THE HAT SQUAD: JACK WILD

The BBC Online is reporting that Jack Wild died just after midnight at the age of 53. Wild had been suffering from mouth cancer and his tongue and voicebox had been completely removed. Nourishment had to be injected through a tube into his stomach.

At the age of 16, Jack Wild was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, having played the Artful Dodger in 'Oliver!'. It's a sad run-up to this coming Sunday's Oscar telecast, and I wonder if they'll be fitting him into the memorial segment.......

But for those of us who visit Toobworld, and especially those of us of a certain age, he'll be best remembered as Jimmy in 'H.R. Pufnstuf', that trippy puppet/live action sojourn on a real 'Fantasy Island' known as "Living Island".

We started off the week losing a Fife; we come to the end losing the friend of a flute......

The show has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity, thanks to exposure on TV Land a few years back, and the release of a DVD boxed set. (The character of H.R. Pufnstuf will one day be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, most likely via the Birthday Honors.

Our memory of Jimmy will be a lasting image in tribute to Jack Wild.

I would hope the picture of him in his later years, which can be found at the BBC Online obituary, spurs people to either give up smoking or not take up the habit at all. (I would have thought it was a picture of Zelda Rubinstein had I not been informed otherwise......)

Said his friend and agent, Alex Jay: "Even in his drinking days, he was always very careful about being photographed with a drink or cigarette in his hand because he didn't want to encourage young people."

BCnU......
Tele-Toby

TV SERIES
"The Ravelled Thread" (1980) TV Series .... Gegor
"H.R. Pufnstuf" (1969) TV Series .... Jimmy
"Knock Three Times" (1968) TV Series .... Jack

TV MINI-SERIES
"Our Mutual Friend" (1976) (mini) TV Series .... Charley Hexam

TV RELATED MOVIES
Pufnstuf (1970) .... Jimmy

TELE-HISTORY
"Unsolved Mysteries"
- Agatha Christie (1994) TV Episode .... Passerby

The Queen & the Welshman (1966) (TV) .... Edmund Tudor

TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"The Onedin Line"
- A Woman Alone (1972) TV Episode .... Peter Thompson
- Cry of the Blackbird (1972) TV Episode .... Peter Thompson

"Thirty-Minute Theatre"
- First Confession (1969) TV Episode

"Z Cars"
- A Matter for Thought: Part 2 (1968) TV Episode .... Boy
- You Want 'Em - You Find 'Em: Part 2 (1967) TV Episode .... Jimmy Fulton
- You Want 'Em - You Find 'Em: Part 1 (1967) TV Episode .... Jimmy Fulton

"George and the Dragon"
- The Season of Goodwill (1966) TV Episode .... The Carrol Singer

"The Wednesday Play"
- A Game, Like, Only a Game (1966) TV Episode .... Peter

"Out of the Unknown"
- Come Buttercup, Come Daisy, Come...? (1965) TV Episode .... Danny

THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES
"Sigmund and the Sea Monsters"
- The Wild Weekend (1973) TV Episode .... Himself

The World of Sid & Marty Krofft at the Hollywood Bowl (1973) (TV) .... Himself

"The Red Skelton Show"
- Episode dated 15 December 1969 (1969) TV Episode .... Himself

[Thanks to the IMDb.com]