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. As of 2026, Wild is 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

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. 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

thumb|right|210px|Wild with the title character in the [[NBC children's series H.R. Pufnstuf, 1969]]

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. In 1999, Wild lamented, <blockquote>"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." </blockquote>

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 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves 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. She left him in 1985 because of his chronic drinking.

In 2001, Wild was diagnosed with oral cancer; he blamed the disease on his drinking and smoking habits. He underwent chemotherapy immediately, and had his tongue and voice box removed in July 2004, leaving him unable to speak. His alcoholism caused three cardiac arrests and resulted in numerous hospital stays. He later admitted his alcoholism was so debilitating that he was incapable of performing any kind of work. He once attended a drying-out clinic for drug addicts and alcoholics, run by Pete Townshend, but after being "dry" for six weeks, he bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate that he had stopped drinking. Wild eventually became sober on 6 March 1989, after joining a support group, Alcoholics Victorious. 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. His gravestone has musical notation carved on it, showing the first few bars of "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin.

At the time of his death, he and his wife had been working on his autobiography. 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."

|-

! scope="row" | Moussaka & Chips

| style="text-align:center;"| 2005

|

| Durgen Fleece

| Third film to act alongside Ron Moody; final film role

|}

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"

  • A Beautiful World (1972)

: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

right|thumb|The Jack Wild Album

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan=2 style="width:20em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Year

! scope="col" colspan=2 | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan=2 style="width:20em;"| Album

|-

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:90%";"|UK

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%";"|US

|-

! scope="row" | "Some Beautiful"

| 1970

| 46

| 92

| rowspan=2| The Jack Wild Album

|-

! scope="row" | "Wait For Summer"

| 1970

| -

| 115

|-

! scope="row" | "Melody"

| 1970

| -

| -

| The Jack Wild Album and Melody (Soundtrack)

|-

! scope="row" | "Working On It Night and Day"

| 1971

| -

| -

| Melody (Soundtrack)

|-

! scope="row" | "(Holy Moses!) Everything's Coming Up Roses"

| 1971

| -

| 107

| rowspan=2| Everything’s Coming Up Roses

|-

! scope="row" | "Cotton Candy" (Japan only)

| 1971

| -

| -

|-

! scope="row" | "Punch and Judy"

| 1972

| -

| -

| A Beautiful World

|-

! scope="row" | "I Need More Loving"

| 1973

| -

| -

| rowspan=2| Non-album single

|-

! scope="row" | "Universal Song"

| 1974

| -

| -

|-

| colspan="5" style="font-size:90%"| "—" 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

References

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.&nbsp;296.
  • Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p.&nbsp;239.
  • Jack Wild Official Website
  • Jack Wild at the British Film Institute