That's Snowbusiness

Talent agency boss Peter Burroughs has dedicated much of his working life to boosting the careers of other short actors

I used to run my own general stores and portable gas business, but I decided to go into acting, something I had dabbled in before and had a strong interest in. My first acting job was in a production of Man on the Moon at the Palladium. After that I kept getting asked to do pantomime and eventually I joined an ice show.

I was a good skater; I liked the idea of it. I did some understudy work at Wembley and was in numerous productions of Snow White On Ice.

I was content with what I was doing and, at the time, I thought I’d done most things the entertainment industry could offer me. But suddenly I had an exciting, challenging opportunity to work in film and television.

I was in a few television productions, including Alice in Wonderland with Jonathan Miller, The Talisman and King Arthur. I also did some films, including Willow, where I met my now son-in-law Warwick Davis.

But Warwick and I didn’t like the way small people were represented in films and on television. We wanted to make people see that they were individual actors, not just a collection of “dwarves”. We started Willow Management to help raise awareness and make it more common to see small people in regular roles in programmes like Coronation Street and EastEnders. It’s a slow process but we’ve had some success.

After turning 50, my spinal stinosis got considerably worse, forcing me to use a wheelchair and sticks all the time. Because I have achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, too, being in a chair makes it frustratingly difficult for me to reach things. But I don’t let it stop me working.

The only character I play now is, thankfully, in a wheelchair. I’ve moved onto the role of Grumpy in Snow White. People always come up to me after the show and tell me I don’t look grumpy!

I haven’t ever come across unsavoury reactions from kids but I think that’s because a show like Snow White offers a positive outlook. I don’t get nervous on stage; people have paid to see an enjoyable show and that’s what I try to give them. I reckon about 97 per cent of my performances have been good, but you can’t please everyone, can you?

• This Christmas, Peter is appearing in Snow White at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

PETER BURROUGHS: CAREER PATH

• 1962 – left Orton Longueville School in Peterborough at age 15
• 1963-64 – worked at father’s general stores business in Yaxley, near Peterborough
• 1964 – began acting in London
• 1966 – joined Snow White ice-show in Paris
• 1970 – returned to Yaxley to build up the family business
• 1979 – 2000 – acted in TV series and films including The Legend of King Arthur, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, Willow, Labyrinth, One Foot in the Grave and The 10th Kingdom
• 2001-present – helped set up and run Willow Management, an agency for people of short stature
• 2001-present – acted in annual Christmas production of Snow White