The Artful Dodger
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- This article is about the character from Oliver Twist. For other uses see The Artful Dodger (disambiguation).
The Artful Dodger is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. The Dodger (whose real name is Jack Dawkins) is so called because of his success in avoiding arrest, being a skillful pickpocket. As a result he has become the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin.
The nickname "Artful Dodger" is still commonly used to refer to someone who is good at avoiding responsibility or the consequences of his or her actions. "Artful Dodger" is also Cockney rhyming slang for "lodger".
The role of the Artful Dodger has been played by several notable performers. British actor Anthony Newley played the character in an adaptation of the story for a 1948 motion picture. The role was amplified in the musical Oliver!, and launched the careers of Davy Jones and Jack Wild, among others. Elijah Wood also portrayed the character and most recently he was played by Harry Eden in Roman Polanski's big-budget version of the story, which saw release in 2005.
Another to have played the role (in an amateur production) was Ben Elton.
In Walt Disney's version of Oliver Twist, Oliver and Company, the character of the Artful Dodger was changed to a streetwise anthropomorphic mutt simply named Dodger. The voice was provided by famed musician Billy Joel.
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| Characters: | Fagin | Bill Sikes | The Artful Dodger | Nancy Sikes | Rose Maylie |
| Film adaptions: | Oliver Twist (1948) | Oliver! | Oliver & Company | Oliver Twist (1997) | Twist | Boy called Twist | Oliver Twist (2005) |
| Other adaptions: | Oliver! | Fagin the Jew | Oliver Twist (TV miniseries) |
