Jack Wild

Jack Wild was an English actor, known for his teenage performances as the Artful Dodger in Oliver and as Jimmy in the NBC childrens television series H.R. Pufnstuf . He appeared as Dodger in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical, receiving an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor, as well as BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations as Most Promising Newcomer. As Jimmy, he was the central character of the television series and feature film about a boy befriended by a friendly dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft.

Wild was born into a working class family in Royton, Lancashire, to a labourer father and a mother who worked as a butcher. Wild moved to Hounslow with his parents in 1960. He was discovered whilst playing football by theatrical agent June Collins, the mother of one of Jacks teammates, Phil Collins .

Source: Wikipedia