Jay North, the actor who played the famous character “Dennis the Menace” on the CBS TV show, has passed away at the age of 73.
Jay North: Cause of Death
He died on April 6 at his home in Lake Butler, Florida, after battling colon cancer, according to the Associated Press.
Jay became a household name in the late 1950s when he was cast as Dennis, the cheeky young boy with blond hair and a striped shirt who always found himself in trouble.
Jay North: Dennis the Menace
The show, Dennis the Menace, aired from 1959 to 1963 and was based on Hank Ketcham’s popular comic strip. Dennis often annoyed his elderly neighbor, Mr. Wilson, played by Joseph Kearns.
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Jay was just six years old when he landed the role.
By the time the show ended, he was 12. In a 1993 interview, he shared that he wasn’t sad about the show being canceled.
He said the pressures of acting, along with Kearns’ death, made him serious and withdrawn.
“I was the opposite of the cheerful boy I played on TV,” he admitted.
Jay North: Tribute
Tributes have poured in from friends and fellow actors. Laurie Jacobson, a longtime friend, shared a heartfelt message saying Jay had “a heart as big as a mountain” and always ended calls with “I love you with all my heart.”
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Former child actor Paul Petersen and his wife Rana also paid tribute, calling Jay “a flickering light” and thanking him for helping other young actors through the group A Minor Consideration.
Jay North was born on August 3, 1951, in Los Angeles. His father left the family when Jay was four, and his mother worked for a TV and radio artists’ union.
She helped Jay get his start on the kids’ TV show Cartoon Express. To play Dennis, Jay had to bleach his naturally reddish hair to platinum blonde.
Behind the scenes, Jay’s life wasn’t easy. While filming Dennis the Menace, he suffered emotional and physical abuse from his aunt, who was also his legal guardian.
After the show, Jay did voice work for cartoons like The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. He also acted in movies such as Maya (1966) and The Teacher (1974), and even briefly joined the U.S. Navy.
Jay made guest appearances on shows like The Lucy Show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., My Three Sons, and The Simpsons. His last movie role was in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star in 2003.
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