Jay North, Child Star of 'Dennis the Menace,' Dies at 73

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I know that Jay North's death has been covered already at DU, but I wanted to place an obituary into the record.

Jay North, Child Star of ‘Dennis the Menace,’ Dies at 73

He was best known for playing the towheaded Dennis Mitchell on a sitcom that ran on CBS from 1959 to 1963.


Jay North in 1959. He played the well-meaning but high jinks-prone Dennis Mitchell in the television series “Dennis the Menace.” Gabi Rona/MPTV Images

By Alexandra E. Petri and Daniel E. Slotnik
Published April 6, 2025
Updated April 7, 2025, 1:23 p.m. ET

Jay North, who played the well-meaning, trouble-causing protagonist of the popular CBS sitcom “Dennis the Menace” from 1959 to 1963, died on Sunday at his home in Lake Butler, Fla. He was 73. ... His death was confirmed by Laurie Jacobson, a friend of Mr. North’s for 30 years. The cause was colorectal cancer, she said.

Mr. North played the mischievous, towheaded Dennis Mitchell, who roamed his neighborhood, usually clad in a striped shirt and overalls, with his friends, often exasperating a neighbor, a retiree named George Wilson, who was played by Joseph Kearns and later Gale Gordon. Herbert Anderson played Dennis’s father, and Gloria Henry played his mother.

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The show, which was adapted from a comic strip by Hank Ketcham, presented an idyllic vision of suburban America as the 1950s gave way to the tumultuous ’60s.

But things were not easy for Mr. North behind the scenes. Many years after “Dennis the Menace” ended, Mr. North said that his acting success had come at the cost of a happy childhood.

In 1993, he told The Los Angeles Daily News that his aunt and uncle had been his caretakers on set because his single mother was working full time. He said his aunt and uncle, who had died by the time of the 1993 interview, had abused him physically and emotionally.


Jay North, in character as Dennis in the sitcom “Dennis the Menace,” with the actor Gale Gordon in 1962 David F. Smith/Associated Press

“If it took me more than one or two takes, I would be threatened and then whacked,” he said. ... Mr. North said it took the death by suicide at age 42 of Rusty Hamer, who was a child star on “The Danny Thomas Show” (also titled “Make Room for Daddy”) in the 1950s and ’60s, to help him re-evaluate his life. ... “I’m finally starting a new life and burying Dennis Mitchell,” Mr. North said in the Daily News interview. “I need very badly again to be Jay North.”

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Mr. North 1999. After moving to Florida, he worked as an officer with the Florida Department of Corrections. David Keeler/Online USA, Inc, via Getty Images

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Child Actor Deaths

Benji Gregory, Child Star Best Known for ‘ALF,’ Dies at 46
July 10, 2024

Lance Kerwin, ‘James at 15’ and ‘Salem’s Lot’ Star, Dies at 62
Jan. 26, 2023

Daniel E. Slotnik proofreads Times articles to help ensure quality. He also writes, primarily for the Obituaries section. More about Daniel E. Slotnik

Sun Feb 16, 2025: On February 15, 1947, Rusty Hamer was born.

Tue Dec 10, 2024: On this day, December 10, 1941, Tommy Rettig, "Jeff Miller" in the original "Lassie," was born.