Kiran Shah may be small, but his list of film credits for his acting and stunt work can quite rightly be described as massive.

The 47-year-old, from Hounslow, who stands at 4ft 1.7ins tall, will have his work commemorated in the 50th edition of the Guinness Book of Records, as the shortest professional stuntman working in films.

Kiran, who describes himself as a small man, but perfectly formed', was born a healthy baby, in Nairobi, Kenya, but it wasn't until he was six months old that doctors realised he was not growing properly.

Treatment, in Kenya, was very basic, and, by the time the family arrived, in London, after a short spell, in Delhi, Kiran was 12-years-old, and it was too late to give him the drugs that may have helped him grow.

But Kiran is philosophical about this: "If things had worked out differently, I may not be where I am now."

Kiran has used his short stature to his advantage, and has carved out a career that has seen him star in some of the most legendary films on the big screen.

Such is his dedication to his craft, his reputation now precedes him, as Kiran explained: "I used to have an agent, but now it's word-of-mouth from one director, or producer, to another."

And after having worked with Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and George Lucas, Kiran comes highly-recommended.

He has always been determined about his career: "From a young age, I wanted to be an actor, it was my dream."

Fortunately, his school, the former Feltham Boundaries, was accommodating of this dream, and Kiran was allowed to skip his O' Level mock exams, to go on a three-month tour of Italy, with the Red Buddha Theatre Company.

During his time away, he trained as a mime artist, and became adept at using masks in his performances.

He performed with various other companies, moving on to work with experimental mime, which improved his mimicry skills.

His first film appearance was as the stunt double for a young girl, in Candleshoe', alongside Jodie Foster, although Kiran had no professional training for this.

"Funnily enough, my training really began in my second movie," he said, speaking of his experiences with legendary stunt co-ordinator, Vic Armstrong, who taught Kiran to fall from a height of 30ft.

Since then, Kiran has progressed to heights of 70ft, and has performed stunts on horses and motorbikes, as well as shooting scuba diving and fencing scenes.

Despite the danger, Kiran has only suffered minor injuries, such as broken fingers and toes: "It's all to do with safety. We are not dare-devils, but, if something seems impossible, we will find a safe way to do it."

He also spent time working as a magician's assistant, in Dubai. Interestingly, he has also worked on films to create illusions; he worked as Christopher Reeve's double, for the flying scenes in Superman.

Special effects were not that advanced in the 70s, so they used me to make it look like he was flying in the distance, before they had the technology to do it'.

His flexibility, in both his style of performance and his physicality, have led to Kiran starring alongside modern Hollywood legends such as Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford - and Miss Piggy. For the latter role, Kiran had to wear a body puppet, while zooming along on a motorbike.

He has performed stunts dressed as an Ewok, for Star Wars, been carried from the sinking Titanic, by Leonardo Di Caprio, and has had acting roles in the films Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Legend and Gothic.

Like most actors, he refuses to be drawn into a discussion of who is good to work with, and who can be a diva.

"They have all been good in their own way," he said, although he did give credit to Tom Cruise, who was really friendly to work with'.

However, his recent experiences filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy, where he did stunt work and scenes where the hobbits had to appear small next to the other actors, led to some close friendships between Kiran and the other cast members, as he worked particularly closely with Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen.

Kiran lived in New Zealand for the first two years of filming, and then spent the second two flying in and out of the country.

Due to his previous training, Kiran found he had slightly more work on his hands when he arrived: "They had little people, from India, and a girl, from Thailand, but found they could not work in masks, so I was asked to train them in the use of masks, and how to copy movements."

The film romped home at the Oscars, and, while Kiran could not attend the ceremony, director, Peter Jackson, praised his work in the film: "Peter acknowledged that I played an important part in the film, even though I was only a stunt double."

Like Mr Jackson, Kiran is now involving his family in the world of showbiz.

Along with his nephew, Kit, Kiran has written, produced and directed a short thriller film, which has been shot in Hounslow and Richmond.

Kiran is also a published poet, and uses his poems to draw attention to the discrimination and injustices in the world.

However, Kiran does not often experience discrimination because of his size: "The local community has been very supportive, they are really quite proud of me."

And Kiran is not discriminated against on set, either; he gets a regular-sized trailer, just like all the other stars: "I'm treated just the same as everyone else, and that's the way I like it," he concluded.