Jack Wild: It's a Dodger's Life

Jack Wild was a multi-talented and charismatic “child” actor, whose most famous work internationally may be his starring as the Artful Dodger in the 60s movie of “Oliver!” He could act, dance, and sing, and was in a ton of movies and tv shows. He came from his native England to America in his teens and starred in one of the wacky children’s shows of the era called “HR PufNStuf” (as well as guesting in a bunch of other shows of the era) and did his best by them, truly rising above the material and the “Tiger Beat”-ization of him by the industry (an old magazine that took sexualized pictures of young male actors, paired them with frequently-made-up interviews and marketed them to teen girls). He had a lot of depth as an actor, and he had a fascinating life, albeit with a lot of pain and trouble along with the soaring highs. He had quite a career trajectory and was poised to make a comeback when cancer took him. He fought for his life, and he brought his spirit and optimistic cheerful but honest outlook. He in my opinion appears to have been a lifelong addict, and talks about how close he was with his family, so I wonder if he might have had something to say if he had lived to see the MeToo era. Certainly in my opinion his managers were manipulative and abusive; and some of what the Hollywood industry did to young boys and girls is starting to come out (another example of how the industry burned out and used up people; David Cassidy’s memoir shows an intimate picture of how managers and producers sent him on constant music tours while he was filming a full time tv show, didn’t let him write/play/sing the music he loved, controlled what he could do and say and how he spent his time — the music industry had a lot of the same). Jack Wild’s wife Claire has generously gotten the story of this fascinating man published, and it is like nothing I have ever read before; his life was so different from anything I’ve known, and his narrative voice unique. I always recommend listening to the preview and seeing if a book might appeal to you, and checking reviews. I hope more people who have read it review this book! Maybe someone can do it justice much better than I can!