Jay North

Jay North
Name	Jay North
Birth name	Jay Waverly North Jr.
Date of Birth	August 3, 1951
Place of Birth	Hollywood, California
Place of Death	Lake Butler, Florida
Cause of Death	Colorectal cancer
nationality	American
spouse	Kathleen Brucher ​(m. 1973; div. 1974)​ Rositia ​(m. 1991; sep. 1991)​ Cindy Hackney (m. 1993)​
occupation	Actor • correctional officer
roles	Dennis the Menace
Years Active	1958-2011
Status	Deceased

Jay Waverly North (August 3, 1951 - April 6, 2025) was an American actor perhaps best remembered for his lead role in the CBS sitcom Dennis the Menace, which ran from 1959 to 1963.

Career

Jay North, the son of singer/actor Hal Hopper, was chosen for the role of Dennis the Menace by creator Hank Ketcham himself out of approximately 500 hopefuls. North later appeared in several movies as a teen and as a young adult.

In the mid-50's, he had parts in various TV shows, such as Wanted: Dead or Alive starring young Steve McQueen in the episode "Eight Cent Reward". In the mid-60's, he starred in a movie entitled Maya filmed in India with Indian super-teen actor, Sajid Khan. Later that decade, North and Khan reunited for Maya, the TV series. In the early 1970s, he provided the voice of a teenage Bamm-Bamm Rubble in the Flintstones spin-off cartoon series The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.

Finding himself forever typecast as "Dennis the Menace," North quit acting and joined the Navy in the 1970s. An avid hockey fan, he was a season-ticket holder of the Los Angeles Kings in the mid-1970s. North became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April 1978, while he was serving aboard a ship home-ported in Norfolk, Virginia. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1979.

He was a prison guard in Florida for many years and is now a corrections officer in Lake Butler, Florida, where he lived from 1989 until his death. He provided counseling to child entertainers in the child-actor advocacy group, A Minor Consideration.

North died at his home in Lake Butler, Florida of colorectal cancer on April 6, 2025, aged 73. He had been battling the disease for several years.

Filmography

• The Miracle of the Hills (1959), Davey Leonard
• The Big Operator (1959), Timmy Gibson
• Zebra in the Kitchen (1965), Chris Carlyle
• Maya (1966), Terry Bowen
• The Teacher (1974), Sean Roberts
• Dikiy veter (1986)
• Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)

Television movies

• Lassie: Joyous Sound (1972)
• Scout's Honor (1980), Grogan's Dad

TV appearances

• Wanted: Dead or Alive Laddie Stone - in the episode "Eight Cent Reward" (1958)
• 77 Sunset Strip, Timmy Wilson - in the episode "Eyewitness" (1959)
• Rescue 8, Jimmy - in the episode "Disaster Town" (1959)
• Sugarfoot, Bobby - in the episode "The Giant Killer" (1959)
• The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor - in the episode "The Hiding Place" (1959)
• The Donna Reed Show, Dennis 'The Menace' Mitchell - in the episode "Donna Decorates" (1960)
• Here's Hollywood, NBC celebrity interview program
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, Dennis 'The Menace' Mitchell - in the episode "Ghosts, Goblins & Kids" (1960)
• General Hospital, Al Barker (1963-?)
• Dennis the Menace (1959-1963) - Dennis Mitchell
• Wagon Train, Tom Blake - in the episode "Those Who Stay Behind" (1964)
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bartlett Warshowsky - in the episode "The Deadly Toys Affair" (1965)
• My Three Sons, Jeff - in the episode "Whatever Happened to Baby Chip?" (1966)
• The Lucy Show, Mr. Mooney's nephew - in the episode "Lucy the Robot" (1966)
• Jericho (1966) - in the episode "Eric the Redhead" (1966)
• Maya, Terry Bowen (1967-?)
• Arabian Knights (1968), Prince Turhan (voice)
• The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968), Prince Turhan (voice)
• Here Comes the Grump, Terry Dexter (voice) (1969-1971)
• The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, Bamm-Bamm Rubble (voice) (1971-?)
• The Flintstones Comedy Hour (1972), Bamm-Bamm Rubble (voice)
• Fred Flintstone and Friends (1977) (voice)
• The Simpsons in the episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze" (1999) as himself (voice)

External links

• Template:Title without disambig at the Internet Movie Database

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