Cause of death of Warwick Davis' wife revealed as family hoped inquest into death would 'provide us with answers'
14 April 2025, 18:48 | Updated: 14 April 2025, 18:57
The actress and wife of Warwick Davis, Samantha Davis, died last year as a result of a cardiac arrest following complications of essential surgery, an inquest has concluded.
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She passed away aged 53 at University College Hospital in March 24.
She was diagnosed with achondroplasia, a bone growth condition that causes dwarfism, when she was a child.
She had sepsis in 2019, which caused her to become seriously ill.
It also limited her mobility for the last years of her life, Davis later said.
Senior Coroner for Inner West London, Professor Fiona Wilcox, said: "I am satisfied that the medical cause of death should be arrhythmic cardiac arrest and complications following left thoracotomies.
"In my view, the stress of everything together has precipitated this arrhythmic cardiac arrest in a lady who was not known to have any previous arrhythmia problems."
Prof Wilcox added: "I have found nothing but excellent care being delivered to this lady and all of her complications were appropriately managed.
"It is frankly heartbreaking that the surgery itself was successful only for complications to arise and to cause her death."
Warwick, known for his roles in Star Wars and the Harry Potter films, dedicated his Bafta film fellowship award to Ms Davis during an emotional tribute at the ceremony in February.
Speaking after Samantha's death last year, the star said she was his "most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career".
"Her passing has left a huge hole in our lives as a family. I miss her hugs," Davis said.
"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."
Warwick Davis rose to fame as an 11-year old after being cast as an Ewok in Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi.
The couple met during the filming of 1988 fantasy movie Willow, in which he has a starring role as the hero Willow Ufgood.
He later reprised the role in a 2022 Disney+ series.
They married in 1991 and co-founded Little People UK in 2012 to help individuals with dwarfism and their families.
The pair also starred together in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, where Samantha played a goblin. Davis played Professor Flitwick in all eight films in the Harry Potter franchise and also portrayed the Gringotts Wizarding Bank goblin Griphook.
The couple have two children, Harrison and Annabelle.
The pair also co-founded Little People UK in 2012 to help individuals with dwarfism and their families.
