Jay North as a kid and as an adult. Photo:

David Keeler/Online USA

Jay North, the actor who starred as the titular character in the Dennis the Menace television series, has died, PEOPLE confirmed. He was 73. 

North’s friend — producer and writer Laurie Jacobson — announced his death via a Facebook post on April 6. She wrote that North had died at home after “fighting cancer” for several years. Soon after, North’s representative confirmed his death to PEOPLE.

“[North’s Dennis the Menace costar] Jeanne Russell just called us with terribly sad, but not unexpected news,” Jacobson wrote. “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.”

“As many of his fans know, he had a difficult journey in Hollywood and after…but he did not let it define his life,” she continued. “He had a heart as big as a mountain, loved his friends deeply.”

Jay North in 1968. Getty

Jacobson added of North, “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.”

North rose to fame as a child, playing Dennis Mitchell in the Dennis the Menace sitcom that ran from 1959 to 1963. The actor went on to star in the movies Zebra in the Kitchen and Maya. He reprised his role in a television series based on the latter.

North also took an interest in voice acting, nabbing roles in the animated shows Arabian Knights, Here Comes the Grump, The Pebbles and Bam-Bam Show and The Flintstones Comedy Hour. 

His final on-screen role was in 2003’s Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. 

Jay North in 1999. David Keeler/Online USA

During a 1991 talk show appearance, North detailed the abuse he suffered as a child actor, claiming that his aunt, who was his studio guardian, “would hit me, physically abuse me.”

“I used to wake up every single morning thinking, ‘My God, do I have to spend another day with this woman?’ Because I would go in and do a scene, I would come off the set and everybody said, ‘Hey, you did a great job.’ And then I would get a slap across the face, or taken into the dressing room and get a spanking or verbal tongue lashing or whatever,” he said.

At a fan convention in Los Angeles in 2017, North expressed his appreciation for fans of Dennis the Menace. “I get a very warm feeling that I still have fans from all over the world. Fans that remember and have warm memories of our show. It makes me feel good inside that people still love us and remember us,” he said, per the Washington Times. 

Jay North in the film ‘Maya’ in 1966. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty

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The actor said he felt shut out of Hollywood in his 20s due to being “typecast as Dennis the Menace.”

After his exit from entertainment, North worked an array of other jobs. “I was in the military. I worked in the health food industry for a number of years. For the past 20 years I’ve worked as a correctional officer for the Florida department of corrections,” he said at the convention. 

North also helped mentor child actors through the advocacy group A Minor Consideration, founded by former child actor Paul Petersen. 

Petersen and his wife Rana penned a tribute to North on April 6, writing, “A flickering light has gone out. Dennis the Menace has shed his mortal coil. Goodbye, my friend. You left a mark as our first formal rescue.”

North is survived by his wife Cindy Hackney and three stepdaughters.