Jack Wild (30 September 1952 - 1 March 2006) was an English actor, known for his teenage performances as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! (1968) and as Jimmy in the NBC children's television series H.R. Pufnstuf (1969). He appeared as Dodger in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical, receiving an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor, as well as BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations as Most Promising Newcomer. As Jimmy, he was the central character of the television series and feature film about a boy befriended by a friendly dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft.

Early life

Wild was born into a working class family in Royton, Lancashire, to a labourer father and a mother who worked as a butcher. Wild moved to Hounslow with his parents in 1960. He was discovered whilst playing football by theatrical agent June Collins, the mother of one of Jack's team-mates, Phil Collins (himself a child actor, who would go on to become a member of Genesis and a well-known solo vocal artist).

June Collins enrolled both Jack and his brother Arthur at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in Acton in West London.

Entertainment career

The Wild brothers sought acting roles to supplement their parents' income, and both were cast in a West End theatre production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!, Arthur in the title role, and Jack as a member of Fagin's gang. Although Jack auditioned as The Artful Dodger for several subsequent stage productions of Oliver!, he was always turned down because he was too short. However, he was chosen to portray the Artful Dodger for the 1968 movie version. He received critical acclaim and several nominations:

• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
• Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer
• BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer

It was at the 1968 premiere of Oliver! that 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 in this American family television series that launched in 1969, and he was paid $1,000,000 to play "Jimmy", a boy washed up on "Living Island" (a magic island) with his best friend Freddy, a talking flute. He was also in the movie Pufnstuf (1970). Other roles followed, including the films Melody (1971) (with Oliver! co-star Mark Lester) and Flight of the Doves (1971). The latter film reunited him with Ron Moody, who had played Fagin in Oliver!.

Wild also embarked on a recording career, cutting one album for Capitol Records- containing the single "Some Beautiful" that received a lot of airplay on Radio Luxembourg, but didn't chart very highly - and two for Buddah Records in the early 1970s. The three albums were called The Jack Wild Album, Everything's Coming Up Roses and Beautiful World.

Challenges

Wild struggled to make the transition to adult stardom. He had begun smoking at the age of 12, and by age 17 was drinking heavily. At age 21 he was already an alcoholic and a diabetic. This did not help him find acting work, and by 1976 his film career was badly stalled. In 1981 he was supposed to star with Suzi Quatro in a series about a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde for British television, but it was cancelled at the last minute. His alcoholism ruined both his career and his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Gaynor Jones, who left him in 1985 because of his excessive drinking.

After exhausting his remaining fortune Wild lived with his retired father for a few years. His alcoholism caused three cardiac arrests and resulted in several hospital stays until he stopped drinking in 1989. Wild later admitted his alcoholism was so debilitating during this period that from the late 1970s until he went sober, he was incapable of doing any kind of work.

Career restarts

Wild unsuccessfully attempted various alcoholism rehabilitation programmes and finally gave up drinking on 6 March 1989 after joining Alcoholics Victorious. He returned to the big screen in a few minor roles, such as in the 1991 Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and as a peddler in Basil (1998). For the most part, Wild spent the remainder of his career working in theatre. His 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. For his final film appearance, Wild had a minor role in Moussaka & Chips (2005), where he once again worked with Ron Moody.

Death

Wild died on 1 March 2006 at age 53 after a long battle with mouth cancer, which he blamed on his drinking and/or smoking. Diagnosed with the disease in 2000, he initially underwent chemotherapy, but later had part of his tongue and both vocal cords removed in July 2004. Because of this surgery, he had lost his speech and had to communicate through his wife, Claire Harding, whom he met when they were appearing in Jack and the Beanstalk in Worthing. Wild was reportedly working on his autobiography, but died before it could be completed.

Wild is buried in Toddington Parish Cemetery, Bedfordshire.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

• The Jack Wild Album (1970)
• Everything's Coming Up Roses (1971)
• A Beautiful World (1972)

Singles

[ Source: Wikipedia ]