Despite being around 1.35 meters tall, the British actor Paul Grant was one of the greats in the film industry – even if, as a layman, you wouldn’t always have recognized him directly in every role. The actor and stuntman took on roles in which he wore elaborate costumes and make-up for decades. Dressed up like this, he has been seen in many massive box office hits.
Grant played a troll in the 1986 fantasy epic The Labyrinth, starring opposite David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. He starred as Ewok in 1983’s Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. He also starred in 2015’s “Legend” alongside Tom Hardy and most recently took on the role of a goblin in the “Harry Potter” film series.
In his last interview, which he gave for a YouTube channel, he spoke about his part in the successful film series about the magic student Harry Potter. For this purpose, Paul Grant showed his interviewee the famous “Platform 9 3/4” in London, which plays an important role in the series of books for young people and also in the films. For “Harry Potter” fans there has been an almost real “Platform 9 3/4” at the real King’s Cross station for years. A luggage cart juts out of the wall here to indicate that those with magical talents can simply walk through and find the train on the other side going to Hogwarts wizarding school.
But shortly after the interview, Grant collapsed at King’s Cross station. Although he was immediately taken to the hospital, he was pronounced brain dead and died shortly thereafter. He was only 56 years old. The actor is survived by his partner, two daughters and a stepson. He was her love, Grant’s partner Maria told the Daily Mail. “Life will never be the same without him.”
Paul Grant had battled alcohol and drug addiction for many years. “All the films you can think of – I’ve been in them. But what did I do? I had sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. It was a good time, but I threw my money out the window,” he is quoted as saying “Daily Mail”. What remained was the addiction to alcohol and cocaine, which was intensified by the divorce from his first wife and which he later did not completely get under control. Whether his sudden death is related to this intense life has not been disclosed.
Sources: RND, “Daily Mail”
