Jay North Movies
Tousle-haired child actor Jay North was the son of the West Coast regional director for AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), a performer's union. He began showing up on TV in 1958 and in films the following year. Selected from a group of 500 possibilities, he landed the title role in the TV series Dennis the Menace, which ran from 1959 to 1963. He went on to star in the single-season adventure weekly Maya (1966) and in such family oriented films as Zebra in the Kitchen. Reportedly mistreated and abused by his on-set guardians, North's career as a child star was less than pleasant; nor did he make a successful transition to adult roles in such trash as Teacher Teacher (1974). Eventually overcoming his past, he vowed to prevent others in his situation from suffering similar humiliations, and later spent much of his time offering advice, counsel, and moral support to preteen professional actors. Among Jay North's later acting appearances was the 1980 TV movie Scout's Honor, which featured several other former child TV performers in the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1993
In this sexy outing, the inventor of a fabulous new brassiere recruits a bevy of beauties to advertise it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Kristel, Kevin Bernhardt, (more)
- 1986
Panoramic, spectacular landscape shots enhance this wartime action film, but its emphasis on the philosophical and moral issues between Communists and fascists might be long-winded for some audiences. The setting is World War II in a divided and battered Yugoslavia. As the underground Partisans do the best they can to subvert Nazi domination, tension slowly increases. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lyubov Polishchuk, George Montgomery, (more)
- 1980
In this children's movie, a single executive enjoys her life on the fast track, but when she is talked into becoming a den mother to a rambunctious pack of Cub Scouts, her life is temporarily derailed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Jay North (Dennis the Menace of television fame) stars as a student who learns more about the birds and bees than the basic schoolroom courses from his teacher (Angel Tompkins). Meanwhile, a homicidal maniac (Anthony James) chooses to harass them. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Jay Novello, who made a number of memorable appearances on I Love Lucy, shows up in this Lucy Show outing as Sam Boscovitch, the inventor of a giant robot called "Major Fun Fun." The robot is designed as a mechanical babysitter for banker Mooney's (Gale Gordon) nephew, a spoiled-rotten brat named Wendell (played by former "Dennis the Menace" Jay North), whom no live sitter can stand. In hopes of obtaining funding for her friend, and to pick up a bit of extra money herself, Lucy dons a "tin soldier" outfit and impersonates the metallic Major Fun Fun, enduring all manner of indignities at the hands of Wendell -- at least until she turns the tables on the unruly youngster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay North, Jay Novello, (more)
- 1966
Young Terry Bowen (Jay North) joins his big-game hunting father Hugh (Clint Walker) in India after his mother dies in this sentimental adventure. Hugh loses his courage after an incident with a tiger, and Terry loses respect for his father after he shoots a young cheetah that Terry was nursing back to health. He runs away and meets Raji (Sajid Khan), a young Hindu boy who promised his dying father he would deliver a white baby elephant named Maya to a sacred jungle temple. Terry agrees to help Raji, setting the stage for colorful jungle adventures in their quest. Highlights are the Indian jungle scenes and the exotic wildlife of the region. The feature spawned a short-lived television series. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Walker, Jay North, (more)
When Chris Carlyle's (Jay North) family leaves their farm for the city, Chris must give his pet puma up to the local zoo. When Chris discovers the terrible conditions that the animals are being kept in, he manages to find a way to set all of the creatures free, much to the dismay of the local residents. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay North, Martin Milner, (more)
- 1959
Mickey Rooney plays labor racketeer Little Joe Braun in this fast-paced and surprisingly violent drama about one man's determination to clean up his union. Bill Gibson (Steve Cochran) is Little Joe's nemesis and is one of the men who can testify that he saw the labor boss in an incriminating conversation with a known criminal -- something that Little Joe denied under oath. Knowing that Cochran and one other witness can bring him down, the crooked labor boss starts on a campaign of terror. One of Bill's friends is set on fire, someone else is thrown into a cement mixer (in the opening scenes), and finally, Little Joe kidnaps Bill's son Timmy (Jay North). The odds at this point, seem very much in the labor boss' favor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Steve Cochran, (more)
- 1959
Miracle of the Hills is a melodramatic, standard western with two ostensible "enemies" that fuel the plot: a decent town preacher, Scott Macauley (Rex Reason) and an "indecent" former prostitute, Kate Peacock (Betty Lou Gerson). The preacher is on his way to cleaning up his parish and the town but comes up against Peacock, who now owns the main source of employment in the town, a coal mine. In revenge for the way she was treated in the old days, she lords it over the town and her workers. Just as the preacher is mediating the best he can between Peacock and the rest of the community, three young boys get trapped in the mine. (Jay North, just before his Dennis the Menace fame on American TV, plays one of them). Sure enough, it is a potential disaster that galvanizes everyone and erases past battle lines. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Reason, Theona Bryant, (more)
