Happy Birthday, Jack Wild.

He was my first real crush.

After having seen him portray The Artful Dodger in the 1968 musical version of Oliver!  when I was a mere nine years old, I felt it necessary to own several copies of it (both VHS and DVD) and have since watched it at least five hundred times over the course of the past thirty or so years. I've listened to the movie soundtrack so many times I not only know each song, note and chorus verbatim, I actually wore the vinyl out. Thankfully, I now own the sturdy CD version, keeping it as a permanent fixture in my car.

My pre-pubescent love grew by leaps and bounds each Saturday morning throughout the 1970s, as I watched him in the psychedelic-tinged Sid and Marty Kroft children's show,  H.R. Puf 'n Stuff, hungrily drinking in his Cockney accent, hip mod shag haircut, and big brown eyes. 

When I learned he had died in March 2006 at age 52 due to complications from oral cancer, I cried. And cried ... for days. A significant piece of my life (and heart) had been torn out, never to be replaced. He would have been 58 on September 30, 2010.

I unabashedly admit, I still carry the torch for him, and always will. 


Rest well, sweet Jack. You're not forgotten.

RIP Jack Wild:  Sept. 30, 1952 - March 3, 2006