Posted on 04/06/2025 2:34:06 PM PDT by DFG
Former child star Jay North passed away, at age 73, peacefully at his Lake Butler, FL home on Sunday at noon following a long battle with colorectal cancer.
The Hollywood native is best known for playing the titular role in CBS sitcom Dennis the Menace, based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip, which ran for four seasons spanning 1959-1963.
'Jeanne Russell just called us with terribly sad, but not unexpected news,' Jay's friend Laurie Jacobson announced on Facebook.
'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."
'And we loved him with all of ours. A life-long friend of Jon's, a brother to Jeanne and a dear friend to me, we will miss him terribly. He is out of pain now. His suffering is over. At last he is at peace.'
Laurie's husband - Lassie alum Jon Provost - added on his own Facebook account: '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.'
According to TMZ, North's health deteriorated over the past month and when he died he was surrounded by his wife Cindy and his beloved stepdaughters, who 'gave him a family he never had' since he was an only child who never knew his father.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Some people just don’t have enough in their personal lives to make them feel like they matter; so they have to show off here.
So sad. He was part of my childhood. The all-American blond boy like I was in the late fifties and early sixties. I guess now that is politically incorrect, racist, and un-woke. May he rest in peace in the company of the saints in light and may light perpetual shine upon him.
“Some people just don’t have enough in their personal lives to make them feel like they matter; so they have to show off here.”
Consider me impressed! ;-)
Being raised in an abusive, dysfunctional home, I turned towards watching LOTS of tv as a way of providing myself with escape and comfort from my misery. Even though they’re ONLY actors who read off a script, there were a small handful of tv shows and actors that stood out and managed to hit me in the very right places at the very right time.
More than just entertained me, they provided me with much needed happiness, laughter, and joy in an otherwise joyless existence. They affected me for the better in a way that all the businessmen and philanthropists and Shakespeare couldn’t and didn’t. To me, some actors are a little more special than just script readers. So, yeah. I’m going to feel a little sadness when one of them passes.
This kid never had the chance to throw off the ‘Dennis’ typecast, right? Sad for him.
For those ridiculing the thread about his death, I think your post touches on why it is “newsworthy”. Not so much about him, but on our memories and nostalgia for that old show, and the life it portrayed that many of us older folks can relate to.
That’s cool!
What is wrong with you, Bro’? RIP Jay. You brought much joy into people’s lives! ✝️
Lacking wit.
Good to see all of the Hollywood drones out and about.
Hollywood drone.
They aren’t demi gods is my point. Too much fawning.
There is nothing wrong with me.
Are we all supposed to fawn over him?
Keep track. My initial comment was with respect to you taking a dump on people who were having a discussion about a subject they cared about and you disdain. Even if I agreed with the point of your underlying criticism (I don’t), it was irrelevant, sanctimonious jackassery.
It's understandable that you disagree with mine, but I can speak it.
Nobody said you had to agree with it.
Carry on.
Jay North was also a Navy vet & worked as a corrections officer. Not all actors are narcissistic jerks.
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