Actor Jay North, a former child star best known for his role as the titular character on the sitcom Dennis the Menace, has died at the age of 73, his friend, writer and producer Laurie Jacobson, revealed in a post shared on her Facebook account Sunday (April 6).
Jacobson said North’s Dennis the Menace co-star Jeanne Russell confirmed his passing in a phone call that was “terribly sad, but not unexpected news” following the actor’s battle with cancer.
“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 wrote. “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. A life-long friend of Jon’s, a brother to Jeanne and a dear friend to me, we will miss him terribly. He is out of pain now. His suffering is over. At last he is at peace.”
Russell told the Hollywood Reporter that North had battled colon cancer and died at his Lake Butler, Florida, home. The child actor scored several roles on NBC variety shows during the 1950s before landing his signature role on Dennis the Menace, an adaptation of the popular comic strip created by cartoonist Hank Ketcham, in 1959, which ran for four seasons.
North later revealed that he suffered trauma while on the set, accusing his aunt Marie Hopper, who served as his guardian while his mother worked other jobs, of being physically and emotionally abusive during an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News in 1993.
“If it took me more than one or two takes, I would be threatened and then whacked,” North said at the time. “Even if a delay wasn’t my fault, she would find a way to blame me and punish me. She was also very possessive and isolated me from the rest of the cast. I couldn’t even eat lunch with everybody else. She made me eat it in the dressing room by myself.”
North appeared in several films following the cancellation of Dennis the Menace in 1963 including Zebra in the Kitchen (1965) and Maya (1966), the latter of which he later starred in a television adaptation of for 18 episodes. The actor later provided voiceover work in the late 1960s and 1970s and made his final acting appearance in a self-referential cameo in the 2003 film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.
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