Deep Roy

Roy in 2016, photo by cvanwagoner/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Mohinder Purba

Place of Birth: Nairobi, Kenya Colony (now Kenya)

Date of Birth: 1 December, 1957

Ethnicity: Punjabi Indian

Deep Roy, also known as Gurdeep, is a Kenyan-British actor, puppeteer, and stuntperson. His roles include the films Flash Gordon (1980), Return of the Jedi, The NeverEnding Story, Starship (1984), Return to Oz, Going Bananas, Alien from L.A., Howling VI: The Freaks, The Resurrected, Planet of the Apes (2001), Big Fish, as the Oompa-Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, in voice performance; Star Trek (2009), and its sequels; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Paranormal Movie, and the shows Blake’s 7, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and Eastbound & Down. He is a dwarf, and is 4’4″.

He was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian Sikh parents. His surname Purba is of Punjabi origin. He later moved to England. Deep is married to Millie Farris.