Jack Wild
| Jack Wild | |
|---|---|
Jack Wild, 1970
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| Born |
30 September 1952 Royton, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Died | 1 March 2006 (aged 53) Tebworth, Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Occupation | Actor, singer |
| Years active | 1964–2001 |
| Spouse(s) | Gaynor Jones (1976–1985) Claire Harding (2005–2006 his death) |
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) and accompanying 1970 feature film. He played Much the Miller's Son in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991).
The film of Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! earned him Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award nominations, plus a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. As Jimmy, he was the protagonist 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.
Wild was born into a working class family in the small industrial town of Royton, Lancashire, to a labourer father and a mother who worked as a butcher. Their family lived in a two bedroom cottage in the country, roughly twenty miles away from any commercial establishment. Wild moved to Hounslow with his parents and older brother Arthur (himself an actor, unfortunately not as popular as his younger brother) 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 Arthur at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in Acton in West London.
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