Born in Hackney, London, England. Gifted, versatile entertainer of British stage and screen with a knack for comedy. Began as a child star in the mid-40s, appearing as the Artful Dodger in 1948's OLIVER TWIST. Co-authored, co-composed (with Leslie Bricusse), and directed Stop the World -- I Want To Get Off for the London stage and later for Broadway. He appeared in both but not in the film version. He tackled film directing for the first time in the late 60s (CAN HIERONYMUS MERKIN EVER FORGET MERCY HUMPPE AND FIND TRUE HAPPINESS?, 1969; also actor, composer, writer & producer). Other notable credits include DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1967), WILLY WONKA... (1971), THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP (1975) and extensive appearances on television. He wrote the lyrics to the title song for GOLDFINGER (1964). He was the second husband (1963-1971) of Joan Collins. He died in 1999 in Florida of renal cancer.  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score) 1971: WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (w. Leslie Bricusse & Walter Scharf) 1 nomination