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 Awards 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 (1991).
Early life and education
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 a 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.
June Collins enrolled both Jack and Arthur at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in Acton, west London.
Acting career
Oliver!
The Wild brothers sought acting roles to supplement their parents' income. In the autumn of 1964, the pair were cast in the West End theatre production of
Lionel Bart's
Oliver! – Arthur in the title role and Jack as Charley Bates, a member of Fagin's gang.
Wild was chosen to play the
Artful Dodger for the 1968 movie version of
Oliver! His performance received critical acclaim and several nominations:
-
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – nominated at the 41st Academy Awards
-
Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – nominated at 26th Golden Globe Awards
-
BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer – nominated at 22nd British Academy Film Awards
TV work
In the spring of 1966, Wild left the stage show of
Oliver! to make the film serial
Danny the Dragon for the Children's Film Foundation.
Wild's first speaking roles on TV were in an episode of
Out of the Unknown, and in the third part of the BBC's version of the Wesker trilogy,
I'm Talking About Jerusalem. He also appeared in episodes of
Z-Cars,
The Newcomers, and
George and the Dragon.
After Oliver!
At the 1968 premiere of
Oliver!, Wild met brothers Sid and Marty Krofft, who thought he would make a good lead for a show they were developing called
H.R. Pufnstuf. Wild starred as Jimmy in Pufnstuf's only season (1969), as well as in the film
Pufnstuf (1970), which was released shortly after the show was concluded.
Wild then appeared in Melody (1971, with Oliver! co-star Mark Lester) and Flight of the Doves (1971, with another Oliver! co-star, Ron Moody). In 1972, Wild appeared as a stowaway in an episode of BBC TV's The Onedin Line. In 1973, he played Reg in The 14, a film directed by David Hemmings. On television, Wild appeared in a BBC adaptation of Our Mutual Friend in 1976.
"When I first entered in the show business, of course I didn't mind playing younger roles. However, it did bug me when I would be 21 being offered the role of a 13-year-old. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy playing these roles; I had barrels of fun, I just wanted more serious and dramatic roles; it's that simple."
He also embarked on a recording career, releasing The Jack Wild Album for Capitol Records, which contained the single "Some Beautiful". In the early 1970s, Wild also released the albums Everything's Coming Up Roses and Beautiful World for Buddah Records.
Later career
Wild returned to the big screen in a few minor roles, such as in the 1991
Kevin Costner film
and as a peddler in
Basil (1998). For the most part, he spent the remainder of his career working in theatre. Wild's last major appearance was as the male lead, Mouse, in
Tayla Goodman's rock musical
Virus. The show ran for two weeks at the Theatre Royal,
Nottingham, in 1999. For his final film appearance, he had a minor role in
Moussaka & Chips (2005), in which he once again worked with Ron Moody.
Personal life
Wild first met Welsh-born actress Gaynor Jones when they were around 12 years old at the Barbara Speake stage school. After he left in 1966, he did not see her again until Christmas 1970. They married on 14 February 1976.
[General Register Office of England and Wales, Marriages, March quarter 1976, Surrey North, Vol 17, page 156] She left him in 1985 because of his chronic drinking.
Wild met his second wife, Claire Harding, when he was working with her in
Jack and the Beanstalk in
Worthing.
They married in
Bedford in September 2005.
[General Register Office of England and Wales, Marriages, September quarter 2005, Bedford, District 309, Page 0579, entry 004]
In 2001, Wild was diagnosed with oral cancer; he blamed the disease on his drinking and smoking habits.
Alcoholism
By 21, Wild was an
alcoholic. After exhausting his remaining fortune, he lived with his retired father for a few years.
His alcoholism caused three
and resulted in numerous hospital stays.
He was diagnosed with
diabetes on 14 March 1983. His alcoholism ruined both his career and first marriage, as his wife left him in 1985 because of his drinking.
During the mid-1980s, he often drank three to four bottles of vodka a week, and typically drank half a bottle of vodka and two bottles of wine every day.
Death and legacy
Wild was just 53 when he died of
oral cancer on 1 March 2006.
[General Register Office of England and Wales, Deaths, March quarter 2006, Bedford, District 3091G, Register No G7D, entry 099] He is buried in Toddington Parish Cemetery,
Bedfordshire.
He was 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.
At the time of his death, he and his wife had been working on his autobiography.
Filmography
Discography
Albums
-
The Jack Wild Album (1970)
- A1 "Sugar and Spice"
- A2 "Early in the Morning"
- A3 "Fish And Chips"
- A4 "Some Beautiful"
- A5 "A Picture of You"
- B1 "Wait For Summer"
- B2 "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
- B3 "Melody"
- B4 "When I'm Sixty-Four"
- B5 "Lazy Sunday"
-
Everything's Coming Up Roses (1971)
- A1 "(Holy Moses!) Everything's Coming Up Roses"
- A2 "The Pushbike Song"
- A3 "Cotton Candy"
- A4 "Bring Yourself Back To Me"
- A5 "Hello (Jack)"
- B1 "The Old Man Song (Na Na Na Na)"
- B2 "Apeman"
- B3 "Takin' It Easy"
- B4 "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
- B5 "What Have They Done to My Song Ma"
- A1 "A Beautiful World"
- A2 "Punch and Judy"
- A3 "Sweet Sweet Lovin'"
- A4 "Bird in the Hand"
- A5 "The Lord"
- B1 "Beggar Boy"
- B2 "Songs of Freedom"
- B3 "Being With You"
- B4 "E.O.I.O."
- B5 "Bunny Bunny"
Singles
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| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
See also
-
List of British actors
-
List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees – Youngest nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
-
List of British Academy Award nominees and winners
-
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
Bibliography
-
Wild, Jack. Autobiography: It's A Dodger's Life, Fantom Films 2016. Hardback edition
-
Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 296.
-
Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 239.
External links
