Artful Dodger dies

Sad to report:

Jack Wild, whose angelic, cheeky face shot him to stardom and almost an Oscar as the Artful Dodger in the 1968 film Oliver!, has died from cancer aged 53 after a life pitted with disappointment and illness.

He was wonderful in Oliver! but his success as a youngster turned out to be destructive in his life. This seems to be the case over and over again with child stars...

The article seems to indicate that he came to peace. I am glad for that for his sake. I am glad too that he wrote to 'Harry Potter'...

When Daniel Radcliffe won the film role of Harry Potter, Wild wrote him an open letter of warning. He said:

"Like other child stars, I paid a high price for my instant success.

"I remember going to parties where the 'nibbles' were bowls of LSD, marijuana, cocaine, uppers and downers. I stuck to the booze, but I paid a heavy price for my old-fashioned addiction. Booze made me so ill my heart stopped three times."