Jack Wild
Birthday: Born in 1952-09-30 in Royton, near Oldham, England, UK
Deathday: 2006-03-01
Born September 30, 1952, in Royton, near Oldham, England, Jack Wild was discovered by talent agent June Collins, mother of rock star Phil Collins. His breakthrough came when he landed the role of Oliver in the London stage production of "Oliver!" When it came to casting the film, the role of the Artful Dodger went to Jack, a role that resulted in his getting an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Fresh from this success, Jack was offered the lead role in the American television series "H.R. Pufnstuf" (1969). This Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft production featured Wild as a boy marooned in an enchanted land with puppets and actors in elaborate costumes. The success of this program led to Wild reprising the role for the film version, Pufnstuf (1970). Other roles followed, including Melody (1971) and Flight of the Doves (1971). Around the same time, Wild released three albums ("The Jack Wild Album"; "Everything's Coming up Roses", featuring along with cover numbers a couple of new songs written by up-and-coming songwriter Lynsey De Paul; and "Beautiful World"). By 1972, however, he was already being demoted to the role of supporting actor for The Pied Piper (1972). He also appeared in "Our Mutual Friend" (1976). He returned to films in two small roles: the miller's son in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and a peddler in Basil (1998). Wild underwent surgery for oral cancer in July 2004, and had some vocal cords and part of his tongue removed. Unfortunately, the cancer proved untreatable and he died on 1 March 2006.
TV Credits
Z-Cars
Character:
Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978....
E! True Hollywood Story
Character:
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aire...
Lock, Stock...
Character: Bill
Lock, Stock... was a 2000 television series off-shoot from the 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The series was shown on Channel 4 and starred Ralph Brown, Daniel Caltagirone, Del Synnott, Scott Maslen and Shaun Parkes. Lock, Stock... was Ginger Productions' first commission. The show prominently featured the rhyming slang of London's East End, making it harder for some viewers to comprehend....
H.R. Pufnstuf
Character: Jimmy
H.R. Pufnstuf is a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast from September 6, 1969 to December 27, 1969. The broadcasts were successful enough that NBC kept it on the Saturday morning schedule until August 1972. The show was shot in Paramount Studios and its opening was shot in Big Bear Lake, California. Reruns of the show aired on ABC Saturda...
The Liberace Show
Character:
This is a real treasure for the countless fans of this flamboyant pianist and singer whose talent was almost overshadowed by his glittering stage productions. With his dazzling piano virtuosity and sparkling personality, Liberace endeared himself to millions. Dressed in his exotic suits and with a candelabra always present on the piano, he brought a special magic and charm to everything he played, whether it be the classics or the latest popular song. Here he runs the full gamut... from Chopin ...
The Mike Douglas Show
Character: Self
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia....
Our Mutual Friend
Character: Charley Hexam
Based on the Dickens novel, tells the story of a young man who's inherited fortune hangs on his marriage to a woman he's never met. But many have their eyes on his fortune and scheme to claim it; placing him in a poor situation where he must fight for this woman as a mere secretary....
The Onedin Line
Character: Peter Thompson
The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin. Around this central theme are the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner, shop owner Robert, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore. The...
Movie Credits
Oliver!
Character: The Artful Dodger
Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a classic tale of an orphan who runs away from the workhouse and joins up with a group of boys headed by the Artful Dodger and trained to be pickpockets by master thief Fagin....
Melody
Character: Ornshaw
Two youngsters declare to their parents that they want to get married. Not sometime in the future but as soon as possible....
Flight of the Doves
Character: Finn Dove
While fleeing across the Irish countryside, two orphans are pursued by their villainous uncle, a master of disguises....
Moussaka & Chips
Character: Durgen Fleece
Getaway driver Miles Foster is placed in witness protection after the murder of his friend Andres by Astin Brody, a shady underworld boss. Miles is hidden on the Greek Island of Zanthi with a recently graduated female MI6 officer, Charlotte Green. Shalom Godsall, Brody's disgruntled number two, has recommended two Irish assassins take out Miles, much to their surprise as a father and son assassin team they h ave a terrible track record. Godsall, however, is working with American secret service t...
The Big Screen
Character: Self
Two of Britain's leading film directors - John Schlesinger and Gerald Thomas - share the anxiety, hopes and risks experienced by those involved with the movie industry. The Big Screen follows the production of four British films: the eighth James Bond film Live and Let Die, The Optimists of Nine Elms, science fiction-thriller The Final Programme and The 14. Actors Peter Sellers, David Hemmings, Jon Finch, Roger Moore and Jenny Runacre are among those seen at work....
The Pied Piper
Character: Gavin
Greed, corruption, ignorance, and disease. Midsummer, 1349: the Black Death reaches northern Germany. Minstrels go to Hamelin for the Mayor's daughter's wedding to the Baron's son. He wants her dowry to pay his army while his father taxes the people to build a cathedral he thinks will save his soul. A local apothecary who's a Jew seeks a treatment for the plague; the priests charge him with witchcraft. One of the minstrels, who has soothed the Mayor's daughter with his music, promises to rid the...
Keep It Up Downstairs
Character: Peregrine Cockshute
The year is 1904; the setting is Cockshute Towers, one of England's stateliest homes. When the household is threatened with bankruptcy, both the masters and the servants are prepared to co-operate in trying to find some cash - after all, most of them are enjoying liaisons of one kind or another among themselves, and none have any desire to give up their rewarding way of life......
The World of Sid & Marty Krofft at the Hollywood Bowl
Character: Himself
The special consists of a series of performances and skits based around the shows of Sid and Marty Krofft. Johnny Whitaker hosts the show and performs "Friends," the theme song from Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Jack Wild appears as Jimmy, who searches high and low for his friend H.R. Pufnstuf (Van Snowden). H.R. Pufnstuf 's resident villain, Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (Louise DuArt, substituting for Billie Hayes) and Lidsville 's wacky magician Horatio J. Hoodoo (Paul Gale, substituting for Charl...
Alice
Character: Mock Turtle
Alice was sitting in the park one day. She sees a jogger called Rabbit. When she first meets him she thinks he's a jerk later she finds him nice and relaxing. She falls in love with him. He takes her to Queenie's party. Rabbit later finds out that Queenie wants to kill him. So Rabbit packs up to leave the country. When Alice finds this out she commits suicide which brings her into a fantasy world....
The 14
Character: Reg
Set in London’s East End, The 14 (aka The Wild Little Bunch aka Existence) is based on the true story of fourteen children who struggle against overwhelming pressures to stay together after the death of their single mother....
Pufnstuf
Character: Jimmy
Jimmy (Jack Wild) ventures to Living Island with his magical, talking flute, Freddy. Once there, he befriends many of the island's inhabitants, but the evil Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes) is determined to steal Freddy the flute away from the boy to impress the visiting Witches' Council and win the Witch of the Year Award....
Danny the Dragon
Character:
Gavin, Jean and Peter meet Danny the Dragon, an unintentional visitor from outer space. Danny and the children encounter many adventures before Danny finally manages to return to his own planet....
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Character: Much
Nobleman crusader Robin of Locksley breaks out of a Jerusalem prison with the help of Moorish fellow prisoner Azeem and travels back home to England. But upon arrival he discovers his dead father in the ruins of his family estate, killed by the vicious sheriff of Nottingham, Robin and Azeem join forces with outlaws Little John and Will Scarlett to save the kingdom from the sheriff's villainy....
Basil
Character: Peddler
A lonely young aristocrat in turn-of the century England struggles to meet the approval of his over-bearing, class-conscious father while trying to please the selfish woman he loves....