News

Jay North, the former child star who became a household name in the 1950s, has died at age 73. North is best known for portraying Dennis Mitchell in the 1959 sitcom Dennis the Menace. His co-star, Jeannie Russell, who played Margaret Wade, confirmed the news of his passing to The Hollywood Reporter. The former actor died in Lake Butler, Florida, on April 6, 2025, following a battle with colon cancer. According to TV Line, North's character, Dennis, might've had heart eyes for Russell's character, Margaret, but off-screen, to Russell, he was her "otherwordly brother." His last on-screen appearance came in a 2003 production called Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, as himself.

North got the role of Dennis Mitchell after auditioning during CBS's nationwide search for the perfect boy to play the part. He was only six years old and initially didn't impress the studio. His agent pressed for a second audition, and North...

Jay North, known for his role as Dennis Mitchell in Sixties sitcom Dennis the Menace, died Sunday after a battle with cancer, Variety reports. He was 73.

“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,” his longtime friend Laurie Jacobson wrote on social media. “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,...

Jay North, who played the title character in CBS’ Dennis the Menace, has died. He was 73.

The news of North’s death was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by Jeannie Russell, who played Dennis the Menace’s Margaret Wade. Russell said North died in Lake Butler, Fla., after a years-long battle with colon cancer, and called him her “otherworldly brother.”

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Jay North, who starred as the young mischief maker with the characteristic blond cowlick on the 1959-63 CBS comedy Dennis the Menace, has died. He was 73.

North died Sunday at his home in Lake Butler, Florida, after years of battling colon cancer, Jeannie Russell, who played Margaret Wade on his show, told The Hollywood Reporter. She called him her “otherworldly brother.”

On Screen Gems’ Dennis the Menace, based on the comic strip created by Hank Ketcham, North starred as the well-intentioned but troublesome Dennis Mitchell, the only child of Henry (Herbert Anderson) and Alice (Gloria Henry). He often created chaos for his retired next-door neighbor George Wilson and then his brother, John Wilson (Gale Gordon).

(Joseph Kearns had played George, and after his death in 1962, Gordon was brought on to replace him).

North was 6 when he first auditioned for Dennis, 8 when the show went on the air in October 1959 and...

Jay North, who played Dennis Mitchell in the original 1959 “Dennis the Menace” TV series, died Sunday after a battle with cancer, his long-time friend Laurie Jacobson confirmed in a social media post. He was 73.

“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,” Jacobson 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.’ 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.

The first movie to directly confront McCarthyism! Or so said the editorials touting this ‘Long-Awaited Screen Event’ in which ‘Bette Davis Hits the Screen in a Cyclone of Dramatic Fury!’ The storm of the title was based on a real activist in Oklahoma who lost her job for promoting equal rights. Bette’s polite librarian is victimized by small-minded civic types; a subplot depicts the traumatic reaction of one of her patrons, a child expected to despise her as a traitor to the country. Daniel Taradash’s movie is an excellent starting point to discuss the thorny dramatic subgenre of liberal social issue movies.

Storm Center

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 155

1956 / B&w / 1:78 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date September 30, 2022 / Available from / au 39.95

Starring:

Bette Davis, Brian Keith, Kim Hunter, Paul Kelly, Joe Mantell, Kevin Coughlin, Sallie Brophie, Howard Wierum, Curtis Cooksey, Michael Raffetto, Joseph Kearns, Edward Platt, Kathryn Grant, Howard Wendell, Malcolm Atterbury,...

Rko's final in-house production is a good end-of-an-era film, a spirited and well-made musical comedy. Bright-eyed Jane Powell can't stop accepting marriage proposals, from nerdy Tommy Noonan, dreamboat kisser Cliff Robertson and zillionare Keith Andes. She imagines her future with each man in musical terms, through production numbers staged by Gower Champion. The Girl Most Likely DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1956 / Color / 1:78 enhanced widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date November 17, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Jane Powell, Cliff Robertson, Keith Andes, Kaye Ballard, Tommy Noonan, Una Merkel, Kelly Brown, Judy Nugent, Frank Cady, Joseph Kearns, Marjorie Stapp, Robert Banas. Cinematography Robert H. Planck Film Editor Doane Harrison Original Music Nelson Riddle Choreographer Gower Champion Written by Devery Freeman, Paul Jarrico (uncredited) Produced by Stanley Rubin Directed by Mitchell Leisen

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

From roughly 1925 to 1957, the powerful men in charge of the big studios controlled most aspects of production. That...

Textbook Videos Presents 11th YoungCuts Film Festival

The YoungCuts Film Festival is pleased to announce 2012′s Top 100 short films by the world’s best young filmmakers. Lead sponsor TextbookVideos.com will present the films in Montreal’s De Seve Theatre at Concordia University on Friday October 12th and Saturday, October 13th.

The Beautiful Dead by Spencer Ryerson (Can)

*****

On Friday, October 12th, the day’s first screening is at 1Pm and features the best short films by the Festival’s youngest participating filmmakers who are 19 and under. At 3 Pm, the always popular Animation and Music screening is presented. The 5Pm screening presents a theme of “Growth” and includes films from 6 different countries. The 7Pm screening features 12 films grouped loosely by a theme of “Loneliness”, and includes a bloc of gay-positive films from 4 different countries. The evening concludes with the 9Pm Master Class screening which presents the best films by young filmmakers aged 25 to 29.

On Saturday,...

DVD Playhouse—July 2011

By Allen Gardner

The Music Room (Criterion) Satyajit Ray’s 1958 masterpiece looks at the life of a fallen aristocrat as a metaphor for an India that is not only becoming Westernized, but modernized technologically and culturally beyond recognition. When the beloved music room, where he has hosted lavish concerts in the past, starts falling into disrepair as attendance drops steadily, the man realizes his way of life is vanishing. Stunningly shot in black & white, one of Ray’s finest works. Bonuses: Documentary on Ray from 1984 by Shyam Benegal; Interviews with Ray biographer Andrew Robinson and filmmaker Mira Nair; Excerpt from 1981 roundtable discussion between Ray, critic Michael Ciment, director Claude Sautet. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.

Beauty And The Beast (Criterion) Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of the classic fairy tale become a beloved classic upon its 1946 release, and hasn’t faded since.

Durham, Nc - The hard truth of cinema takes place at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, Nc from April 14-17. That’s four solid days of movies that don’t feature Natalie Portman’s face being digitally inserted on other bodies. Four days of real people doing real stuff. And you can get some great BBQ.

This years line up has enough goodness to make me have to make painful choices as what to watch. There’s only one screening unless a movie wins a major prize. It’s be there or miss out. Choice wisely. Here’s a few of the films I’m looking to catch:

The Hangman (Thursday 10:20 a.m.) appears to be a creepy classic as it probes the man who executed Nazi Adolph Eichmann. What’s he do now? He ritually slaughters animals. Windfall (Thurs 4:20 p.m.) takes us to Meredith,...