RON MOODY - MOODY: 'WILD WAS TRULY GREAT'

Actor RON MOODY has paid tribute to his OLIVER! co-star JACK WILD, who died on Wednesday (01MAR06) - insisting showbusiness has lost "a great artist". Moody, 82, played FAGIN to Wild's ARTFUL DODGER in the 1968 screen adaptation of CHARLES DICKENS' classic novel OLIVER TWIST - and from the moment they met they had an incredible rapport. He says, "We've lost a great artist and I've lost a great friend. "The chemistry between us was just something very, very special, which lasted throughout our lives." Wild lost his battle with mouth cancer yesterday (02MAR06) at the age of 53.