Charley Bates
Videos
Charley Bates is a supporting character in the Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist. He is a young boy and member of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, and sidekick to the Artful Dodger, whose skills he admires unreservedly. Bill Sikes's murder of Nancy shocks him so much that at the end of the novel he leaves London to become an agricultural labourer.
illustration captioned: "Master Bates explains a professional technicality"
Artful Dodger
Videos
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist. The Dodger is a pickpocket and his nickname refers to his skill and cunning in that occupation. In the novel, he is the leader of the gang of child criminals on the streets of London trained and overseen by the elderly Fagin. The term has become an idiom describing a person who engages in skillful deception.
James Mahony's 1871 engraving of the Artful Dodger (left) introducing himself to Oliver as "Jack Dawkins," known as "the artful Dodger". Dodger uses Cockney slang which is juxtaposed with Oliver's 'proper' English.
George Cruikshank's original engraving in 1838 of the Artful Dodger (centre), introducing Oliver (right) to Fagin (left). It can be argued that Cruikshank originated the Dodger's trademark top hat -- Dickens never specifically describes the hat.
Jack Wild as Dodger in the musical Oliver! (1968). He earned nominations for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.