Jay North

Jay North will forever be remembered for giving TV life to the popular comic strip hellion Dennis the Menace (1959). Humanizing this little tornado would not only be his treasure, it would be his torment. Jay was born Jay Waverly North, Jr. on August 3, 1951, in Los Angeles, and started off on the small screen at age 7 with roles on such series as "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "77 Sunset Strip," "Sugarfoot" and "The Defenders." He quickly moved into minor filming as well with featured roles in the western The Miracle of the Hills (1959) and the low-budget, exploitation film The Big Operator (1959) . With over 500 children auditioning, Jay was selected by Dennis the Menace cartoon creator Hank Ketcham himself for the star-making title role alongside beleaguered parents Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry and exasperated neighbors Joseph Kearns and Sylvia Field. During this four-season TV peak that filmed 146 episodes, Jay appeared in countless programs as either himself or Dennis on such shows as "The Donna Reed Show," "The Red Skelton Show," "The Hollywood Squares," "I've Got a Secret," various talk shows, and even a cameo in the film Pepe (1960). Also an occasional presence on variety shows hosted by Dinah Shore, Milton Berle and Tennessee Ernie Ford. He guest starred in episodes of "Wagon Train," The Lucy Show," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "My Three Sons." However, after the cancellation of his own show, the now active teenager noticed a major tapering off. He found himself badly typecast and efforts to forge ahead with film projects and other series work proved difficult. At first things looked promising. He perpetuated his wholesome image with the family film Zebra in the Kitchen (1965) and, more notably, the exotic adventure Maya (1966), which spun off into a mildly popular TV series, but then all offers dried up. He went from top child star to cruelly, discarded teen in only a few short years, and had a terrible time adjusting. Despite voicing the popular character Bamm-Bamm in the animated series The Flintstones (1960) and Prince Turhan in The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968), he would find occasional work in the field. Jay all but disappeared after a co-starring role in the adult-aimed film The Teacher (1974) with sexy blonde Angel Tompkins. Glimpsed here and there, he appeared on a 70's "Lassie Series" and appeared in the TV movie Scout's Honor (1980), a co-starring role in the "C" film Wild Wind (1985) and an appearance in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) as himself. Jay went through years of personal turmoil and emotional anguish (two divorces, drug experimentation, weight gain) before his recovery. Reportedly abused and mishandled during his peak years by on-set relatives/caretakers, Jay has since been instrumental in providing advice and counseling to other professional child/teen stars in the same boat and remarried a third time (since 1993) to Cynthia Hackney. From time to time these days, Jay has been glimpsed at nostalgia conventions.