Actor Jay North, who as a child star personified mischief as “Dennis the Menace,” has died. He was 73.
His death Sunday after years of contending with colon cancer was announced by longtime family friend Laurie Jacobson on social media, and confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by his “Dennis the Menace” co-star Jeannie Russell. Russell, who played Dennis’s friend Margaret Wade on the comedy series, said North died at his home in Lake Butler, Fla.
“Our dear friend Jay North has been fighting cancer for a number of years, and this morning at noon EST, Jay passed peacefully at home,” Jacobson, a writer, producer and actress, wrote on FaceBook Sunday. “As many of his fans know, he had a difficult journey in Hollywood and after…but he did not let it define his life. He had a heart as big as a mountain, loved his friends deeply. He called us frequently and ended every conversation with, ‘I love you with all my heart.’ And we loved him with all of ours.”
Born Aug. 3, 1951, in Hollywood, North was an only child whose father deserted the family when the boy was 4, according to TMZ. Mother Dorothy North was a secretary for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, before the union merged with the Screen Actors Guild to become SAG-AFTRA, and helped get the TV-fascinated youth’s foot in the show-biz door.
North began acting before age 10, first appearing on the children’s show “Cartoon Express,” which is where he caught the attention of talent agent Hazel MacMillan, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Through MacMillan, North snagged bit parts in “77 Sunset Strip,” “Rescue 8,” “The Detectives” among others.
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In 1959 North (right, with costar Jeannie Russell) was hired as to play the comic strip character (left) created by Hank Ketcham.
In 1959, North was hired as the rascally, towheaded personification of the comic strip character created by Hank Ketcham. Dennis Mitchell was an only child whose helpful intentions often ended in mishap. North appeared in all 146 episodes of the CBS series, which ran on Sunday evenings from 1959 through 1963, sandwiched between “Lassie” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
The role brought North national recognition and extended to commercials he filmed in character for show sponsors Kellogg’s cereals, Best Foods mayonnaise, Skippy peanut butter and Bosco milk, Forbes noted. He also appeared as Dennis in crossover episodes of “The Red Skelton Show” and “The Donna Reed Show.”
Years later he would recount being browbeaten and abused by his aunt and uncle, whose exacting performance standards had him isolated and on tenterhooks throughout the series.
North worked on and off in Hollywood in the years after “Dennis the Menace” was canceled, in addition to stints in the military, the health food industry and as a correctional officer for the Florida Department of Corrections, according to People. He also co-founded a group, A Minor Consideration, to assist other former child stars.
Russell called North her “otherwordly brother,” as she told The Hollywood Reporter. Jacobson, who is married to former “Lassie” child actor Jon Provost, echoed the sentiment.
“A life-long friend of Jon’s, a brother to Jeanne and a dear friend to me, we will miss him terribly,” Jacobson wrote in her post. “He is out of pain now. His suffering is over. At last he is at peace.”
