Song of the Day 5/27: Ron Moody, “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two”

Considering how Trump is doling out pardons not just to his usual criminal cronies but even dead people like Pete Rose, how long until he’s exonerating fictional crooks? I notice that all these malefactors he’s so concerned about were convicted of financial crimes, so I think somebody, just for shits and giggles, should get him to pardon Fagin. You know he’d sign the document without reading it.

Lionel Bart’s smash musical “Oliver!” toned down Charles Dickens’ anti-Semitism by turning Fagin from a villain into a comic character, a transformation Ron Moody pulled off in what became the role of his career. Moody originated the character in the West End in 1960 and reprised it for Carol Reed’s 1968 film, as well as on Broadway in 1983. Moody might be remembered for more than Fagin if he hadn’t turned down the opportunity to become the second Dr. Who back in 1969, a decision he later regretted.