Fagin
Encyclopedia
Fagin is a fictional character
who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens
novel Oliver Twist
, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".
and Charley Bates
among them, whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing
and other criminal activities in exchange for a roof over their heads. A distinguishing trait is his constant—and thoroughly insincere—use of the phrase "my dear" when addressing others. At the time of the novel, he is said by another character, Monks
, to have already made criminals out of "scores" of children who grow up to live—or die—committing the same crimes as adults. Bill Sikes
, one of the major villains of the novel, is hinted to be one of Fagin's old pupils, and Nancy, Sikes' girlfriend and sex worker
clearly was.
Whilst portrayed as relatively humorous, he is nonetheless a self-confessed miser who, despite the amount he has acquired over the years from the work of others, does very little to improve the squalid lives of the children he takes in, allowing them to smoke pipes and drink gin "with the air of middle-aged men". In the second chapter of his appearance, it is shown, albeit when talking to himself, that he cares less about those children who are eventually hanged
for their crimes and more about the fact that they do not "peach" on him and the other children. Still darker sides to the character's nature are shown when he beats the Artful Dodger
for not bringing Oliver back, making Charley cry for mercy, in his attempted beating of Oliver
for trying to escape after the thieves have kidnapped him, and in his own involvement with various plots and schemes throughout the story. He also indirectly and intently causes the death of Nancy by falsely informing the ill-tempered Sikes that she had betrayed him and Fagin, when in reality she had shielded him, loving him despite his violent personality. This results in Sikes beating her to death. Near the end of the book, Fagin is hanged following capture, in a chapter that portrays him as being pitiful in his anguish, waiting for the moment he will be led to the scaffold which is being prepared outside and becoming so mad not one guard wants to wait with him, meaning there are two there.
Fagin's character was based on the criminal Ikey Solomon
, who was a fence
at the centre of a highly-publicised arrest, escape, recapture, and trial. Some accounts of Solomon also describe him as a London underworld
"kidsman". (A kidsman was an adult who recruited children and trained them as pickpockets, exchanging food and shelter for goods the children stole.) The popularity of Dickens' novel caused "kidsman" to be renamed "fagin" in some crime circles, or an adult who teaches minors to steal and keeps a major portion of the loot.
reissue of Oliver Twist, for example, Irving Howe
wrote that Fagin was considered an "archetypical Jewish villain." The first 38 chapters of the book refer to Fagin by his racial and religious origin 257 times, calling him "the Jew", with just 42 uses of "Fagin" or "the old man". In 2005, novelist Norman Lebrecht
wrote that "A more vicious stigmatisation of an ethnic community could hardly be imagined and it was not by any means unintended." Dickens (who had extensive knowledge of London street life and child exploitation) explained that he had made Fagin Jewish because "it unfortunately was true, of the time to which the story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew". He also claimed that by calling Fagin a Jew he had meant no imputation against the Jewish faith, saying in a letter, "I have no feeling towards the Jews but a friendly one. I always speak well of them, whether in public or private, and bear my testimony (as I ought to do) to their perfect good faith in such transactions as I have ever had with them..."
In later editions of the book printed during his lifetime, Dickens excised many of the references to Fagin's Jewishness, removing over 180 instances of 'Jew' from the first edition text.
This occurred after Dickens sold his London home to a Jewish banker, James Davis in 1860, and became acquainted with him and his wife Eliza, who objected to the emphasis on Fagin's Jewishness in the novel. When he sold the house to them, Dickens allegedly told a friend, "The purchaser of Tavistock House will be a Jew Money-Lender" before later saying, "I must say that in all things the purchaser has behaved thoroughly well, and that I cannot call to mind any occasion when I have had moneydealings with anyone that has been so satisfactory, considerate and trusting."
Dickens became friendly with Eliza, who told him in a letter in 1863 that Jews regarded his portrayal of Fagin a "great wrong" to their people. Dickens then started to revise Oliver Twist, removing all mention of "the Jew" from the last 15 chapters. Dickens later wrote in reply, "There is nothing but good will left between me and a People for whom I have a real regard and to whom I would not willfully have given an offence." In one of his final public readings in 1869, a year before his death, Dickens cleansed Fagin of all stereotypical caricature. A contemporary report observed, "There is no nasal intonation; a bent back but no shoulder-shrug: the conventional attributes are omitted."
In 1865, in Our Mutual Friend
, Dickens created a number of Jewish characters, the most important being Mr Riah, an elderly Jew who finds jobs for downcast young women in Jewish-owned factories. One of the two heroines, Lizzie Hexam, defends her Jewish employers saying, "The gentleman certainly is a Jew, and the lady, his wife, is a Jewess, and I was brought to their notice by a Jew. But I think there cannot be kinder people in the world."
The comic book
creator Will Eisner
, disturbed by the antisemitism in the typical depiction of the character, created a graphic novel
in 2003 titled Fagin the Jew
. In this book, the back story of the character and events of Oliver Twist are depicted from his point of view.
In the 1922 film
, Lon Chaney, Sr.
played Fagin. Alec Guinness
performed the role in the 1948 film version
directed by David Lean
. Guinness' performance was so controversial that the film was banned in the U.S. for three years, on charges of being anti-Semitic.
Ron Moody
's portrayal in the original London production of Oliver!
and in the 1968 film is recognisably influenced by Guinness' portrayal (although the supposedly "anti-semitic" quality of Guinness's portrayal was considerably toned down in the musical), as was Academy Award
winner Ben Kingsley
's portrayal of Fagin in Roman Polanski
's 2005 screen adaptation.
When Oliver! was brought to Broadway in 1964 Fagin was portrayed by Clive Revill
, but in a 1984 revival, Moody reprised his performance opposite Tony Award
winner Patti LuPone
who played Nancy.
Fagin is made somewhat lovable in the musical, and completely innocent of Nancy's murder. He presumably evades the police at the end.
In the 1980 ATV series The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist, Fagin was played by David Swift. In this 13-episode series, Fagin has escaped his hanging by pretending to have had a stroke leaving him paralyzed (and therefore unfit to be executed) and is in hiding at The Three Cripples tended to by Barney.
In the 1982 made-for-tv movie version, Fagin is portrayed by George C. Scott
. Though the character is generally portrayed as elderly, diminutive and homely, Scott's version of the character was markedly younger, stronger, and better looking.
In the 1985 miniseries
, Fagin is portrayed by Eric Porter
.
In Disney's animated version, Oliver & Company
(1988), Fagin is a poor but kind-hearted man who lives on a houseboat with his dogs, and is voiced by Dom DeLuise
.
In 1994, Oliver
was revived in London. Fagin was played by many noted British actors and comedians including Jonathan Pryce
, George Layton
, Jim Dale
, Russ Abbot
, Barry Humphries
(from Wales) - who had played Mr Sowerberry in the original 1960 London production of Oliver!
- and Robert Lindsay
, who won an Olivier Award for his performance.
Costumes are changed in the stage productions, for each different actor. Some suit different looks. This is seen clearly in the various coats that are used. Pryce used a patched red and brown coat, while Lindsay used the traditional dark green overcoat seen in the 1968 film version.
In Disney's 1997 live action television production, Fagin is played by Richard Dreyfuss
.
In the 2003 film Twist
(a film loosely based on Dickens' Oliver Twist
) Fagin is played by actor Gary Farmer
.
In the 2007 BBC
television adaptation Fagin is played by Timothy Spall
. Contrary to his appearance in the novel, he is beardless and overweight in this version. He is also a sweet and kindly character.
In December 2008, Oliver!
was revived at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, London with Rowan Atkinson
playing the character. This role was taken over by Omid Djalili
in July 2009. Griff Rhys Jones
took over the role from Omid Djalili
in December 2009. He was succeeded by Russ Abbot
in June 2010.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
novel Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".
Character
Born in London, Fagin is described as "disgusting" to look at. He is the leader of a group of children, the Artful DodgerThe Artful Dodger
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that respect. As a result he has become the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin...
and Charley Bates
Charley Bates
Charley Bates is a supporting character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. He is a young boy and member of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, and sidekick to the Artful Dodger. Charley, along with The Artful Dodger, steal Mr. Brownlow's handkerchief, a crime Oliver is blamed for...
among them, whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing
Pickpocketing
Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person of a victim without their noticing the theft at the time. It requires considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection...
and other criminal activities in exchange for a roof over their heads. A distinguishing trait is his constant—and thoroughly insincere—use of the phrase "my dear" when addressing others. At the time of the novel, he is said by another character, Monks
Monks (Oliver Twist)
Edward "Monks" Leeford is a character in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. He is actually the criminally-inclined half-brother of Oliver Twist, but he hides his identity. Monks's parents separated when he was a child, and his father had a sexual and romantic relationship with a young...
, to have already made criminals out of "scores" of children who grow up to live—or die—committing the same crimes as adults. Bill Sikes
Bill Sikes
William "Bill" Sikes is a fictional character in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.He is one of Dickens's most vicious characters and a very strong force in the novel when it comes to having control over somebody or harming others. He is portrayed as a rough and barbaric man. He is a career...
, one of the major villains of the novel, is hinted to be one of Fagin's old pupils, and Nancy, Sikes' girlfriend and sex worker
Sex worker
A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...
clearly was.
Whilst portrayed as relatively humorous, he is nonetheless a self-confessed miser who, despite the amount he has acquired over the years from the work of others, does very little to improve the squalid lives of the children he takes in, allowing them to smoke pipes and drink gin "with the air of middle-aged men". In the second chapter of his appearance, it is shown, albeit when talking to himself, that he cares less about those children who are eventually hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
for their crimes and more about the fact that they do not "peach" on him and the other children. Still darker sides to the character's nature are shown when he beats the Artful Dodger
The Artful Dodger
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that respect. As a result he has become the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin...
for not bringing Oliver back, making Charley cry for mercy, in his attempted beating of Oliver
Oliver Twist (character)
Oliver Twist is the protagonist of the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. He was the first child protagonist in an English language novel.-Background:...
for trying to escape after the thieves have kidnapped him, and in his own involvement with various plots and schemes throughout the story. He also indirectly and intently causes the death of Nancy by falsely informing the ill-tempered Sikes that she had betrayed him and Fagin, when in reality she had shielded him, loving him despite his violent personality. This results in Sikes beating her to death. Near the end of the book, Fagin is hanged following capture, in a chapter that portrays him as being pitiful in his anguish, waiting for the moment he will be led to the scaffold which is being prepared outside and becoming so mad not one guard wants to wait with him, meaning there are two there.
Historical basis
Dickens took Fagin's name from a friend he had known in his youth while working in a boot-blacking factory.Fagin's character was based on the criminal Ikey Solomon
Ikey Solomon
Isaac "Ikey" Solomon was an English criminal who became an extremely successful receiver of stolen property. He gained fame for his crimes, escape from arrest, and his high-profile recapture and trial...
, who was a fence
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
at the centre of a highly-publicised arrest, escape, recapture, and trial. Some accounts of Solomon also describe him as a London underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
"kidsman". (A kidsman was an adult who recruited children and trained them as pickpockets, exchanging food and shelter for goods the children stole.) The popularity of Dickens' novel caused "kidsman" to be renamed "fagin" in some crime circles, or an adult who teaches minors to steal and keeps a major portion of the loot.
Antisemitism
Fagin is noted for being one of the few characters of 19th century English literature, let alone any of Dickens's pieces, who is described as Jewish. Fagin has been the subject of much debate over antisemitism both during Dickens's lifetime and up to modern times. In an introduction to a 1981 Bantam BooksBantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
reissue of Oliver Twist, for example, Irving Howe
Irving Howe
Irving Howe was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Life and career:...
wrote that Fagin was considered an "archetypical Jewish villain." The first 38 chapters of the book refer to Fagin by his racial and religious origin 257 times, calling him "the Jew", with just 42 uses of "Fagin" or "the old man". In 2005, novelist Norman Lebrecht
Norman Lebrecht
Norman Lebrecht is a British commentator on music and cultural affairs and a novelist. He was a columnist for The Daily Telegraph from 1994 until 2002 and assistant editor of the Evening Standard from 2002 until 2009...
wrote that "A more vicious stigmatisation of an ethnic community could hardly be imagined and it was not by any means unintended." Dickens (who had extensive knowledge of London street life and child exploitation) explained that he had made Fagin Jewish because "it unfortunately was true, of the time to which the story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew". He also claimed that by calling Fagin a Jew he had meant no imputation against the Jewish faith, saying in a letter, "I have no feeling towards the Jews but a friendly one. I always speak well of them, whether in public or private, and bear my testimony (as I ought to do) to their perfect good faith in such transactions as I have ever had with them..."
In later editions of the book printed during his lifetime, Dickens excised many of the references to Fagin's Jewishness, removing over 180 instances of 'Jew' from the first edition text.
This occurred after Dickens sold his London home to a Jewish banker, James Davis in 1860, and became acquainted with him and his wife Eliza, who objected to the emphasis on Fagin's Jewishness in the novel. When he sold the house to them, Dickens allegedly told a friend, "The purchaser of Tavistock House will be a Jew Money-Lender" before later saying, "I must say that in all things the purchaser has behaved thoroughly well, and that I cannot call to mind any occasion when I have had moneydealings with anyone that has been so satisfactory, considerate and trusting."
Dickens became friendly with Eliza, who told him in a letter in 1863 that Jews regarded his portrayal of Fagin a "great wrong" to their people. Dickens then started to revise Oliver Twist, removing all mention of "the Jew" from the last 15 chapters. Dickens later wrote in reply, "There is nothing but good will left between me and a People for whom I have a real regard and to whom I would not willfully have given an offence." In one of his final public readings in 1869, a year before his death, Dickens cleansed Fagin of all stereotypical caricature. A contemporary report observed, "There is no nasal intonation; a bent back but no shoulder-shrug: the conventional attributes are omitted."
In 1865, in Our Mutual Friend
Our Mutual Friend
Our Mutual Friend is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life" but is also about human...
, Dickens created a number of Jewish characters, the most important being Mr Riah, an elderly Jew who finds jobs for downcast young women in Jewish-owned factories. One of the two heroines, Lizzie Hexam, defends her Jewish employers saying, "The gentleman certainly is a Jew, and the lady, his wife, is a Jewess, and I was brought to their notice by a Jew. But I think there cannot be kinder people in the world."
The comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
creator Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, disturbed by the antisemitism in the typical depiction of the character, created a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
in 2003 titled Fagin the Jew
Fagin the Jew
Fagin the Jew is the title of a graphic novel by Will Eisner .In this book, Eisner retells the story of Fagin from Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist from Fagin's point of view...
. In this book, the back story of the character and events of Oliver Twist are depicted from his point of view.
Film, theatre and television
Numerous prominent actors have portrayed Fagin.In the 1922 film
Oliver Twist (1922 film)
Oliver Twist is a 1922 silent film adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist featuring Lon Chaney as Fagin, and Jackie Coogan as Oliver. Directed by Frank Lloyd.- Synopsis :Oliver's mother, a penniless outcast, died giving birth to him...
, Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
played Fagin. Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
performed the role in the 1948 film version
Oliver Twist (1948 film)
Oliver Twist is the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following the success of his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his adaptation of Dicken's 1838 novel, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony...
directed by David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
. Guinness' performance was so controversial that the film was banned in the U.S. for three years, on charges of being anti-Semitic.
Ron Moody
Ron Moody
Ron Moody is an English actor.- Personal life :Moody was born in Tottenham, North London, England, the son of Kate and Bernard Moodnick, a studio executive. His father was of Russian Jewish descent and his mother was a Lithuanian Jew. He is a cousin of director Laurence Moody and actress Clare...
's portrayal in the original London production of Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
and in the 1968 film is recognisably influenced by Guinness' portrayal (although the supposedly "anti-semitic" quality of Guinness's portrayal was considerably toned down in the musical), as was Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
winner Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
's portrayal of Fagin in Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's 2005 screen adaptation.
When Oliver! was brought to Broadway in 1964 Fagin was portrayed by Clive Revill
Clive Revill
Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:...
, but in a 1984 revival, Moody reprised his performance opposite Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winner Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
who played Nancy.
Fagin is made somewhat lovable in the musical, and completely innocent of Nancy's murder. He presumably evades the police at the end.
In the 1980 ATV series The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist, Fagin was played by David Swift. In this 13-episode series, Fagin has escaped his hanging by pretending to have had a stroke leaving him paralyzed (and therefore unfit to be executed) and is in hiding at The Three Cripples tended to by Barney.
In the 1982 made-for-tv movie version, Fagin is portrayed by George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
. Though the character is generally portrayed as elderly, diminutive and homely, Scott's version of the character was markedly younger, stronger, and better looking.
In the 1985 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
, Fagin is portrayed by Eric Porter
Eric Porter
Eric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early life:Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall...
.
In Disney's animated version, Oliver & Company
Oliver & Company
Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated film in which a homeless kitten named Oliver joins a gang of dogs to survive on the 1980s New York City streets. The film was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and became the twenty-seventh animated feature released in the Walt Disney Animated...
(1988), Fagin is a poor but kind-hearted man who lives on a houseboat with his dogs, and is voiced by Dom DeLuise
Dom DeLuise
Dominick "Dom" DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur from 1965 until his death and the father of: actor, director, pianist, and writer Peter DeLuise; actor David DeLuise; and actor Michael DeLuise...
.
In 1994, Oliver
Oliver
The surname Oliver is of several different origins.-Etymology:The surname Oliver is derived from the Old French personal name Olivier. The Oliver surname seems to be French Norman in origin. The Olivers were probably part of William the Conqueror's Norman Invasion of Britain in 1066...
was revived in London. Fagin was played by many noted British actors and comedians including Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
, George Layton
George Layton
George Layton is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author. He was educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School in Bradford and later studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where he won the Emile Littler award. He went on to leading parts at Coventry and Nottingham and...
, Jim Dale
Jim Dale
Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...
, Russ Abbot
Russ Abbot
Russ Abbot is an English musician, comedian and actor who first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, later forging a prominent solo career as a television comedian with his own weekly show on British television.Continuing...
, Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
(from Wales) - who had played Mr Sowerberry in the original 1960 London production of Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
- and Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay (actor)
Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...
, who won an Olivier Award for his performance.
Costumes are changed in the stage productions, for each different actor. Some suit different looks. This is seen clearly in the various coats that are used. Pryce used a patched red and brown coat, while Lindsay used the traditional dark green overcoat seen in the 1968 film version.
In Disney's 1997 live action television production, Fagin is played by Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
.
In the 2003 film Twist
Twist (film)
Twist is a 2003 Canadian drama film and a queer retelling of Charles Dickens' classic, Oliver Twist.-Plot:The plot is updated to the present day, and moved out of the London poor house onto the streets of Toronto. In addition, the tale is told not from Oliver's point of view, but rather that of Dodge...
(a film loosely based on Dickens' Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
) Fagin is played by actor Gary Farmer
Gary Farmer
- History :Farmer was born in Ohsweken, Ontario into the Cayuga nation and Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy. Farmer attended Syracuse University and Ryerson Polytechnic University, where he studied photography and film production....
.
In the 2007 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television adaptation Fagin is played by Timothy Spall
Timothy Spall
Timothy Leonard Spall, OBE is an English character actor and occasional presenter.-Early life:Spall, the third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. , was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was a postal worker...
. Contrary to his appearance in the novel, he is beardless and overweight in this version. He is also a sweet and kindly character.
In December 2008, Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
was revived at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, London with Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
playing the character. This role was taken over by Omid Djalili
Omid Djalili
Omid Djalili is a British Iranian stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer.-Personal life:Djalili was born in Chelsea, London to Iranian Bahá'í parents and is a Bahá'í himself...
in July 2009. Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
took over the role from Omid Djalili
Omid Djalili
Omid Djalili is a British Iranian stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer.-Personal life:Djalili was born in Chelsea, London to Iranian Bahá'í parents and is a Bahá'í himself...
in December 2009. He was succeeded by Russ Abbot
Russ Abbot
Russ Abbot is an English musician, comedian and actor who first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, later forging a prominent solo career as a television comedian with his own weekly show on British television.Continuing...
in June 2010.