Jay North

Jay Waverly North (born August 3, 1951) is an American actor. His career as a child actor began in the late 1950s with roles in eight TV series, two variety shows and three feature films. At age 7 he became a household name for his role as the well-meaning but mischievous Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace (1959-1963), based on the comic strip created by Hank Ketcham.

As a teen North had roles in two Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature films Zebra in the Kitchen and Maya. He also starred in the NBC television series adaptation of the latter film, also titled Maya. As an adult he turned to voice acting for animated television series, voicing the roles of Prince Turhan in the Arabian Knights segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and a teenaged Bamm-Bamm Rubble on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.

After leaving show business he disclosed the truth about the difficulties he dealt with as a child actor. He began working with fellow former child star Paul Petersen and the organization A Minor Consideration, using his own experiences as a child performer to counsel other children working within the entertainment industry.

Dennis the Menace
North with Dennis the Menace co-stars Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry, 1959

Dennis the Menace premiered on CBS on Sunday, October 4, 1959, and quickly became a hit with audiences. North was paid $500 per episode, his strawberry red hair was bleached platinum blonde for the role. and the 8-year-old was instructed to "shave" a year off his age when speaking with the press. North's mother continued to work at AFTRA full-time to support the two of them, and hired business managers to invest North's earnings for him. In a 1993 interview with Filmfax magazine, North spoke highly of his mother, saying: "I want to make it very clear about one thing. I never supported my mother during (Dennis the Menace). She earned her own money from AFTRA. She never lived off my earnings. I know that sometimes happens with child actors, but it was not true in my situation."

While Mrs. North worked, her sister Marie Hopper and brother-in-law Hal Hopper served as North's on-set guardians during filming for Dennis The Menace. In addition to filming the series, North appeared as Dennis in commercials for the show's sponsors, Kellogg's cereals, Best Foods mayonnaise, Skippy peanut butter, and Bosco chocolate milk, and regularly traveled around the country with his aunt and uncle on the weekends to promote the show. These obligations, combined with the required three hours a day of school, took their toll on North, and by the end of the first season, the 8-year-old had begun to feel the pressures of being the lead star of a popular show.

In the fall of 1960, the second season of the series was ranked among TV's top 20 shows, and North's portrayal of Dennis had become a beloved pop culture icon. North made crossover guest appearances as Dennis on such television shows as The Donna Reed Show and The Red Skelton Hour, and in the feature film Pépé. That same year, North recorded "The Misadventures of Dennis the Menace" soundtrack stories on LP, as well as an LP album of songs titled Jay North - Look who's singing! With the success of the series, North's guardians, Marie and Hal Hopper, had become strict taskmasters and stern disciplinarians. He was not allowed to socialize with other cast members on the set and missed being around children his own age.[12] His only opportunity to relax was the occasional "free day" when he could play baseball with other children or when his uncle would take him to see horror films. His favorite films at that time were The Pit and the Pendulum and Village of the Damned.

North with Jeannie Russell, 1963

By the fall of 1961, the series was in its third season, and North was earning $2,500 an episode. The show remained in the top 20, but North had grown tired and frustrated with the pressures of carrying a hit show and the long work hours. Complicating matters was his relationship with his Aunt Marie. Many years later, North revealed that his aunt physically and verbally abused him when he made mistakes on the set or did not perform to her standards. North's mother, Dorothy, and the rest of the Dennis The Menace cast were unaware of the abuse, and North concealed his unhappiness for fear of retribution from his aunt. In July 2007, North's childhood co-star, Jeannie Russell, who portrayed Margaret Wade on the series, told radio host Stu Shostak in a radio interview: "'The show comes first.' This was the ethic that we were raised in. Had I seen any abuse or any horrible upset on Jay's part, I would have noticed. It would have impacted me. It would have upset me terribly."[12]

By the fourth season, North was earning $3,500 an episode; but by 1962, the 11-year-old had begun to outgrow the childish antics for which the character was known. This, combined with the unexpected loss of Joseph Kearns near the end of season three, had changed the dynamic of the show. During his interview with Filmfax, North recalled: "Between the pressures of the business and Joe's dying, I became very serious, very morbid, and very withdrawn from the world. I was the antithesis of the little kid that I played on the television show." By the end of the fourth season, ratings were down, and in the spring of 1963, much to the relief of its young lead star, Dennis The Menace was cancelled.