Jack Wild
Jack Wild (30 September 1952 – 1 March 2006) was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the film Oliver! (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16, becoming the fourth-youngest nominee in the category. He also received BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for the role.
Wild also starred in the television series H.R. Pufnstuf (1969) and its film adaptation Pufnstuf (1970), as well as in the films Melody (1971) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991).
Early life and education[edit]
Wild was born into a working-class family in Royton, Lancashire, on 30 September 1952. In 1960, at the age of eight, with his parents and his elder brother Arthur, he moved to Hounslow, in Middlesex, where he got a job helping the milkman, which paid about five shillings. While playing football with his brother in the park, he was discovered by theatrical agent June Collins, mother of Phil Collins.[1] June Collins enrolled both Jack and Arthur at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in Acton, west London.[1]
Death and legacy[edit]
Wild died on 1 March 2006 of oral cancer.[12] He is buried in Toddington Parish Cemetery, Bedfordshire.[13] He had been unable to speak for the last two years of his life following the operation in which his vocal cords and part of his tongue were removed.[14]
At the time of his death, he and his wife Claire had been working on his autobiography.[15] She said: "All the material was there when Jack died, it just needed rearranging, editing, and in certain sections, writing out from transcripts Jack and I made as we recorded him talking about his life."[10] The book, It's a Dodger's Life, was published in 2016 with a foreword by Pufnstuf co-star Billie Hayes, an afterword by Clive Francis, and an epilogue by Wild's wife.[10]