Peter Dinklage brings attention to man injured in dwarf tossing incident


When Peter Dinklage accepted his much deserved Globe on Sunday for best supporting actor of Game of Thrones, he mentioned the name of a man and told people to Google him. He said “I want to mention a gentleman I’m thinking about in England: his name is Martin Henderson. Google him.” I did Google that name Sunday night right after he said it, but at that time, before this story was trending, the first result was the IMDB and Wikipedia page for an incredibly hot actor from New Zealand. I should have googled “Martin Henderson England,” but it was late and my motivation was low. I assumed that the guy Martin was another actor who helped Dinklage in his career and whom he wanted to thank.

It turns out that Martin Henderson is also a little person who was cruelly victimized in a “dwarf tossing” incident, after which he was unable to walk unassisted. Henderson used to get work as an actor but now relies on crutches and a wheelchair and can no longer book jobs. Dinklage was trying to raise awareness of this guy’s injuries and the practice of “dwarf tossing,” which may have been popularized when news came out last fall that some of the English rugby players, including Mike Tindall, (Zara Phillip’s husband) attended a dwarf tossing contest. Here’s more:

Rather than just basking in his own success, actor Peter Dinklage made sure to use the spotlight for a good cause when he accepted his Golden Globe award on Sunday.

The Game Of Thrones star ended his acceptance speech by telling the audience to Google the name Martin Henderson.

“I want to mention a gentleman I’m thinking about in England: his name is Martin Henderson,” said Dinklage, who has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. “Google him.”

Millions of viewers did as they were told and transformed Henderson from an unknown actor to an Internet sensation literally overnight.

What came to light thanks to Dinklage’s guidance is the shocking story of a 37-year-old dwarf and aspiring actor who was left badly injured after being ‘dwarf tossed’ by a drunk man outside a pub in Somerset, England.

Out celebrating his 37th birthday last October, Henderson had left the pub in the town of Wincanton to have a cigarette when the unknown man picked him up and dropped him on the ground, injuring his back and legs, which have been numb since the attack.

He has not been able to walk since and been forced to resort to using crutches and a wheelchair.

According to a report in U.K. newspaper, The Sun, the unprovoked attack could have been inspired by the English rugby team who attended a “Mad Midget Weekender” event in New Zealand during the World Cup just weeks before the incident, where they watched a dwarf-throwing contest.

“The England players had been in trouble for going to a dwarf tossing event and this might have given this guy the idea,” 4’2″ Henderson told The Sun. “I guess I was an easy target and the only reason I was picked on was because I am small,” he said.

“People’s attitudes to me when I go out can be pretty cruel. Most are OK but you get the odd idiot who will make fun and start laughing at me.”

His attacker has yet to be identified, but police describe him as 5’8″ with dark hair.

[From Radar]

That’s terrible and I feel so bad for that guy. What kind of loser cretin would do something like that? Henderson has responded to the news that Dinklage gave him a shout out. In an interview on British channel’s ITV’s Daybreak, he said “it is a very, very good thing. I just couldn’t believe it when I woke up yesterday morning.” He also said he still suffers from numbness in his leg and has broken his hand as a result.

Dinklage is the most famous little person there is, and he clearly achieved success through his incredible talent. He’s so excellent on “Game of Thrones” and he can deliver the cleverest, the most obnoxious and the most moving lines with a wink, a middle finger and a tinge of sadness. He’s wonderful.

This has me wondering when “Game of Thrones” is coming back finally. The second season isn’t premiering until April 1, which a date which just serves to remind me that my taxes are due around that time. It’s too far in the future, but at least we don’t have to wait until this summer.

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45 Responses to “Peter Dinklage brings attention to man injured in dwarf tossing incident”

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  1. aenflex says:

    Notice the asshole that did it was only 5 feet eight inches? Makes me wonder if he didn’t have some issues with height himself? What a D-bag.

  2. Karen says:

    Peter Dinklage needs to be included in your next Hot Guy Friday because he oozes sex appeal…and because he’s a decent human being for thinking of others on a night where most people yammer on about “me me ME”.

    • Imo says:

      THIS. I thought it was just me! I ThInk he’s so hot, o would definitely give him a go if given the chance lol. I’m 5’10 btw 🙂

    • Lindy says:

      Fo real! I love him–talent, intelligence, compassion, sexy (look at those eyes and that bedroom hair)! I think he is amazing!

    • phlyfiremama says:

      Throw my hat in the ringfor HGF! Tyrion Lannister is my favorite GOT character~if you haven’t read the books, I highly recoomend them~just be aware that they are not for the faint of heart. Peter Dinklage truly portrays Tyrion, his acting is amazing & I will definitely be on the lookout for projects he is participating in.

    • kibbles says:

      Dinklage has handsome and rugged facial features. I personally think he is more handsome than Clooney. If he were over 5’6, I could definitely seeing him beat out Clooney or Pitt for People’s sexiest man cover. He is also a kind person and a loving husband. Definitely beats out most of the guys in Hollywood!

    • Violet says:

      Cosign!!

    • Jag says:

      Totally this! He is hot and can act… drool worthy!

    • darkladi says:

      This is awesome. I thought I was the only one who noticed how handsome he was!

    • Zoe says:

      The way he walks, his voice, intense eyes, confidence. Find him very sexy.

    • artichoke says:

      yes, oozes sexy, such a bad ass. hot hot hot.

  3. GoodCapon says:

    HALFMAN!!!

    And not to take any credibility away from Dinklage’s acting, but Tyrion really has the best lines in the books, he’s a bad-ass. Good of him not to forget GRRM in his acceptance speech this time! 😀

    I cannot wait for GoT Season 2.

    • Flan says:

      Me too!

      Game of Thrones was the greatest series last year, imo.

      • GoodCapon says:

        As much as I loved the first season i wouldn’t say that it was the greatest. It suffered too much from sexposition and wooden acting (Emilia Clarke I’m looking at U!)

        But overall it’s pretty good for a first season! Hopefully it’s on better footing this time around. Here’s me crossing my fingers…

    • Elsa says:

      He gave a “shout out” to his wife and new daughter, and spoke of how this is her first night with a babysitter and that makes him nervous. A talented living dad to a little girl? Extra swoon-points.

      • GoodCapon says:

        I think you misunderstood me. I was referring to when he completely forgot to thank GRRM in his Emmy speech. He was rightly nervous then (first win for him I think?) so I was glad he thanked the writer for his GG win.

  4. smith says:

    He’s the Brad Pitt of little people.

    I will watch anything this guy does (because of his acting chops, his looks are gravy.)

    • Samigirl says:

      I get what you’re trying to say, but I have to point out, Peter looks a lot like John Stamos, right? Or is it just me? He really is an attractive man, and his wife is hot too.

    • Jarboe St. says:

      @smith lol – YES!! That’s exactly what I said to my husband last night. There’s something very Brad about him (esp the top pic).

  5. danielle says:

    I remember seeing him in Death at a Funeral and being blown away by how good he was in that. I can’t wait for my Game of Thrones DVD to come in (on hold at my local library)

  6. Kathy says:

    Only he is bad-ass enough to pull off the puffy-North-Face-vest-over-leather-jacket look in that last photo. And I’m not kidding.

    He’s ruggedly handsome. And The Station Agent is a wonderful film.

  7. Viola says:

    he’s just so talented and humble. great human being

  8. Zelda says:

    Dwarf and midget are two different things.

    By your logic, I should start calling you a midget and you should just deal with it?

    Side note:
    dwarf-> dwarves
    knife-> knives
    hoof–>hooves
    etc.

  9. Maya says:

    I’m happy that Dinklage won. He is way better an actor than many of the usual suspects on shitty network TV (ie J J Abrahms produced shows).

  10. Mrs. Nix says:

    The plural of dwarf is “dwarves.” If you’re going to toss around epithets, you might want to look like you can spell first.

    Second, they “like” to be called dwarves because they ARE dwarves. Dwarfism is a medical description of the biological conditions (there are more than one)that cause their small stature and health challenges.

    I’m not sure where the word midget originated, but it didn’t always carry the negative connotation it does today. Like so many other descriptors, it came to be used for spite and gradually became an emotionally and politically-charged word. So…it’s something that hurts people. Just don’t use it.

    • Emily says:

      I read (on Wikipedia, so you know) that the term midget used to apply to a certain type of dwarfism, and became a generalised insult in the 1800s. I would’ve thought that dwarf would be insulting, because of fairy tale dwarves, but apparently not.

  11. Delta Juliet says:

    I’m not seeing the hotness at all but he seems to be a good guy, which counts for a lot.

    I keep hearing about GOT. Guess I’ll have to check it out.

    • Camille (The original) says:

      Yeah, I’m not seeing the hotness either. But he is really great on GOT.

      Although I am so glad that Martin Henderson from NZ got a shout out, even if it came by a horrible incident for a different MH :-\.
      Would love to see the NZ actor MH get a showing on HGF some day 😀 .

      And GOT is definitely worth checking out, it is excellent. 🙂

  12. Lindy says:

    Which–this reminds me, CB–i would LOVE to see more coverage of any and all of the GoT actors and actresses. I think it was the best thing going last season.

  13. jc126 says:

    Dwarf-tossing – it’s hard to believe a practice like that exists in 2012. Talk about an assault on human dignity. I can’t fathom anyone participating, although the ones doing the tossing are far more culpable than the ones being tossed, whom I presume are doing because they’re desperate for money.
    Disgusting practice.

    • Ruffian9 says:

      I know…I can’t..it’s just..how can someone even THINK of doing such a thing…to another person? That poor man. Major kudos to Mr Dinklage for having the stones to bring this incident to our attention during an acceptance speech.

    • Emily says:

      My initial thought was it was some sort of acrobatic circus kinda act. This is just sick.

  14. xxodettexx says:

    as a huge lover of the GRRM fire and ice series, i knew that the casting of Tyrion was very very critical to the success of the first few seasons… GRRM wrote a rich, wonderful character in Tyrion that i see dinklage play SO VERY well… anyway, glad he won and hope he continues to win and also glad he brought attention to mr henderson’s awful situation, at least he has got the conversation started!

  15. Linda says:

    Yup, I Googled it too and also found the hot actor in New Zealand who is now famous. Glad you told about this one tho.

  16. Shay Kay says:

    I want to agree with the following:
    1.He is a wonderful actor
    2.Tyrion is an amazing character and pivotal to GOT thus Dinklage was a perfect choice
    3.Perfect candidate for Hot Guy Friday because this guy makes you hot
    4.Love that he’s thinking of someone besides himself and mentions that mom’s can keep us humble

    What more do we need in a Hot Guy?

  17. The Bobster says:

    He looks like the caveman in the GEICO ad.

  18. Daniel says:

    I’m a big fan, he has such a charisma on screen. His current role on Thrones is awesome, but one of my favorite roles he ever did was on the movie Elf, absolutely hilarius!

  19. judyjudy says:

    That poor man. People can be so disgusting sometimes. I hope the attention PD brought to the issue will bring about some justice and assistance for this guy.

    Oh, and am I the only one who gets the giggles over the name Dinklage?

  20. annie_grey says:

    This makes me angry. Just because they’re smaller, they’re more vulnerable to physical attacks by cowards.
    There doesn’t need to be a dwarf tossing event, at all. A lot of dwarves can’t take that kind physical exertion. Joint problems are their biggest issue.

  21. LittleDeadGrrl says:

    He is such an amazing actor and brought my favorite character perfectly to life. I though I’d hate him cause I couldn’t imagine anyone playing him right but he did it so good I picture him as I’ve read the next books in line. I’m glad he took a moment to do something for someone else … that kind of selflessness is so rare and sexy.

  22. Kara Ann says:

    I love Dinklage! What to throw in a reminder about his wonderful performance in Penelope. He’s just the perfect hard-edged, grumbly reporter in that movie…with a heart of gold, of course.
    I am going to buy the entire first season of GOT when it’s available in March. I love the books and hope that the series lives up to my expectations. I knew when I read that Dinklage was going to be Tyrion that the casting was perfect!

  23. Sloane Wyatt says:

    Pure Class and a hot ass!

  24. Kat says:

    I think you definitely need to see GOT to see how hot he is. Most dwarves are cast in really asexual roles and that leads to people viewing them that way. But his character in GOT is really higly sexed. Plus he’s one of only two males I would sleep with in that world, the other has a vow of chastity 🙁 But dinkladge definitly comes off as sexy and in real life he seems like a great person. I actually found this sight because I wanted to see if anyone thought he was as sexy as I did. He’s so awesome he actually makes me want to be an actress and that is the opposite of my usual reaction to celebrities. I hope he gets more awesome roles and leads a happy life, and that people show him respect. I know if I’m ever a writer or director I’d create a role just for him in almost any moovie I did!