Jay North Passes On

Jay North, beset known as the star of the classic sitcom Dennis the Menace, died on April 6 2025 at the age of 73. The cause was colon cancer, which he had been fighting for years.  He also starred in the 1966 movie Maya and the short-lived TV show of the same name.

Jay North was born on August 3 1951. He was only four years old when his father left his family. He never saw his father again. His mother was the secretary to the West Coast director of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). He was six years old when his mother, through her connections with AFTRA, arranged for him to appear on the local children's program Cartoon Express on Los Angeles television station KHJ. It was there that talent agent Hazel MacMillan discovered him.

Jay North made his television debut on an episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive in 1958, playing a boy who hires Josh Randall to track down Santa Claus. In the late Fifties he also guest starred on the shows 77 Sunset Strip, Rescue 8, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, Sugarfoot, The Detectives, The Donna Reed Show, and The Red Skelton. It was in 1959 that he began his starring role on Denice the Menace, which was based on the Hank Ketchum comic strip of the same name. The show proved to be a success and ran for four seasons. He made his film debut in The Miracle of the Hills (1959). In the late Fifties he also appeared in the movies The Big Operator (1959) and Pepe (1960). In the latter he had a cameo as Dennis the Menace.

In the Sixties Jay North continued to appear on Dennis the Menace. He appeared in the movies Zebra in the Kitchen (1965) and Maya (1966). Maya (1966) led to the short-lived television series Maya, on which Jay North also starred. He also guest starred on the shows The Red Skelton Show, Wagon Train, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Lucy Show,My Three Sons, and Jericho. He provided the voice of Prince Turhan on the "Arabian Knights" cartoon segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. He also provided the voice of Terry Dexter on the animated cartoon Here Comes the Grump.

In the Seventies Jay North voiced a teen-aged Bamm-Bamm Rubble on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. He guest starred on Lassie and appeared in the TV movie Scout's Honor. He appeared in the B-movie The Teacher (1974). He served for a time in the United States Navy.

In th Eighties he had a week-long guest appearance on the soap opera General Hospital. He also gust starred on Not Necessarily the News. He appeared in the Yugoslavian movie Dikiy veter (1985).  In the Nineties he was a guest voice, playing himself, on The Simpsons. In the Naughts he had a cameo in the movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003).

Starting in the Nineties, Jay North worked with Paul Petersen of The Donna Reed Show in the organization A Minor Consideration, which is devoted to supporting past and present child actors.

Perhaps because I have seen it more than anything else he was in, I remember Jay North best from his debut appearance in the Wanted: Dead or Alive episode "Eight Cent Reward," in which he played a boy who hires bounty hunter Josh Randall to track down Santa. Even though it was his first acting job, young Jay North was entirely convincing in the role. Of course, I also remember him from reruns of Dennis the Menace. While there have been TV movies and a feature film since the sitcom, it is still a young Jay North I picture when I think of a live-action Dennis Mitchell. He also did well in his various guest appearances on TV shows and the few movies he did. He will certainly be well remembered.