Jack Purvis

Jack Purvis (1937-1997) was an actor in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Jack Purvis was born in in London, England. A victim of dwarfism, Purvis' approximate height was of 4 feet or 4 feet 1 inch at an adult age.

Purvis became an artist. He met and became a friend of Kenny Baker, with whom he acted in night-clubs and theatres. They eventually became partners in a joint show, The Mini Tones.

Purvis married with Marjie, since then Marjie Purvis, on 1964. They became parents on 1967 with the birth of Katie Purvis, who shared his father's dwarfism.

Purvis began working in cinema with Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in 1977. His partner, Baker, was in negotiations to act as R2-D2, but that would mean he would have to cancel the rich summer season of his theater show, which would be a blow for Purvis. Baker convinced the producers to hire Purvis too for the movie. Thus, Purvis began acting as the main Jawa, attacking his friend's robot.

After that, Purvis' height made him a great choice for other roles with similar requirements, including Wombling Free (1977), a movie adapting the children novels of The Wombles.

Purvis would be called again for the sequel of Star Wars: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Even although there would be no Jawas on that movie, there was another role for a man of his size: The Chief Ugnaught. Later identified as Ugloste by the expanded universe, Purvis can be seen on Cloud City, where Han Solo is to be frozen in carbonite.

Purvis also got the attention of cult director Terry Gilliam, who considered both him and partner Baker for main roles on his 1981 movie The Time Bandits, narrating the adventures of international robbers of short height. Again, Purvis' character ("Wally") attacks Baker's ("Fidgit") in this movie.

Purvis then worked with Jim Henson in his puppet fantasy The Dark Crystal, although his role is clearly diluted in the background of the movie.

He would be called again for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Although there would be Jawas in this installment, they are only "human background" (or alien background). Purvis was asked to play the part of a new species, an Ewok. His character would be Teebo, an axe-wearing grey Ewok using a skull as a helmet. Purvis' then-teenage daughter Katie also appeared in this movie as another Ewok, the Ewok mother holding a Wokling in her arms.

Purvis would not appear again in the Star Wars saga, although he is the only person to be credited in the three original films as different characters.

Purvis would act on a TV version of The Invisible Man on 1984, before working again with Terry Gilliam in much-acclaimed Brazil. Purvis' role as a competing and exploitative plastic surgeon with a monocle would be easily remembered in this, the second installment of a presumed Gilliam trilogy talking about the ages of man (Bandits would refer to childhood and Brazil to maturity, before following movie Baron, which would be about old age).

Purvis would continue his career, usually paired with Baker in non-starring roles. For instance, in 1986, they would act in both Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa (alongside with Bill Moore as triplet buskers) and in an almost uncredited role as a goblin in Jim Henson's Labyrinth. Purvis' role in Lucas' Willow (1988) would not even be credited.

However, again on 1988, Purvis would have a main role in Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. He would be one of the amazing servants of the Baron, a short-heighted guy with a great blow; his mere whisper became a hurricane.

Purvis also acted in Danny Elfman's music video collection Oingo Boingo: Skeletons In the Closet (1989), and in C.S. Lewis' TV version of the Narnia saga, Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989).

His last role as an actor would be on Caspian director Alex Kirby's TV fantasy The Silver Chair (1990), again from the Narnia saga.

After that, Purvis had an accident with his own vehicle after hed parked it. The car got loose of its brakes and moved backwards without a driver. Purvis was crushed between his bumper and a wall, breaking his neck and paralyzing him for the rest of his life.

Purvis died in November, 1997 in Bushey Hertfordshire, England. He was 60 years old.

After his death and David Rappaport's on 1990, Terry Gilliam definitively shelved the posible sequel to Time Bandits, which would center on both Purvis' and Rappaport's characters.