Harry Potter star Warwick Davis pays heartbreaking tribute to his wife Samantha following her death at 53

Actress Samantha Davis, wife of Harry Potter star Warwick, has died at the age of 53.

Warwick announced the sad news in an emotional statement shared to the BBC, revealing she had passed away on 24 March.

Paying tribute to his "favourite human," the 54-year-old said: "Her passing has left a huge hole in our lives as a family. I miss her hugs."

He described her as his "most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career."

The star 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."

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Warwick and Samantha's two children, Harrison and Annabelle, also paid tribute to their mother by adding: "Mum is our best friend and we're honoured to have received a love like hers."

Elsewhere in his statement, the actor heaped praise on his wife's incredible achievements. "With her by my side, I was sure I could achieve anything, it was like having a super-power," he said. "Without Sammy, there would have been no Tenable quiz show, no Willow series. No Idiot Abroad Series 3."

Whilst Warwick revealed how his wife's mobility had become impaired, he explained how she was "determined that it would not impact her quality of life".

Samantha co-founded the dwarfism charity Little People UK and also featured in the final Harry Potter film, alongside her husband Warwick who starred as both Professor Flitwick and the goblin Griphook.

The couple met on the set of George Lucas's film, Willow, and married three years later in 1991. Prior to welcoming their two children Harrison and Annabelle, Samantha and Warwick experienced heartbreak following the death of their first two children.

"Prior to Annabelle and Harrison we had a baby boy, Lloyd, who inherited both our conditions… and that is something that proves fatal," the actor revealed during a chat with Bear Grylls.

He continued: "It's something that a baby won't survive," he added. "But Lloyd, he survived for nine days, but yeah he was beautiful… but it was a tough time. And yeah, we had a stillborn too."

On dealing with the grief, the Harry Potter star shared: "That kind of stuff, it just makes you stronger [as a couple]." Warwick was born with an extremely rare condition called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SED), while his partner had a different form of dwarfism called achondroplasia.