in 2012 to help individuals with dwarfism and their families.