The Artful Dodger's Story
(The Testimony of Jack Wild)
My Brother Arthur and I were playing one day in a park in Hounslow when a woman approached us and asked if we were interested in acting on stage and television?
We thought she was crackers, but we said we would ask our parents so she gave us a telephone number to ring if we decided we wanted to do some acting.
We went home and told our parents what the woman had said, and they told us we could go ahead if we wanted to. So, a phone call later and we were both at stage school!
Our first stage production was the musical Oliver, where Phil Collins (of Genesis) played the part of the Artful Dodger. We both had parts and Arthur starred as Oliver! Two years later I was offered a part in the film version and although it took me three months to learn all the dance routines, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I did do other TV (H.R. Pufnstuf) was one, as well as other film work, which eventually took me to Hollywood - where it all began to go wrong. In Hollywood, it seems that people either get involved with drugs or drink. I chose what I thought was the lesser of the two evils drink, but in actual fact, taken to excess it is Just as bad as drugs!
The telephone stopped ringing with offers of work as the news got around that I was an alcoholic. Even if the offers had come in, I was not in a fit state to work anyway!
The drink problem lasted for twelve years but when I became a Christian, the problem became a thing of the past. I started working again, back in the west end of London. I also started a center to help alcoholics and I named it “Alcoholics Victorious”
We can praise the Lord for how He changes lives!