Mark Lester | |
---|---|
Born | Mark A. Letzer 11 July 1958 Oxford, England |
Occupation(s) | Actor, osteopath, acupuncturist |
Years active | 1964–1977 (actor) |
Spouse(s) | Jane (1993–2005, divorced) Lisa (2006–2009) |
Children | 4 |
Mark Lester (born Mark A. Letzer; [1] 11 July 1958) is an English former child actor who starred in a number of British and European films in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968 he played the title role in the film Oliver! , a musical version of the stage production by Lionel Bart based Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist He is one of three last surviving actors of Said film along with Shani Wallis and Kenneth Crannham. Lester also made several appearances in a number of British television series. In 1977, after appearing in the all-star international action adventure film The Prince and the Pauper , he retired from acting. In the 1980s, he trained as an osteopath specialising in sport injuries. [2]
Mark Lester was born in the city of Oxford to actress Rita Keene Lester and actor and producer Michael Lester (originally Michael Boris Letzer). His father is Jewish and his mother Anglican. [3] Lester was educated at three independent schools: at Corona Theatre School in Ravenscourt Park in West London, followed by Tower House School, a boys' preparatory school near Richmond Park (also in West London), and at Halliford School in Shepperton in Surrey.
Lester initially had small roles in several British television series, including The Human Jungle and Danger Man . In 1964, at the age of six, Lester was cast in Robert Dhéry's film Allez France! (1964) (English title The Counterfeit Constable) with Diana Dors.
He also appeared in Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure in Space (1965), played a small part as the second schoolboy in Fahrenheit 451 (1966) and had a larger role in Our Mother's House (1967).
In 1967, at the age of eight, Lester was cast in the title role in the film version of Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! . [4] The multiple Academy Award-winning adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel co-starred Jack Wild, Ron Moody, Harry Secombe, Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed and was directed by Carol Reed. Since Lester could not sing, his singing was dubbed by Kathe Green, daughter of the film's music arranger Johnny Green. [5]
Lester received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a dysfunctional and withdrawn only child in Run Wild, Run Free (1969), starring opposite John Mills, released by Columbia who financed Oliver!. He played a disturbed child in the first regular episode of Then Came Bronson ("The Runner") and also guest starred on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir . Columbia wanted to sign him to a long-term contract but Lester's parents refused. [6]
Lester had leading roles in Eyewitness (1970), a British thriller with Susan George shot on Malta; The Boy Who Stole the Elephant (1970), a TV movie for Disney; and the horror film Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971), with Shelley Winters. [7]
He was reunited with Wild in Melody (1971), which depicted schoolchildren in love, based on a script by Alan Parker. Tracy Hyde played the role of Melody in the film, which used music from the Bee Gees and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Lester starred in a film version of Black Beauty (1971). He was announced for a version of Treasure Island but it was never made. [8] After this period, his acting roles in the UK would begin to wane. This coincided with a decline in the British film industry.
Lester remained in demand for films outside England: What the Peeper Saw (1972) with Britt Ekland; Senza ragione (1973), in Italy with Franco Nero; Little Adventurer (1973), a Japanese film; Scalawag (1973), a pirate film with Kirk Douglas shot in Yugoslavia; [9] and the costume drama La Prima volta sull'erba (English title The First Time on the Grass, 1974), which was nominated for the Golden Bear prize at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival. [10]
Lester ended his film career playing the dual role as Edward VI of England and Tom Canty in the all-star film The Prince and the Pauper (US title: Crossed Swords, 1977) starring Raquel Welch, Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, George C. Scott, and Oliver Reed, who had played Bill Sikes in Oliver!. [11] After this, he said, "I bought myself a Ferrari and set off through Europe for 18 months." [12]
At the age of 18, Lester had access to some of his earnings from his films. He bought a Ferrari and a house in Belgravia and went to parties, nightclubs and restaurants, often paying for friends, and taking drugs. In his twenties, he became a karate black belt; through this he grew interested in sports injuries, and from there osteopathy. [13] At the age of 28, he took his A-Levels, passing Chemistry and Biology. [13] He became an osteopath, studying at the British School of Osteopathy, and in 1993, Lester opened the Carlton Clinic, an acupuncture clinic in Cheltenham. [14] [15]
He is a patron of the theatre charity The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America. [16]
Lester has four children with his first wife, Jane, whom he married in January 1993 and divorced in 2005. In 2006[ citation needed ] he married his second wife, Lisa, a psychiatric nurse. [17] [18] They divorced in 2009.
Lester was a close friend of Michael Jackson and is godfather to Jackson's three children, while Jackson was godfather to Lester's four children, for which they did a ceremony in Las Vegas in 2003. In 2019, Lester appears in the documentary, Michael Jackson: Chase the Truth , in which he doubts allegations of sexual misconduct that had been made against Jackson by Wade Robson and James Safechuck. [19] [20]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | The Counterfeit Constable | Gérald | a.k.a. Allez France |
1965 | Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure in Space | Don Saunders | |
1966 | Fahrenheit 451 | Schoolboy | (uncredited) |
1967 | Our Mother's House | Jiminee | |
1968 | Oliver! | Oliver Twist | |
1969 | Run Wild, Run Free | Philip Ransome | |
1970 | The Boy Who Stole the Elephant | Davey | TV movie |
1970 | Eyewitness | Ziggy | |
1971 | Melody (released as S.W.A.L.K.) | Daniel Latimer | |
1971 | Black Beauty | Joe Evans | |
1971 | Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? | Christopher Coombs | |
1972 | What the Peeper Saw | Marcus | |
1973 | Redneck | Lennox Duncan | |
1973 | Little Adventurer | Mike Richard | |
1973 | Scalawag | Jamie | |
1975 | The First Time on the Grass | Franz Schmidt | a.k.a. La prima volta sull'erba |
1977 | The Prince and the Pauper | Prince Edward/Tom Canty | a.k.a. Crossed Swords |
2019 | Michael Jackson: Chase the Truth | Himself | Documentary film |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | The Human Jungle | Small boy | TV series (1 episode The Twenty-Four Hour Man) |
1966 | Danger Man | A boy | TV series (1 episode Dangerous Secret) |
1966 | Court Martial | Paolo Stevens | TV series (1 episode Retreat from Life) |
1969 | Then Came Bronson | John Beaman | TV series (1 episode The Runner) |
1969 | The Ghost & Mrs. Muir | Mark Helmore | TV series (2 episodes Puppy Love and Spirit of the Law) |
1970 | Disneyland | Davey | (film in two parts) |
Osteopathy, unlike Osteopathic medicine, is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. In most countries, practitioners of osteopathy are not medically trained and are referred to as osteopaths.
Oliver! is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
Sir Alan Arthur Bates was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular crime drama Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving.
Lionel Bart was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical Oliver! (1960). With Oliver! and his work alongside theatre director Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal, Stratford East, he played an instrumental role in the 1960s birth of the British musical theatre scene after an era when American musicals had dominated the West End.
The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. The plot concerns the ascension of nine-year-old Edward VI of England in 1547 and his interactions with look-alike Tom Canty, a London pauper who lives with his abusive, alcoholic father.
Robert Oliver Reed was an English actor. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his notable films include The Trap (1966), playing Bill Sikes in Oliver!, Women in Love (1969), Hannibal Brooks (1969), The Devils (1971), Athos in The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974), the stepfather in Tommy (1975), The Brood (1979), Funny Bones (1995) and Gladiator (2000).
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Shani Wallis is an English actress and singer, who has worked in theatre, film, and television in both her native United Kingdom and in the United States. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she is known for her roles in the West End and for the role of Nancy in the 1968 Oscar-winning film musical Oliver!
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