I finished school at the age 16 but went on to attend St Mary Catholic School 6th form college for one year. Here I successfully won the annual table football tournament but unfortunately that was my only success as I went onto fail my exams.
At the age of 17 I had the opportunity to sit an entrance exam for a career as a 'customs officer'. Thankfully I succeeded and started my employment with 'The Civil Service' (now 'The Home Office') on May 16th 1977, all be it with the condition of a 12 month probationary period to ensure my health and fitness would let me perform the required duties. I have now successfully completed 36 years in this position (2015).
During 1982 my first acting role came along. I thought it was a prank being played on my by a work colleague at first. A colleague had seen an advertisement in the Sun newspaper asking for little people who would be interested in being 'extras' in a film we now know as the blockbuster
'Star Wars - Return of the Jedi'.
Like most people at that time I was an avid Star Wars fan so when I received the call (and after confirming it was not a prank) it was straight off to London for me to attend the audition. The rest s history as they say, that was the first film where I played a Ewok which led on to having an agent and then starring in
Labyrinth
(a Muppet movie),
Willow
, a film by Ron Howard and my latest film was
Deathly Hallows
(Harry Potter) where I played Greengot.
These roles have led me to be in demand at various 'Sci-fi' signing events where I am more than happy to sign a selection of photos for my fan base.
For me relationships were going to be hard, I wasn't exactly going to meet a young lady on the dance floor was I? Eventually, I formed some strong relationships at work. Looking back, I had several girlfriends who were 'smaller' ladies, most of which I met through my film activities.
My first wife was approximately 4ft 2, but sadly this marriage only lasted two and a half years, although I had previously courted Deborah for six years. Deborah had spent her younger life at a boarding school, when we got married she spent a lot of time at night clubs and mixing with the girls from work. Unfortunately this life style was not for me and with great sadness we drifted apart.
Whilst only separated, I met Valerie who was 5ft 4 and had two children from a previous marriage. Unfortunately both children had been diagnosed with 'brittle bone syndrome' and naturally small. It was through the children that the relationship started. We had four years together and this was a great time for me. When Valerie ended the relationship I took I found it particularly hard as I had become so attached to the children. For two years after I still saw the children most weekends.
