Biography
A veteran across stage productions, motion pictures, and broadcast series, the singer, dancer, and actor Jack Wild entered show business while still a child. Born near Manchester, England, he and his relatives relocated to London in 1960 when he reached the age of eight. Roughly three years later an agent scouting for a stage school noticed him during a soccer match in a neighborhood park. In the ensuing years he began appearing in local theater productions. Following a small role opposite Carol White and Terence Stamp in the film Poor Cow and additional stage work, Wild auditioned successfully in 1967 for the part of the Artful Dodger in the screen version of the stage success Oliver!, a production in which he had already performed in London. Within the film he delivered the number “Consider Yourself” and secured a 1969 Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Capitalizing on the momentum from Oliver!, Wild was cast as Jimmy in Sid & Marty Krofft’s H.R. Pufnstuf. The Saturday-morning series blending live action with puppetry in the manner of The Wizard of Oz debuted on NBC-TV on September 6, 1969. Kellogg’s Cereals, working with Capitol Special Products, made the show’s soundtrack available as a 45 EP obtainable by mail for a modest payment plus proof-of-purchase from cereal boxes. The program’s popularity prompted Universal Pictures to release a feature-length adaptation, Pufnstuf, in the summer of 1970. In addition to the television ensemble, the movie featured Martha Raye and Mama Cass Elliot, whose rendition of “Different” stood out; Wild himself performed “If I Could.” Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel composed the songs, and Capitol Records issued the Fox-produced soundtrack.
Concurrent with his Krofft engagement, Wild entered into a recording agreement with Capitol Records. His debut solo effort, The Jack Wild Album, appeared in late 1969. Both the album and its initial single, “Some Beautiful” backed with “Picture of You,” were marketed chiefly through mail-order offers in the teen publications Tiger Beat and Sixteen, which promoted Wild as a teen idol. While touring for promotion he visited local children’s television programs to lip-synch the material. Additional guest spots included The Red Skelton Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Kraft Music Hall Show, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Bing Crosby Christmas Show, The Banana Splits, The Liberace Show, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, and the Kroffts’ Live at the Hollywood Bowl and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. His subsequent albums comprised Everything’s Coming Up Roses (Buddah, 1971) and Beautiful World (Buddah, 1972).
Wild later rejoined his Oliver! colleagues Mark Lester for Melody (1971), which featured a Bee Gees score, and Ron Moody for Flight of the Doves (Columbia, 1971). Further screen credits encompassed Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (1991) with Kevin Costner, Basil (1991) with Christian Slater, and additional English and European features.
Following struggles with alcoholism and a subsequent born-again Christian conversion, Wild sustained a career in English theater while working on his autobiography. He succumbed to oral cancer on March 2, 2006, the disease having been identified in 2000.
Capitalizing on the momentum from Oliver!, Wild was cast as Jimmy in Sid & Marty Krofft’s H.R. Pufnstuf. The Saturday-morning series blending live action with puppetry in the manner of The Wizard of Oz debuted on NBC-TV on September 6, 1969. Kellogg’s Cereals, working with Capitol Special Products, made the show’s soundtrack available as a 45 EP obtainable by mail for a modest payment plus proof-of-purchase from cereal boxes. The program’s popularity prompted Universal Pictures to release a feature-length adaptation, Pufnstuf, in the summer of 1970. In addition to the television ensemble, the movie featured Martha Raye and Mama Cass Elliot, whose rendition of “Different” stood out; Wild himself performed “If I Could.” Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel composed the songs, and Capitol Records issued the Fox-produced soundtrack.
Concurrent with his Krofft engagement, Wild entered into a recording agreement with Capitol Records. His debut solo effort, The Jack Wild Album, appeared in late 1969. Both the album and its initial single, “Some Beautiful” backed with “Picture of You,” were marketed chiefly through mail-order offers in the teen publications Tiger Beat and Sixteen, which promoted Wild as a teen idol. While touring for promotion he visited local children’s television programs to lip-synch the material. Additional guest spots included The Red Skelton Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Kraft Music Hall Show, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Bing Crosby Christmas Show, The Banana Splits, The Liberace Show, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, and the Kroffts’ Live at the Hollywood Bowl and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. His subsequent albums comprised Everything’s Coming Up Roses (Buddah, 1971) and Beautiful World (Buddah, 1972).
Wild later rejoined his Oliver! colleagues Mark Lester for Melody (1971), which featured a Bee Gees score, and Ron Moody for Flight of the Doves (Columbia, 1971). Further screen credits encompassed Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (1991) with Kevin Costner, Basil (1991) with Christian Slater, and additional English and European features.
Following struggles with alcoholism and a subsequent born-again Christian conversion, Wild sustained a career in English theater while working on his autobiography. He succumbed to oral cancer on March 2, 2006, the disease having been identified in 2000.
Albums
