Born with dwarfism, Jack Purvis stood but four feet one inches tall, but certainly made his mark on genre films, appearing in all three of the original trilogy Star Wars films, as well as Willow, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. In fact, Gilliam had plans for a sequel to Time Bandits that was shelved after an unfortunate accident left Purvis paralyzed. In the Star Wars films, Purvis portrayed a Jawa, Ewok, and Ugnaught, all under heavy make-up/costuming. His daughter, Katie, who shared her father's dwarfism, would also appear as an Ewok in Return Of The Jedi. Sadly, in the '90s Purvis was involved in an accident in which his car rolled back while he was behind it, crushing him. He survived, but remained paralyzed for the remainder of his life, and passed away at age 60 in November 1997.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
