All Photos: Alan Mercer
Mark Lester is an English former child star and actor known for playing the title role in the 1968 musical film version of ‘Oliver!’ and starring in a number of other British and European films of the 1960‘s and 1970‘s and in a number of television series. Mark 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.
In 1964, at the age of six, Mark was cast in Robert Dhery's film ‘Allez France!’ (English title The Counterfeit Constable) with Diana Dors, who appeared in the 1948 film version of ‘Oliver Twist.’ He played a small part as the second schoolboy in ‘Fahrenheit 451.’
In 1967, at the age of eight, Mark Lester was cast in the title role in the film version of Lionel Bart's musical ‘Oliver!.’ The multiple Academy Award-winning adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel co-starred Jack Wild, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed, and was directed by Sir Carol Reed.
In 1969, Mark received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a dysfunctional and withdrawn only child in ‘Run Wild, Run Free,’ starring opposite John Mills, and then as a disturbed child in the first regular episode of ‘Then Came Bronson.’ Mark's acting roles peaked as he starred in ‘Eyewitness’ in 1970, with Susan George, ‘Night Hair Child’ with Britt Ekland, ‘Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?,’ with Shelley Winters, and a film version of ‘Black Beauty’ in 1971. He took roles in a series of films in Italy including ‘Redneck’ in 1972 with Telly Savalas and the Western ‘Scalawag’ in 1973 with Kirk Douglas. The final film of his Italian-based career was in 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. Mark Lester wrapped up his British film career with the lead role in the all-star film ‘Crossed Swords’ aka ‘The Prince and Pauper’ in 1977, starring Raquel Welch, Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, George C. Scott, and Oliver Reed, who had played Bill Sikes in ‘Oliver!.’
Mark Lester gave up acting at the age of 19. He took his A Levels at the age of 28 and became an osteopath, studying at the British School of Osteopathy. In 1993, he opened the Carlton Clinic, an acupuncture clinic in Cheltenham. He is a black belt in karate.
He was a close, long-time friend of Michael Jackson, and they were godfathers to each other's children. Mark spent Christmas 2003 at the Neverland Ranch, and vocally defended Michael throughout his trial on child molestation charges in 2005.
I met with Mark and his girlfriend Emma while they were visiting Los Angeles for the Hollywood Show autograph convention. While they had to have been exhausted from a very long flight, they were charming, generous and kind hearted. We had a few minutes to visit about his life now. They have six children between them and they all enjoy being part of a big happy family.
AM: Mark your life is pretty far away from acting now isn’t it?
ML: Yes, I’m an osteopath, but in the United States I would say I’m a chiropractor.
AM: You do acupuncture as well, don’t you?
ML: I do acupuncture indeed.
AM: So you went to school to be an acupuncturist?
ML: Yes I did.
AM: That means you’re extra smart!
ML: (Laughter) I don’t know about that.
AM: That is a lot of school!
ML: It was a four year course to learn osteopathy and a two year course to learn acupuncture.
AM: You must have a scientific brain besides being creative.
ML: I don’t really. It’s more of an art actually. Obviously there’s a lot of science based chiropractic manipulation, but acupuncture is definitely more of an art than a science.
AM: Did you always have an interest in this?
ML: No, I did learn martial arts in my early twenties. I needed to get fit and I did it through martial arts. I did that for ten years. It was through the martial arts that I got interested in sports injuries and it was through sports injuries that led me to train as an osteopath and that led me to train as an acupuncturist.
AM: Here is my question about the movie ‘Oliver!.’ As the film comes to the climatic end it looks like Oliver Reed is literally man handling you. Was he as rough as it looks?
ML: Yes he was dragging me around.
AM: How did you handle that?
ML: We were absolutely terrified of him on the set. There is a scene where he picks up Ron Moody by the throat and he really did pick him up by the throat. I think because I was only nine years old, he was a little more gentle with me. He was still terrifying. He didn’t pull any punches. He was quite rough.
AM: You made quite a few films before you retired. Did you get tired or did it just get harder to find good roles?
ML: It got more difficult to get the right roles. At the age of eighteen I made ‘The Prince and the Pauper’ with Oliver Reed again.
AM: I like that movie.
ML: I really enjoyed making it. It was a great film. Unfortunately the Salkind brothers put most of their energy behind another film they made at the same time which was ‘Superman.’ That was a much bigger film. They didn’t really pay enough attention to 'The Prince and the Pauper.’ It should have been a better film. We had a fantastic cast that included George C. Scott, Ernest Borgnine, Raquel Welch and a lot of mega-stars I got to work with.
AM: Did you figure you might as well end your film career with this movie?
ML: It kind of ended me I think. There were just no roles coming up at that time. I’d reached a point where I couldn’t do a TV series. I was too well known to do anything lesser so I did some stage work for a couple of years.
AM: Did you enjoy stage work?
ML: Theater is great for a week and then it’s really boring. It’s very hard, but you get a week of “fantastic” and then it becomes so repetitive.
AM: Some actors tell me the character gets in their head and it can be difficult.
ML: They may well do, but I never let it affect me in that way. I’m sure certain roles must affect people.
AM: You’re one of the rare child actors who got to grow up and be normal. Why do you think you did so well? Did you have a good family?
ML: I think it has a lot to do with the family base. My parents kind of kept me in check. I wasn’t allowed to be a big star. I wouldn’t want to be that way anyway. My sister was just a normal kid. I think it was the family balance. They pulled me out of acting school and put me in a normal school with regular kids and I think that’s why I did alright.
AM: You didn’t have that drop that some actors have. Some of them turn fourteen and nobody knows they exist anymore.
ML: That is very rough. If I had just done 'Oliver!’ and nothing else that would have been harder to adapt to. I did a lot of films after that, about three movies a year. For me at that age it was great to be in another movie away from school. It really was like a holiday. It was never difficult.
AM: What was it like to, out of nowhere, get a call from Michael Jackson?
ML: Michael contacted me back in 1981. He was touring the UK with his brothers. I was living in London at the time. My sister was a big fan, but I’d never been a fan of Michael. He was a great guy but I never bought his music. So she asked if she could come along. They sent a big limo to pick us up. He had an entire floor at the hotel. I’d never seen anything like it before. We rang the doorbell and Michael came out wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He gave me a big hug. From that moment we were just friends. From that split second.
AM: Was Michael more normal in private? I heard he talked in a lower voice when there wasn’t cameras around.
ML: Yes his voice definitely went up a couple of octaves when he was on camera or in front of an audience. He got stimulated by being a performer. He was actually a quiet and timid guy. He was very shy indeed. He shunned publicity because he felt that being a performer was what he was. He never liked any of the trappings. He never went to any parties or did the celebrity thing. If I was Michael Jackson I would have been enjoying it all.
AM: You have six kids between you and your girlfriend Emma. How is the family doing?
ML: We have six kids between us and they are all wonderful kids. I’ve embraced Emma’s children as being my own. Her son named Oliver, strangely enough, is like my second son. Her daughter is now my youngest daughter, little Lucy, and strangely enough my oldest daughter is named Lucy as well, so we have two Lucys!
