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Mark Lester
Mark Lester
	Lester in 1975
Born	Mark A. Letzer; 11 July 1958 (age 66); 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 on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. 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 sports injuries.^[2]

Early life

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.

Acting career

Early performances

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).

Oliver! and child stardom

In 1967, at the age of eight, Lester was cast in the title role in the film version of Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! (1968).^[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Lester received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a dysfunctional and withdrawn only child in Run Wild, Run Free (1969), starring opposite John Mills, released by Columbia who financed Oliver!.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.

European films

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]

Later life

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]

Personal life

Lester has four children with his first wife, Jane, whom he married in January 1993 and divorced in 2005. In 2006^[17] he married his second wife, Lisa, a psychiatric nurse.^[18]^[19] They divorced in 2009.

Filmography

Film

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

Television

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)

References

^ "Mark Lester". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
^ "About Us". Carlton Clinic. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
^ McNeill, Ruby Simonson (1982). Cain Connections. Spokane, Washington. ISSN 0899-1375. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ "Oliver! (1968)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
^ "Oliver Twist's voice dubbed by girl: report". ABC News. 19 December 2004. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
^ Essoe, Gabe (14 December 1969). "Mark Lester Wants to Be Normal". Los Angeles Times. p. R28. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
^ "National General Slates 'Terror'". Los Angeles Times. 25 December 1970. p. D25.
^ Weiler, A.H. (3 October 1971). "What a Honeymoon!: Honeymoon". The New York Times. p. D13.
^ Reed, Rex (4 March 1973). "Doin' what comes naturally, Kirk takes on Mr. Hyde". Chicago Tribune.
^ Malcolm, Derek (16 November 1972). "Bated breath". The Guardian. No. 12. London.
^ Mills, Bart (24 August 1976). "What the paupers play". The Guardian. London.
^ Crinnion, Jane (2 December 2000). "Famous Back Then: Mark Lester". The Guardian. London. p. 102.
^ "Long after the stardom, another twist: Mark Lester was the child star". The Independent. London. 30 August 1993. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
^ "Welcome". Carlton Clinic. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
^ "Star Report: Beatles fans swarm Abbey Road on album anniversary". The Mercury News. San Jose, Calif. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
^ "Patrons of The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America". The Music Hall Guild. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
^ "Actor Mark Lester set to marry for third time". 3 May 2017.
^ "Lester will leave test decision to Paris". Daily Express. London. 16 August 2009.
^ "Mark Lester". Ciaran Meets the Stars. Retrieved 14 June 2018.

Bibliography

Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 323–324.
Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, pp. 130–131.