Jay North dead: Iconic child star dies after devastating cancer battle

Jay North, the actor who played the titular Dennis the Menace in the classic sitcom from 1959 to 1963, at home in Florida on Sunday (April 6) the age of 73. The news was confirmed by his friend of 30 years Laurie Jacobson who said his cause of death was colorectal cancer. "'Our dear friend Jay North has been fighting cancer for a number of years and this morning at noon EST, Jay passed peacefully at home," she wrote. "As many of his fans know, he had a difficult journey in Hollywood and after...but he did not let it define his life. 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'," she wrote in a tribute on Facebook.

Fans took to social media to share their sadness upon hearing the news. Writing on X one commented: "RIP, Jay North. Grew up with his character repping @DairyQueen." Another wrote: "'Dennis the Menace' has passed away. Rest in Peace! We used to watch his show growing up. Very funny kid."

A third chimed in: "I just read that Jay North actor of Dennis the Menace died today, the 6th, at 73, of colon cancer. Very sad. RIP Jay North." A fourth penned: "Ooooh, My role model as a kid has passed away! I was Mikey The Menace!" "Another part of my childhood is gone. #RestInPeace Jay North . The original Dennis the Menace," a fifth lamented.

Meanwhile a sixth recalled their meetings saying: "Sorry to hear that actor Jay North from the beloved 1960's series Dennis the Menace passed away today Sunday April 6th at the age of 73. Was honored to meet him a couple of times & talk w/him about his most legendary role. Lovely man, very kind."

Jay played the well-intentioned but troublesome Dennis Mitchell, the only child of Henry (played by Herbert Anderson) and Alice (Gloria Henry) in the widely syndicated CBS sitcom. Much of the comedy came from the chaos he created for his retired next-door neighbour.

He was 6 when he first auditioned for the show and 8 by the time the show went on the air in October 1959. He was almost 12 when the series was canceled after four seasons. Despite the brevity of it's run Jay completed 146 episodes during his time working on the show ensuring he would be seen by millions of viewers over the years as the half-hour show was shown in reruns and syndication.

In a 1993 interview, North said he was not unhappy to see Dennis the Menace come to an end. "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," he said.

While the series was on air, Jay also portrayed Dennis on The Donna Reed Show and The Red Skelton Hour and in the 1960 musical comedy film Pépé, starring Cantinflas. All along, he said he was abused by his aunt, who was his guardian on the show. "If it took me more than one of two takes, I would be threatened and then whacked," he told the Los Angeles Daily News in 1993.

"Even if a delay wasn't my fault, she would find a way to blame me and punish me. She was also very possessive and isolated me from the rest of the cast. I couldn't even eat lunch with everybody else. She made me eat it in the dressing room by myself."

He went on to star as another impish kid in the MGM movie Zebra in the Kitchen (1965), directed by Ivan Tors, and played opposite Clint Walker in the India-set adventure Maya (1966), also for MGM. When Maya was turned into a tV series in 1967 he returned to his role.

After that series ended, he worked as a voice actor on such kids shows as The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. In 1974, he starred in the R-rated thriller The Teacher, starring Angel Tompkins, and then served briefly in the U.S. Navy. In 1988, he was the victim of a news hoax that said he had died in a doctor's office. He also showed up in the 2003 film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.