<Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 1946--1995 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> Gaynor Woods (m . 1952; his death 2013) </Td> </Tr> <P> Aubrey Harold Woods (9 April 1928--7 May 2013) was a British actor and singer . </P> <P> Woods was born on 9 April 1928 in Edmonton, Middlesex and educated at the Latymer School . His first film role was as Smike in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947). On stage he played the role of Fagin in Lionel Bart's production of Oliver! at the New Theatre, St Martin's Lane in the 1960s alongside Nicolette Roeg and Robert Bridges . He played Alfred Jingle in the TV musical Pickwick for the BBC in 1969 . Woods' best remembered film role is in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, where he played the character of Bill, the Candy Store Owner, singing "The Candy Man" near the beginning of the film, the single was later a hit for entertainer Sammy Davis Jr . During the early 1970s he collaborated on the musical Trelawny with friend Julian Slade . </P>

Who played the candy man in willy wonka