‘Star Wars’ actor Paul Grant useless at 56: Performed Ewok in ‘Jedi’
Paul Grant, a UK actor and stuntman well-known for showing enjoying an Ewok in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” has died at age 56.
Police found 4-foot-4 star collapsed exterior of King’s Cross Station in London on Thursday, reported the Sun.
Paramedics rushed Grant to the hospital, the place he was pronounced mind useless, although he was saved on life assist till Sunday, in response to his household.
The Peterborough father of three lived with Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a rare genetic type of dwarfism, which he stated had prompted him well being issues.
Born in Epsom, Surrey, on Feb. 3, 1970, Grant performed one of many furry Ewoks that aided Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the insurgent alliance throughout their battle towards the Empire within the 1983 “Star Wars” installment.
He additionally notably portrayed a goblin in 2001’s “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Grant’s different credit embrace “Willow” (1998) alongside Val Kilmer, 1986’s “Labyrinth” starring David Bowie, the Tom Cruise flick “Legend” and “Deuce Bigalow 2.”
The British actor confronted points with medicine and alcohol and admitted that he “misplaced every little thing,” together with by spending cash on cocaine and prostitutes.
His issues got here to gentle in 2014 after photos surfaced of Grant snorting strains of coke, the Sunday Mirror reported at the time.
“I need assistance. I’ve been on cocaine and it has simply obtained worse,” Grant confessed. “I’m consuming and smoking what I can get.”
Grant stated his life had been on the decline ever since he cut up up along with his spouse, Janet Crowson, which he blamed on the truth that he’d cheated on her a number of instances and had gone “AWOL.” He stated issues snowballed to the purpose that his household “disowned” him and his profession alternatives “dried up.”
“I had a household, I used to be married, now I’m divorced. I’ve misplaced every little thing,” stated Grant, who additionally frolicked in jail for assault, in response to the Mirror.
Grant’s family and friends reacted to his passing.
“I’m devastated,” stated his daughter, Sophie Jayne Grant. “My dad was a legend in so some ways.
“He at all times introduced a smile and laughter to everybody’s face.”
Grant’s girlfriend Maria Dwyer, 64, known as the late star “the love of my life” and “the funniest man I do know.”
“He made my life full,” she continued. “Life is rarely going to be the identical with out him.”
“He was a stunning bloke,” stated an unnamed household pal. “He’s at all times battled with medicine and alcohol dependancy however he was a proficient actor.
“He known as himself the ‘King of the Dwarfs.’”