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Jay North

 
Actor: Jay North
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Aug 03, 1951 in Hollywood, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Children's/Family
  • Career Highlights: Zebra in the Kitchen, The Miracle of the Hills, Maya
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Miracle of the Hills (1959)

Biography

Tousle-haired child actor Jay North was the son of the West Coast regional director for AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), a performer's union. He began showing up on TV in 1958 and in films the following year. Selected from a group of 500 possibilities, he landed the title role in the TV series Dennis the Menace, which ran from 1959 to 1963. He went on to star in the single-season adventure weekly Maya (1966) and in such family oriented films as Zebra in the Kitchen. Reportedly mistreated and abused by his on-set guardians, North's career as a child star was less than pleasant; nor did he make a successful transition to adult roles in such trash as Teacher Teacher (1974). Eventually overcoming his past, he vowed to prevent others in his situation from suffering similar humiliations, and later spent much of his time offering advice, counsel, and moral support to preteen professional actors. Among Jay North's later acting appearances was the 1980 TV movie Scout's Honor, which featured several other former child TV performers in the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Jay North
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Jay North
Born August 3, 1951 (1951-08-03) (age 58)
Hollywood, California

Jay Waverly North (born August 3, 1951) is an actor perhaps best remembered for his lead role in the CBS sitcom Dennis the Menace, which ran from 1959 to 1963.

Contents

Career

Jay North, the son of singer/actor Hal Hopper, was chosen for the role of Dennis the Menace by creator Hank Ketcham himself out of approximately 500 hopefuls. North later appeared in several movies as a teen and as a young adult.

In the mid-50's, he had parts in various TV shows, such as Wanted: Dead or Alive starring young Steve McQueen in the episode "Eight Cent Reward". In the mid-60's, he starred in a movie entitled "Maya" filmed in India with Indian super-teen actor, Sajid Khan. Later that decade, North and Khan reunited for Maya, the TV series. In the early 1970s, he provided the voice of a teenage Bamm-Bamm Rubble in the Flintstones spin-off cartoon series The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.

Finding himself forever typecast as "Dennis the Menace," North quit acting and joined the Navy in the 1970s.[1] An avid hockey fan, he was a season-ticket holder of the Los Angeles Kings in the mid-1970s. North became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April 1978, while he was serving aboard a ship home-ported in Norfolk, Virginia. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1979.

He was a prison guard in Florida for many years and is now a corrections officer in Lake Butler, Florida, where has lived since 1989. He also provides counseling to child entertainers in the child-actor advocacy group, A Minor Consideration.[2][3][4]

Personal life

North has been married to Cindy Hackney since 1993, and they have three children. He was previously married to a woman named Rosetia from 1991 to 1992, and to Kathleen Brucher from 1973 to 1974. He has remained friends with Jeannie Russell, who played Margaret on Dennis the Menace. Russell is now a chiropractor in North Hollywood, California, and North is one of her clients.[5]

In a 1999 interview, North was quoted as saying, "Goodbye, Hollywood. Thanks for nothing."[6]

References

  1. ^ "Jay North was a shipmate of mine in the Navy". sitcomsonline.com. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-125059.html. 
  2. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0636020/bio
  3. ^ http://members.tripod.com/~former_child_star/north_jay.html
  4. ^ The E! True Hollywood Story - Jay North
  5. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0636020/bio
  6. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0636020/bio

External links

United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg United States Navy portal


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