By India McCarty
DENNIS THE MENACE star Jay North passed away on Sunday. He was 73 years old.
“I share this news with a heavy, heavy heart. We just lost another original and dear friend, Jay ‘Dennis the Menace’ North,” longtime friend and LASSIE actor Jon Provost wrote in a Facebook post. “Jay passed today at 12:00 EST.”
He continued, “I’ve known Jay for almost 70 years, now you can rest in peace Jay. It wasn’t as easy for you as it was for some of us, not that it was a piece of cake that’s for sure, but you did suffer a lot more than most. You were a great guy Jay and I miss you with all my heart, but I know you’re at peace now.”
Provost’s wife, Laurie Jacobson, also shared a post about North’s passing, explaining that he had been “fighting cancer for a number of years” and “passed peacefully at home.”
“As many of his fans know, he had a difficult journey in Hollywood and after…but he did not let it define his life,” she continued. “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.’ And we loved him with all of ours.”
Jacobson concluded, “He is out of pain now. His suffering is over. At last he is at peace.”
TODAY confirmed that North’s death was caused by colorectal cancer.
North began working as an actor in 1958, making his major breakthrough the following year in DENNIS THE MENACE, playing the titular troublemaker. Despite the success of the show, North said he had trouble finding work after DENNIS THE MENACE went off the air.
“I was typecast,” he told The Washington Times in 2017, explained that “the industry pretty much shut its doors on me.”
North wasn’t bitter, though, adding, “It’s nice to be remembered for something as wonderful as that little boy.”
After a few more acting roles, North served in the U.S. Navy and worked in the health food industry and as a corrections officer, avoiding the fate of many other former child stars who struggle to find careers in the entertainment industry in adulthood.
“I get a very warm feeling that I still have fans from all over the world,” North told The Washington Times. “Fans that remember and have warm memories of our show. It makes me feel good inside that people still love us and remember us.”
He continued, “People have traveled from all over the United States to come and visit with us ask us to sign an autograph for them. It’s just a very warm feeling inside that people still love us. We are very blessed to be loved after all these years.”
North’s legacy as Dennis lived on after the show’s end, even spawning a 1993 movie, helmed by John Hughes.
Fans of DENNIS THE MENACE are mourning the loss of North, but are glad he is finally at peace after his battle with cancer.
Read Next: How This Child Star Avoided the Same Fate as MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS Co-Star Judy Garland
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
- Content: +3Share:
- Content: +1