A longtime friend of North’s, Laurie Jacobson, who is also the wife of “Lassie” star Jon Provost, has revealed to TMZ that… Following a courageous fight against colorectal cancer, Jay lost his battle with the disease on Sunday at his home in Lake Butler, Florida.
When he died away, he was accompanied by his family, which included his wife Cindy and her kids from a previous marriage, whom we are told he “adored.” We are informed that his health began to worsen over the course of the preceding month.
Laurie claims that Cindy and her girls “gave him a family he never had” on account of the fact that he was an only child and had no contact with his father.
There are reports that Jay had not seen his pals in a considerable amount of time owing to the fact that he needed to isolate himself in order to maintain his health as a result of his disease. However, Laurie gathered hundreds of letters from admirers and presented them to him over the course of Christmas, which she claims he was overjoyed to receive.
During the latter half of the 1950s, North came to notoriety by making appearances in small roles on television shows such as “77 Sunset Strip,” “Rescue 8,” and “Sugarfoot” while he was less than ten years old.
Jay began his role as Dennis Mitchell on the television show “Dennis the Menace” in 1959, and he went on to feature in all 146 episodes of the show between the years 1959 and 1963. In order to play the role, his hair was dyed platinum blonde, and he was ordered to maintain an appearance of being one year younger than he really was during interviews.
North revealed his problems on set years after the program had concluded, stating that his aunt verbally and physically tortured him whenever he made a mistake. She even took him away from prying eyes in order to beat him when he flubbed a line. North’s revelation followed the conclusion of the show. At all times, he made it quite obvious that his mother and other people working on set were unaware of the abuse that was taking on at the time.
Jacobson continues by saying, “He had a rough ride in Hollywood– he did not enjoy the experience — he was at a time very angry and bitter that the adults that surrounded him did nothing to help him or make his time easier.”
Following the cancellation of “Dennis the Menace” after four seasons, North switched into voice acting work in the late 1960s and early 1970s, working on projects such as “Arabian Knights,” “Here Comes the Grump,” and “The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.”
Following his departure from the acting industry in the late 1980s, North has made a few cameo appearances as himself in the years that have passed, including an episode of “The Simpsons” and a film directed by David Spade titled “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.”
As of more recent times, North has been employed as a correctional officer in the state of Florida, where he allegedly assisted troublesome adolescents who were incarcerated in the juvenile system. Over the course of the 1990s, he also assisted in providing guidance to former child stars via the organization A Minor Consideration.
Jacobson informs us that he also worked with criminals on death row who had traumatic childhoods as well, and that the chats he had with them helped him make peace with the early years of his life.
Jacobson claims that Jay did appreciate one benefit that he received from the business, despite the fact that he disliked Hollywood. This benefit was the opportunity to make lifelong friends with others who were also child stars at the same time. These friends included Angela Cartwright, Jerry Mathers, Stan Livingston, Paul Petersen, and Brandon Cruz, amongst others.
His age was 73.
