As reported by the BBC, Warwick Davis, at 55, is set to be amongst the 1,157 set to become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) honor to commemorate the arrival of the New Year, for both his acting career and charity work.
He issued the following statement about how much the honor means to him:
“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me – and I’ve been in Star Wars!”
Warwick Davis made his acting debut in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, playing Wicket the Ewok, and has had a pretty consistent career in the realm of science fiction and fantasy ever since. As part of the Star Wars franchise, he also played Weazel in The Phantom Menace and Solo, voiced Rukh on Rebels, and briefly reprised the role of Wicket in The Rise of Skywalker, on top of other minor appearances and cameos throughout various projects.
Outside of Star Wars, Davis has portrayed Willow Ufgood in Willow, Lubdan, the title antagonist of the Leprechaun horror-comedy movies, Griphook and Professor Flitwick in Harry Potter, and the physical half of Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (who was voiced by the late Alan Rickman). Beyond his career, Davis is being recognized for his work with the Little People UK charity, which benefits people who have dwarfism.
Other names of note who are set to be given the OBE honors (along with knighthood and damehood) in the near future include Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Meera Syal, Gabby Logan, and Bill Bailey. Warwick Davis joins the likes of fellow Star Wars talent Ewan McGregor (who was honored in 2013) to receive an OBE. In addition, Star Wars composer John Williams and CEO of the Walt Disney Company Bob Iger were made honorary knights in 2022 and 2024 respectively.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.