History Creator / JackWild

Not long after his enrollment, Wild and his older brother Arthur were cast in the West End production of ''Oliver'' -- Arthur in the title role and Jack as one of Fagin's men. Jack sought to be cast as the Artful Dodger but was turned down because he was too short. However, he was cast in that very role in 1967 during pre-production of the film adaptation.

After the release of the movie Wild went on to star in films aimed at children and teens such as ''Melody'', ''The Fourteen'' and ''Flight of the Doves''. However, around this time his drinking habit was starting to debilitate his career and by the age of 21 he was a registered alcoholic and diabetic. His acting roles grew to be sporadic (in ten years he went from being the darling of British media to starring on a British educational show about Maths), and while in 1981 he was given the chance to star in a TV series with Suzi Quatro, it was cancelled due to scripts that supposedly weren't up to standard.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: He started out this way. As a teen he could pass as a preteen and his voice didn't change until around 19. In fact, his last role playing a teenager was in 1978 when did an episode of ''Jackanory Playhouse''. He was 25.

** In the mid-1970s, Wild and his friend Tony Carpenter attempted to become and a Beatles-inspired songwriting duo. They made it as far as being allowed to use the Chappell Studios in London. They were able to publish two songs - an A-side for a pop singer in Australia and a B-side for Wild's wife Gaynor - but other than that, their attempts proved fruitless.

** In the mid-1970s, Wild and his friend Tony Carpenter attempted to become and a Lennon and [[-McCartney-]]-inspired songwriting duo. They made it as far as being allowed to use the Chappell Studios in London. They were able to publish two songs - an A-side for a pop singer in Australia and a B-side for Wild's wife Gaynor - but other than that, their attempts proved fruitless.

** In the mid-1970s, Wild and his friend Tony Carpenter attempted to become and a Lennon and McCartney-inspired songwriting duo. They made it as far as being allowed to use the Chappell Studios in London. They were able to publish two songs - an A-side for a pop singer in Australia and a B-side for Wild's wife Gaynor - but other than that, their attempts proved fruitless.

After the release of the movie Wild went on to star in films aimed at children and teens such as ''Melody'', ''The Fourteen'' and ''Flight of the Doves''. However, around this time his drinking habit was starting to debilitate his career and by the age of 21 he was a registered alcoholic and diabetic. His acting roles grew to be sporadic (in ten years he went from being the darling of British media to starring on a British educational show about maths), and while in 1981 he was given the chance to star in a TV series with Suzi Quatro, it was cancelled due to his erratic behaviour.

Among Jack's purchases in the early '70's was a Moog Minimoog synthesizer, which Wild thought was defective as it only played one note at a time. Because of this, he sold it for very cheap to a session musician named [[Music/{{Yes}} Rick Wakeman]]. This was Wakeman's first Minimoog, upon which helped Wakeman define his multi-keyboard ProgressiveRock sound and popularize synthesizers in rock music.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: He started out this way. As a teen he could pass as a preteen and his voice didn't change until around 19.

* OlderThanTheyLook: A very odd case in that he started out this way (as a teen he could pass as a preteen and his voice didn't change until around 19). Ironically; His alcoholism and heavy smoking would end up making him YoungerThanTheyLook.

Coming from a very modest background in west London, he was discovered while playing football. The lady who discovered him was the theatrical agent June Collins, mother of one Music/PhilCollins (who played on the same team as Wild). She then enrolled him in the Barbara Speak Stage School in Acton, where during his studies he landed bit parts in various television series including ''Out of the Unknown'' and ''Series/ZCars''.

* DevelopmentHell: At the time of his death, he was writing an autobiography. His wife, Claire Harding, was going to finish it with a publishing date of September 2012, but that never eventuated.