Television's Vintage Black & White TV Era: Dennis the Menace (Jay North 1991 interview: pt. 2 of 2)

This video clip is part 2 of 2 of Dennis the Menace star Jay North and his appearance on Geraldo in 1991.  Jay's story of his time on the Dennis the Menace show and on the set of the series is quite sad and troubling, but is a cautionary tale of child actors and the people who are their guardians during this time of the child's life.

In many ways,  Jay North of Dennis the Menace was televisions' very first sole-child star of a hit series.  While other shows featured multiple child actors in starring roles (Leave it to Beaver comes to mind), Jay North was the sole key star of a hit television series at age seven.  There is a great deal of pressure that comes with that responsibility, and Mr. North describes that in clear detail in this video clip.

The show ran on CBS for four seasons, from September 1959 to September 1963 with Jay as lead actor.  That was, as we now know, a tremendous amount of responsibility to place on a young child, and the results were very good in front of the camera, and very bad behind it.  

Also interviewed in this clip via phone, is Dennis' friend Margaret, played by future doctor Jeannie Russell.   She adds additional perspective as to what was happening on the set of Dennis the Menace.

This video clip is from a 1991 episode of Geraldo, who did a really fine job during this 1991 to 1994 period in bringing back child (and adult) television actors from that 1950s-1960s-1970s era to help audiences catch up with their lives at that time in the early 1990s.

This video clip is presented here on YouTube for the entertainment and informational value of the viewer and no copyright infringement is intended.  

Coming up later this week, a final clip from a Geraldo episode from 1992 and Jay's return to the show, and some help from Paul Peterson, to allow us to segue to the next successful television series of that era that featured child actors.