The star of `Dennis the threat ” dies at 73

The actor and former child star Jay North, better known for his main role in the family sitcom “Dennis the threat”, has died. He was 73 years old.

The friend, writer and producer of North, Laurie Jacobson, revealed in an article on Facebook that the actor died “peacefully at home” Sunday afternoon after a battle against cancer. Jacobson later confirmed to USA Today that North family informed her and her husband, actor Jon Provost, of the death of North.

“As many of his fans know, he had a difficult trip to Hollywood and after … But he did not let it define his life,” Jacobson wrote on Facebook. “He had a heart as large as a mountain, deeply loved his friends. He frequently called us and put an end to each conversation with” I love you with all my heart “. And we loved it with everyone.”

The Co-Star of “Dennis the threat” by North, Jeannie Russell, told Hollywood Reporter that North died in his residence by Lake Butler, Florida and that he suffered from colon cancer.

Born in Hollywood in August 1951, North made her television debut at the age of 6 when her mother Dorothy born Cotton, who worked as secretary to the American Federation of TV artists and radio, arranged to appear in his favorite program, the local children’s series “Cartoon Express”. Talent agent Hazel Macmillan spotted the north and proposed to represent it.

Working simultaneously as a child and actor model, North has marked small roles on several NBC varieties programs in the 1950s, like “The George Gobel Show”, “The Eddie Fisher Show” and “The Milton Berle Show”. North’s big break occurred in the summer of 1958 when Screen Gems held a call for national failure for a television adaptation of the comic strip of the designer Hank Ketcham “Dennis the Threat”.

Although the first hearing of North did not go well, a second try helped the booming actor to win the role of Dennis Mitchell in 1959. Before the production of the first season of the series, North appeared in several series and feature films, including “Wanted: Dead Or Alive”, “77 SUNSET Strip”, “Rescue 8”, “” The Big Operator “”.

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“Dennis The Menace” was created on CBS in October 1959 and ran for four seasons. Despite the success of the show, North later revealed the emotional turbulence that colored her experience on the set.

In an interview from 1993 with the Los Angeles Daily News, North said that his aunt Marie Hopper – who was his tutor when her mother worked – was physically and emotionally violent.

“If it took me more than one or two taken, I would be threatened and then struck,” North said at the exit. “Even if a delay was not 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 have lunch with everyone. She made me eat it in the locker room by myself.”

After the cancellation of “Dennis the threat” in 1963, North went to the silver screen with star roles in comedies “Zebra in the Kitchen” (1965) and “Maya” (1966). North returned to television for a short -term adaptation of “Maya”, which took place for 18 episodes from 1967 to 1968.

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North turned to the voiceover in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, appearing in animated series such as “Arabian Knights”, “Here Comes The Grump” and “The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show”.

North’s final role was an auto-referential appearance in “Dickie Roberts: former Child Star” in 2003, a parody of allucation for children with David Spade and Alyssa Milano.