Born in
Manhattan and raised in
Teaneck, New Jersey, Active in the local
Reform synagogue, Teaneck's Temple Emeth (where he was elected student vice president in 1958 and received his
confirmation in 1960), Oscard was of French descent and reportedly spent at least parts of every pre-teen summer at his grandparents' home in
France. and it was his father's sister
Fernande "Fifi" Oscard—later a famed talent agency head, but then employed at LPA, where she handled all TV casting—who pulled that trigger in 1954 by casting Miko, then aged nine, alongside
Anthony Perkins and
Dolly Haas in the
Armstrong Circle Theatre episode, "The Fugitive." In February 1958, alongside veteran stage and screen performer
David Opatoshu, Oscard made his brief but impactful feature film debut as
Ilyusha Snegiryov—son of Opatoshu's Captain Snegiryov—in
The Brothers Karamazov. ''The Hollywood Reporter's''
Jack Moffitt was one of at least three reviewers to single out the pair's contribution, noting that "Opatoshu, as a cashiered officer, and Miko Oscard, as the tubercular son, keep alive an important subplot with just the right shades of dramatic modulation." Moreover, the denouement of said subplot—the apology whose presentation to, and acceptance by, young Snegiryov proves so vital to the film's protagonist, Brynner's
Dmitri Fyodorovich—constitutes the film's final scene, wherein—unlike the novel,
whose conclusion takes place at Ilyusha's funeral—it is Oscard's Ilyusha who delivers ''TBK's'' joyously tearful last line: "Oh, Father, how proud I am of you — how proud!" Oscard's next assignment, ''Studio One's
"The Littlest Enemy", from a story by Nigel Kneale, harkens back to the 1955 Elgin Hour'' episode with Kim Stanley. Once again, set in post-war France, and again cast as the scapegoated offspring of a German soldier, but this time orphaned and dependent upon an indifferent grandmother and hateful uncle. This seemingly bleak scenario, however, is quickly redeemed by a clearly visible tunnel-ending light in the form of two eager-to-adopt American tourists (
Mary Astor and
Frank Conroy).
Scripps-Howard's
Harriet Van Horne was especially taken with Francois's scenes with his would-be adoptive mom. All the scenes between Miss Astor and Master Miko were sensitively played, though neither spoke the other's language. It was a moving and provocative play, skillfully handled in every way. One turned it off, though, with a prayer that little Francois would outgrow his attachment to daddy's old soldier suit and bayonet. In 1961, Oscard co-starred with
Beulah Bondi in the much-belated premiere of "Antidote for Hatred"—an episode, filmed circa August 1957, in the long-delayed, short-lived dramatic anthology series,
The Best of the Post—as Josef, a young, orphaned Hungarian refugee who "attempts extreme resistance methods to deal with a neighborhood bully," while Bondi, his American adoptive parent, attempts to talk him off that ledge. Oscard's final screen appearance, teamed with actor
Alan Bunce and airing in January 1962, was a segment on the
CBS special
The Good Years, with Oscard cast as the "
Horatio Alger bootblack, who is rewarded for his industry and clean living by the proverbial merchant prince (Bunce)." == Retirement and beyond ==