Jay North

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Jay Waverly North (born August 3, 1951) is an American actor.

Dennis Mitchell, the well-meaning but mischievous Dennis Mitchell on CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace, based on Hank Ketcham's comic strip, began a career as a child actor at the age of six. North appeared in two Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature films Zebra in the Kitchen and Maya, as well as acting in the NBC television series version of the latter film, also named Maya.

As an adult, he began to act in animated television series, playing Prince Turhan in the Arabian Knights segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and a teen Bamm-Bamm Rubble on The Pebbles and Bamm Rubble. After leaving show business and revealing the truth of a struggling childhood as a child actor, North began working with fellow child actor Paul Petersen and the group A Minor Consideration, using his experience as a child actor to advise other children in the entertainment industry.

Early life

North was born in Hollywood and became Jay and Dorothy (née Cotton) North's only child. North's father was an alcoholic, and his parents' marriage was tumultuous. When he was four years old, his parents separated, but North never saw his father again. He lived in Birmingham, Alabama, for a brief period of time. His mother served as the secretary to the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).

North was a television enthusiast from a young age. When he was six years old, his mother used her AFTRA links to arrange for him to appear on his new television show, local Los Angeles children's show Cartoon Express, hosted by Engineer Bill. Hazel MacMillan, a well-known Hollywood talent agent, was enthralled by the photogenic boy, contacting his mother the following day and requesting to represent him. His mother was aware of the stories of troubled former child actors and had reservations about it, but eventually gave her permission.

Personal life

North married Rositia, his second wife, on March 2, 1991. The couple met on a blind date and separated only three months after their wedding vows. He met caterer Cindy Hackney at a party after a charity event for pediatric AIDS in Gainesville, Florida, on April 14, 1992. They were married on March 3, 1993, and three months later, they were still financially healthy as a result of his mother's investments in his children as a child actor. This was a permanent departure from the Hollywood area that had enraged him. The media searched for what had become of Dennis the "original" Dennis the Menace, which came out in 1993. He had a renewed passion for revealing the violence he suffered as a child actor.

North began attending memorabilia shows in May 1997, after coming to terms with the physical and emotional abuse he had suffered at the hands of his aunt and uncle. He began serving in Florida as a correctional officer, and after arriving in Florida, he began serving with troubled youth within Florida's juvenile justice system, and as of 2011, he continued to work for the Florida Department of Corrections.

North has appeared on talk shows, documentaries, cameo appearances as "himself" on The Simpsons, and in the comedy film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.

In 1999, he concluded his E!

In an interview, she says, "I am so glad that I was able to have such a positive effect on people's lives." I'm going to write my autobiography and then live a contented, happy life here in Lake Butler, with the people I love, and then slip into the mists of time."

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Career

Jack Bailey hosted a live appearance on the gameshow Queen for a Day, North's first professional acting work. He continued to act as a kid model and actor in commercials and appeared on a few of popular television variety shows of the 1950s, such as The George Gobel Show, The Eddie Fisher Show, and The Milton Berle Exhibition, before auditioning for the part that made him a celebrity.

Columbia Pictures' television division, Screen Gems, was looking for a boy to play the title character in their television adaptation of Hank Ketcham's hit comedy strip, and 6-year-old North auditioned in June 1958. Agent Hazel MacMillan pressed the studio to see him again after learning that his first audition did not go well. With his second appearance, the producer was taken aback and was impressed. North was invited back to screen test with Herbert Anderson, Gloria Henry, and Joseph Kearns after hundreds of other boys' auditions. Later this summer, a pilot was filmed.

North received nothing more from Screen Gems this season, but he kept busy, appearing in a Christmas-themed episode of CBS Western show Wanted: Dead or Alive. In the episode, Laddie Stone, a young boy who pays bounty hunter Josh Randall (Steve McQueen), was discovered by a Santa Claus for eight cents. North performed on television shows such as 77 Sunset Strip, Rescue 8, Cheyenne Bronco, Colt.45, and Sugarfoot, and finally broke into feature films with roles in The Miracle of the Hills and The Big Operator until, nearly a year after she had first auditioned, MacMillan called North's mother to inform her that her son was selected to play Dennis "The Menace" Mitchell.

Dennis the Menace premiered on CBS on Sunday, October 4, 1959, and immediately became a hit with viewers. North was paid US$500 (roughly $4,600 in 2021) per episode, his strawberry red hair was dyed platinum blonde for the role, and the 8-year-old was told to "shave" a year off his age when speaking with the public. His mother continued to work at AFTRA full time, and hired business managers to invest his money. North spoke highly of his mother in an interview with Filmfax magazine in 1993, adding, "I want to make it absolutely clear about one thing." During [Dennis the Menace], I never helped my mother. AFTRA gave her own money. She never lived off my paychecks. I know that child actors do and do well, but in my case, it was not true."

When his mother worked, her sister Marie Hopper, brother-in-law actor Hal Hopper, and brother-in-law actor Hal Hopper served as his on-set guardians during Dennis The Menace filming. In addition to filming, Dennis appeared in commercials for the show's sponsors, Kellogg's cereals, Best Foods mayonnaise, Skippy peanut butter, and Bosco chocolate milk, and he regularly traveled around the country with his uncle and uncle on weekends to advertise the film. These obligations, as well as the mandatory three hours a day of school, took their toll on him, and by the end of the first season, the 8-year-old had begun to feel the responsibilities of being the lead actor in a well-known theatre.

Dennis' role in late 1960, when it was ranked among television's top 20 shows, was a hit pop culture icon. Dennis made crossover appearances on television shows including The Donna Reed Show and The Red Skelton Hour, as well as the film Pépé. On LP, North released The Misadventures of Dennis the Menace soundtrack stories, as well as an LP collection of songs titled Jay North - See who's singing! Marie and Hal Hopper, the series's guardians, had become stringent taskmasters and stern disciplinarians. He was not allowed to socialize with other cast members on the set, and he was not allowed to interact with children his own age. In his dressing room alone, he ate. He's only opportunity to relax was the occasional "free day" when he could play baseball with other children or if his uncle would bring him to horror movies. The Pit and the Pendulum, as well as Village of the Damned, were two of his favorite films at the time.

The series was in its third season by late 1961, and North was making $2,500 (equivalent to about $23,000 in 2021) per episode. North had grown tired and dissatisfied with the pressures of being a hit show and long working hours, but the show stayed in the top 20, but the show had remained in the top 20, but the show had gotten more popular and crowded. His uncle Marie's friendship was causing a lot of confusion. North admitted that his aunt physically and verbally assaulted him when he made mistakes on the set or didn't meet her requirements many years ago. He said if he missed a line, she'd bring him down the set and beat him. For years, it was painful for him to watch reruns. His mother and the majority of the Dennis The Menace cast were unaware of the sexual assault, and he denied him that they were upset because of his aunt's retaliation. "If Jay said she assaulted him in private, then I'm going to believe it." Being in every scene on its own was going to be extremely stressful. Any more pressure from [his aunt] would have made it unbearable." "The show comes first," she said in 2007. We were raised in this way. I would have known if I had seen any assault or any serious behavior on Jay's behalf. It may have affected me. "It's likely that it would have terrified me."

North was making $3,500 (roughly to about $32,000 in 2021) an episode by the fourth season, but the 11-year-old had to outgrow the character's childish antics by 1962. This, along with Joseph Kearns' unexpected departure near the end of season three, had changed the show's dynamic. "Between the pressures of the company and Joe's death, I became extremely serious, very morbid, and completely removed from the world." In his interview with Filmfax, North recalled: "Because the business's dying, I became very serious, very morbid, and very withdrawn from the planet." "I was the antithesis of the little boy who appeared on the television show." By the end of the fourth season, numbers were down, and Dennis The Menace was cancelled in early 1963.

North's mother, Jean, enrolled him in prep school in late 1963, but despite not having been able to socialize with other children, he had trouble keeping up with his classes at his new school and was afraid of meeting with the other students. North continued to audition, and in 1964, he appeared on Wagon Train but found himself typecast as the jerkish Dennis Mitchell, who had a hard time finding steady employment.

In 1999, North told the E!

"I had to combat Dennis the Menace's ghost while still on the radio," I was typecast. I still had the nose, and that's what casting directors, producers, and directors saw when I decided to read for a role."

Chris Carlyle, a boy who is dissatisfied with the living conditions he encounters at his local zoo's, has taken lead roles in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer family comedy Zebra in the Kitchen in 1965, causing mayhem throughout the town. He appeared on small television roles throughout the year, as guest-starring on MGM's MGM television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Gale Gordon, Dennis the Menace co-star, is reunited with his co-star Gale Gordon on The Lucy Show. North obtained his first role in Maya, another MGM family adventure film. Terry Bowen, a boy who navigates the Indian jungle with a Hindu boy and an elephant and her baby calf, was the subject of the film, which was shot on location in India. The latter is the sacred white elephant. He continued to appear on television shows such as My Three Sons and Jericho, as well as in 1967, NBC decided to produce a television series version of Maya. North agreed to reprise his role as a film producer in India and was soon back filming on location.

North made the feature film Maya and its subsequent television series a hit teen idol of the period, as seen in several teenage magazines including Tiger Beat, 16 Magazine, Teen Datebook, and Flip. Although Maya was popular among teen viewers, the NBC show The Jackie Gleason Show and ABC's The Newlywed Game and The Newlywed Game were unable in its time slot against popular shows of the day, CBS' The Jackie Gleason Show and ABC's The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game were both cancelled after one season. North recalled his time on Maya, saying, "I can say that I'm really proud of my Maya work from a professional standpoint." "I had to play an adult role, and that was a challenge." North missed a full year of school while filming Maya in India, and after returning home to Hollywood, he began living in high school, graduating from Rexford Senior High School in Beverly Hills in 1969. In 1969, North narrated The Fantastic Plastic Machine, a surf film.

North continued to work as a voice actor in animated television series, providing Prince Turhan's voice in the Arabian Knights segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Terry Dexter in Here Comes the Grump, and a young Bamm-Bamm Rubble on The Pebbles and Bamm Show after finishing filming on the Maya television series. Is It You? left Hollywood for Chicago in 1971 to appear in dinner theater, appearing in numerous stage productions, including principal roles in Norman. Butterflies are free. Kathleen Brucher, a 20-year-old North star who had a four-year-old son from a previous marriage, met actress Kathleen Brucher in January 1972 while appearing in Butterflies Are Free. After being on tour for more than a year, the two couples returned to Los Angeles and were married on July 20, 1973, but the marriage lasted less than a year. The young couple separated in April 1974 and divorce was finalized on October 21, 1974.

North appeared in his last acting role in the R-rated coming-of-age suspense thriller The Teacher, opposite Angel Tompkins in 1974. Despite that the film's adult themes were branded "vulgar" and "lurid" by some who still think of North as his Dennis appearance ten years ago, Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas praised North's contribution in the film, writing, and film, writing.

North remained hopeful about being rediscovered by Hollywood and started teaching acting classes over the next several years, but by early 1977, when disillusioned with his show business, he began to serve in the US Navy. He joined NTC Orlando's Navy boot camp in January 1977. As a seaman recruit bosun's mate, he was posted to the US Iwo Jima, Norfolk, Virginia, at the Navy's lowest rank. He received high praise for his work, but he was unprepared for the brutal treatment he received from his shipmates and superiors for being a former child actor. He wanted out of the Navy within a year. He then began his administrative work and was temporarily stationed on board the US Dixie ship in Long Beach, California. He left the Dixie and the Navy with an honorable discharge on August 10, 1979, and he returned to Los Angeles.

He appeared in a cameo role in Scout's Honor in 1980, alongside Angela Cartwright from The Danny Thomas Show, Lauren Chapin from Father Knows Best, and Paul Petersen from The Donna Reed Exhibition. He did a week on GE’s daytime soap General Hospital in 1982, but show business continued to elude him. He retired from public life for the next few years after being dissatisfied with his real estate investments made with his son's income from Dennis The Menace and angry by the changes his career had taken, he resigned from public life and worked in the health care field, becoming financially secure. In 1984, he optioned Burn Judy, Burning for $5,000 in the hopes of playing Steven Judy, the executioner. North spoke of his desire to appear in a darker role in his 1999 interview with E!: "I was excited to play some of these nefarious, scary type characters." Perhaps Hollywood would take me seriously if I played some criminals and scared the pants off people." However, the Steven Judy story never made it to the big screen.

North played a small part in the Yugoslavian film Divlji Vetar (Wild Wind), which premiered in January 1986. He read for the role of serial killer Ted Bundy in the television miniseries The Deliberate Stranger later this year, but later lost the role to Mark Harmon. North decided to try screenwriting again after being captivated by serial murder fiction. His first script was about a 1984 prison escape by six death row prisoners from Virginia's Mecklenburg Correctional Center, but the script was never completed. He appeared on news and talk shows such as Good Morning America, Donahue, and Oprah throughout the 1980s. In October 1988, he expressed his indignation toward Hollywood in a comedy sketch on HBO's Not Necessarily the News, spoofing his role as Dennis the Menace. North portrayed an enraged adult Dennis, dressed in overalls, stripes t-shirt, and cowlick, as he retaliated on "Hollywood pigs" with a telescopic rifle.

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