Donnie's Gay Sex Party with Jack Wild

Jack Wild (1952-2006) was the teen star of the Saturday morning life action show H.R. Pufnstuf, about a boy trapped in a distant magical land with a friendly dragon and a cranky old witch.  Gay subtexts abounded, and Jack, short, slim, androgynous, and cherubic-cute, became every gay boy's fantasy boyfriend.

After Pufnstuf, Jack's star quickly faded.  His later years were plagued by poverty, depression, alcoholism, diabetes, and finally cancer.  He was apparently heterosexual, with two long-term marriages and no gay hookup or dating stories, until this one, which is really about Sid Krofft:

Born Sydas Yodas in Greece in 1929, Sid became interested in puppeteering at an early age, and by 1948, he was touring with a  one-man puppet show, "The Unusual World of Sid Krofft," across Europe and the United States.  In 1957, while opening for Judy Garland, Sid found that he needed another puppeteer, so he enlisted his younger brother Moshopopulos or Marty (born 1937).

Soon they were busily working their puppeteering magic in film and on tv.  Given an opportunity to develop a Saturday morning children's series, they decided to make antagonists of H.R. Pufnstuf, a "friendly dragon" they introduced at the 1968 World's Fair, and the zany witch Witchiepoo from their stage play.  The two forces, good against evil, would be fighting over control of a lost boy and his...um...magic flute (Sid was a big fan of magic flutes).

Watching a rough cut of the movie version of Oliver! (1968), Sid decided that Jack Wild, the Cockney child actor playing The Artful Dodger, would be perfect as the young boy.  But how to get him to move to America for an extended commitment?

"I'll be his guardian in America," Sid offered.

"Not a chance!" Marty exclaimed.  "Your pad is not a suitable place for a young boy."  Although Sid was 39 years old, he had fully embraced the youth counterculture.  His four-bedroom "pad" in West Hollywood had psychedelic posters, strobe lights, and lava lamps, and it was constantly crowded with long-haired, tie-dyed Cute Young Things of both sexes.

Marty didn't ask which, if any, Sid was shacking up with.  He loved his brother, of course, and he had a live-and-let live attitude toward sexual oddities, but...he didn't need the details.

"I'll be his guardian," Marty offered.  "I have a wife and young children.  It will be a stable family environment."

Marty lived to regret that decision.

The 16-year old arrived in Hollywood in the summer of 1969, moved in with Marty, and proceeded to raise hell.

Jack was cheerful, energetic, and very cute, but a handful.  He came and went as he pleased; on the night of his 17th birthday, he skipped his party and stayed out all night!  He never followed house rules.  Marty had young children in the house, and he didn't like Jack bringing his hippie friends in to drink and smoke pot.

Hollywood, December 1969

Donnie was a 19-year old UCLA student, working as a gopher for the Kroffts: he got coffee, delivered scripts, and acted as best friend/handler to Jack Wild.

Today Jack would probably be fired for multiple instances of  sexual harassment.  He put the moves on everybody, male and female, young and old -- he even kept "accidentally" groping the H.R. Pufnstuf puppet, with a mortified Roberto Gamonet inside.

"You and me, yeah?" Jack said once, putting his arm around Donnie's waist and "accidentally" hitting his butt.  "Two mates, a little snogging.  Nothing wrong with that."

"You're only 17.  I'm in college. Besides, I'm not queer" Donnie said.  He was gay but not out, and he didn't want to get outed by tricking with the unpredictable star.

Jack flew back to England for Christmas, but returned on the 28th -- Donnie had to pick him up at the airport.  The next day, he dropped in to Sid's house to get his approval on something or other, and the Cute Young Thing who answered the door directed him to the master bedroom.

It was well after noon,so Don assumed that Sid was working in bed.  He thought nothing of it -- he knocked once and went in.




The room was semi-dark, light coming from a flashing strobe light.  All the sheets and blankets were torn off the bed, leaving a bare mattress.  Sid was lying on his back, between two Cute Young Things. One was going down on him -- Donnie could see only the back of his head.  The other was beating off while Sid cuddled him -- Jack Wild, the star of the show.

"What the hell!" Donnie exclaimed.

Jack looked up, grinned, and held out his penis. "Welcome back party, right?  Room for one more."

Donnie was a little worried that if he didn't demonstrate he was "cool" by participating, Jack would get him fired.  But to be honest, he was majorly turned on. Ever since the proposition, he had been fantasizing about the young star and his equipment -- a very hard 6-incher.  So after a moment of thought, he walked forward, knelt, and went down on Jack.

"That's it," Jack said.  "Do it like that, mate.  You're good, man...bloody good, you know that?"

After a few minutes, Jack pushed his head away.  "Too much for me, man.  Do Sid, while I watch."

Donnie wasn't attracted to old guys, and Sid had a very thick 8", bigger than he had ever been with before.  So after licking the head for a few moments, he tore off his shirt and pants and went down on the Cute Young Thing -- thin, short brown hair, a couple of tattoes, ruddy uncut 7".

Sid had his arm around Jack and was beating him off.  Donnie thought it odd that they weren't kissing; to give them an example, he raised up, pushed the Cute Young Thing down on the bed, and kissed him.  Soon they were doing the Princeton rub.

"Oi, a coupla lover-birds," Jack said.  "But you forgot the job I gave you.  Sid needs some attention, right?"

 Donnie reluctantly left the Cute Young Thing and went down on Sid.  The 8" gagged him; he started to cough. He resorted to sucking just the head while masturbating the shaft.  After a few minutes, Sid unexpectedly spurted down his throat.

Donnie ran down to the bathroom to spit out his load and wash his mouth out, and returned for his clothes.  Jack had finished and was wiping off with a sheet. The Cute Young Thing, still aroused, was smoking a joint.

"Give me a ride to Spiro's, that's the bloke," Jack said.  "And maybe there'll be some naughty bits waiting for you later."

But Donnie didn't hook up with Jack again, or with Sid.  He was too worried about being arrested -- gay sex was illegal in California until 1976 -- or losing his job -- or being outed as "queer" to his family.  And a couple of months later, after finishing the last episode and cobbling together the H.R. Pufnstuf feature film, Jack Wild was back in England.

Donnie stayed with the Kroffts during his last two years at  UCLA, through the Bugaloos and Lidsville, and he sometimes dropped in to say "hello" when they were working on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and Land of the Lost.  He noticed with some amusement that all of their tv series starred cute gay or bi boys.

Was Donnie Telling the Truth?

This story is actually from a friend of my friend David in San Francisco, who dated Donnie during the 1980s.  So it's third hand, and fifty years after the fact.

Sid Krofft has never been linked with any romantic partner, male or female.  He's probably gay: in 2006 he opened a nightclub on the corner of Santa Monica and Larrabee, the heart of West Hollywood (where the Different Light Bookstore used to be), featuring muscular go-go boys in cages.  

But an orgy with the 17-year old star of his tv show, basically his employee, is another matter.  Jack Wild's autobiography says nothing about any same-sex activity.

Could it have been someone else, transformed into Jack Wild through years of retelling?  Or did Jack's wild past involve sex with the boss?

See also: Pufnstuf