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LAKE BUTLER, Fla. (AP) — Jay North, who starred as the towheaded
mischief maker on TV's “Dennis the Menace” for four seasons
starting in 1959, has died. He was 73.
North died Sunday at his home in Lake Butler, Florida, after
battling colon cancer, said Laurie Jacobson, a longtime friend,
and Bonnie Vent, who was his booking agent.
“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,’” Jacobson wrote in a tribute on
Facebook.
North was 6 when he was cast as the smiling troublemaker in the
CBS sitcom adaptation of Hank Ketcham's popular comic strip that
took place in an idyllic American suburb.
Often wearing a striped shirt and overalls, Dennis' mischievous
antics frequently frustrated his retired next-door neighbor
George Wilson, played by Joseph Kearns. Dennis' patient parents
were played by Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry.
The show ran on Sunday nights until it was canceled in 1963.
After that it was a fixture for decades in syndication.
Later, North appeared on TV in shows including “The Man from
U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Lucy Show,” “My Three Sons,” “Lassie” and “The
Simpsons,” and in movies like “Maya” (1966), “The Teacher”
(1974) and “Dickie Robert: Former Child Star” (2003).
North is survived by his third wife, Cindy, and three
stepdaughters.
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