Warwick Davis' Wife Samantha's Cause of Death Revealed Following Tragic Passing — As 'Star Wars' and 'Harry Potter' Actor Admits 'Life Has Been Pretty Tough' Without His Love
Warwick's wife Samantha died of cardiac arrest.
April 14 2025, Published 2:52 p.m. ET
The wife of Harry Potter and Star Wars actor Warwick Davis died as a result of a cardiac arrest following complications from an essential surgery, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Samantha Davis, who was also an actress, died in March 2024 at the age of 53.
The two were married in 1991.
Senior Coroner for Inner West London, Professor Fiona Wilcox, concluded that Samantha died of "arrhythmic cardiac arrest following complications of essential surgical treatment and from achondroplasia, complicated by spinal cord compression."
She was reportedly out of the surgery, and just hours away from being discharged from the hospital when she died.
Samantha had been admitted to the hospital in February, following a sudden loss of mobility in her lower limbs after a disc prolapse. She underwent a series of thoracotomy operations – a surgical procedure where the chest wall is opened – and was planning on being discharged, the inquest reported.
However, she went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at on March 24 following failed attempts to resuscitate her.
The couple had two children together.
In preparing to receive the news, Warwick and his family, including their two children, released a statement. It read: "We know that the resilience and strength Sammy instilled in all of us will guide us through this difficult next chapter.
"Her love, support, and determination is a legacy we want to continue. Sammy's Helping Hands fund, which was set up in her honour, has already had a huge impact on young people in the dwarfism community, and will continue to support families all over the UK moving forwards.
"The last year and trying to come to terms with Samantha's death has been incredibly difficult. However, we hope that the inquest will at last provide us with answers.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kindness and well-wishes to us all."
Warwick shared a touching tribute to his wife ahead of the findings.
The couple met during the filming of 1988 fantasy movie Willow, in which Warwick played the title character. They married in 1991 and have two children.
The two have often shared screentime together, starring in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, where Samantha played a goblin.
Warwick appeared in all eight of the films based on the beloved book series playing Professor Flitwick. He also portrayed the Gringotts Wizarding Bank goblin Griphook.
The diminutive actor has been a fixture on screen since he was 11, when he played an Ewok in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
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Samantha was diagnosed with achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder that causes dwarfism, as a child. Her husband is affected by a similar condition.
In announcing the panel's findings, Wilcox shared: "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.
"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."
