TVXOHOF TUESDAY TRIBUTE - REMEMBERING JAY NORTH

From The Hollywood Reporter:
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 (04/06/2025) 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 almost 12 when the series was canceled after four seasons. However, he would be seen by millions of viewers over the years as the half-hour show played in reruns and in syndication.

In a 1993 interview, North said he was not unhappy to see 'Dennis the Menace' come to an end.

“Between the pressures of the business and Joe’s dying, I became very serious, very morbid and very withdrawn from the world. I was the antithesis of the little kid that I played on the television show,” he said.

An only child, North was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 3, 1951. He was 4 when his father, also Jay, left the family, and he never saw him again. His mother, Dorothy, worked as a secretary for AFTRA.

While the series was on the air, North also appeared as Dennis on 'The Donna Reed Show' and 'The Red Skelton Hour' and in the 1960 musical comedy film "Pépé", starring Cantinflas.

Survivors include his third wife, Cindy.

JAY NORTH

When it comes to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, Jay North is a great example of when a member of the League of Themselves appears as their fictional televersion which can cause Zonks because it’s always tied in to the character(s) they played.  With many of the early inductees known for playing themselves – like George Burns, Bob Hope, Milton Berle – it wasn’t that hard as most of their Toobworld personae was based on variety shows.  Jack Benny serves as a blend of being himself with the established caricature of being a miser vain about his age from his sitcom/variety show.  So there is no Zonk when he plays up that version on other show.

It was with the inductions of three characters by Lucille Ball, along with the woman herself in 2000 that the situation had to be addressed.  And the answer proved to be simple – those members of the League of Themselves who were eligible for the Hall were playing in dramatizations of those characters.  That way they can remain in the same TV dimension.

In North’s case, TV producers within Toobworld saw something in the life of young Dennis Mitchell which they deemed worthy for his own show.

But as he is not only a multidimensional but also a multiversal, there will be examples where North didn’t want to be associated with Dennis.  With later appearances on some talk shows (which don’t really factor into his qualifications for membership), North didn’t hesitate in voicing his anger about being tied to Dennis Mitchell.  And in one case, his televersion takes it farther.

Here are the appearances which qualified Jay North as a multiversal member of the TVXOHOF as himself:

From Earth Prime-Time:

THE RED SKELTON HOUR
JAY NORTH ADOPTS FREDDIE THE FREELOADER (1961)

O’Bservation:
Jay North also appeared in another episode two seasons earlier, but as Dennis Mitchell.  (The title was “FREDDIE’S MILLIONS”.)

THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE (1962)

From the Macy’s Parades Wiki:
Jay North in his comic accurate appearance as "Dennis Mitchell" showed up at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1962 riding on a classic Space Ship float.

THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW
Season 5 Episode 21 (1967)

As Sajid Khan was also on the same episode, it’s O’Bvious they were both there to promote their TV series ‘Maya’.

Season 8 Episode 133 (1971)
The topic was child stars.  Along with Jay, other guests were Paul Peterson, Sherry Jackson, Don Grady, Beverly Washburn, and the Lennon Sisters.  (According to the IMDb, the soundtrack featured “You and I and George” performed by Rowlf.  But no mention of him actually in the studio, nor of Jim Henson.)

O’Bservation:
For newcomers to the Hall, talk shows don’t usually count towards qualifying somebody for membership in the TVXOHOF.  Exceptions would be when the host/interviewer is already a member – Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien.  When it comes to the actual show within a show, some talk shows are also members because their fictionalized versions were seen on TV – ‘The Tonight Show’ and ‘The View’ are the main entries.  But since ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ was a key plot point in an episode of ‘Seinfeld’, I always make room for Merv.

HOLLYWOOD SQUARES (1967)
5 Episodes (October 30-November 03, 1967)

Jay North was on promoting ‘Maya’.  The other Squares were regulars Charley Weaver and Wally Cox, with Morey Amsterdam in the Center Square.  Also appearing were Barbara Feldon, Abby Dalton, Nannette Fabray, Ron Harper and Tim Conway.

THE DATING GAME
JAY NORTH (1969)

O’Bservation:
What could be a more fictional televersion of Jay North than to appear on this show?

And now we get to the fictional Jay North from alternate TV dimensions…..

From Skitlandia:

NOT NECESSARILY THE NEWS
INSIDE ENTERTAINMENT (1987)

Jay North is seen in a breaking news story as a homicidal psychopath on a rampage.

From The Tooniverse:

THE SIMPSONS

TAKE MY WIFE, SLEAZE (1999)

From the IMDb:
Jay North reprises his role as the title character of the 1959-1963 situation comedy ‘Dennis the Menace’ (1959) at Greaser's grand opening. His failure to impress Bart is a reference to Matt Groening's dislike of the TV show which was actually Groening's inspiration for creating the character of Bart Simpson first intended to be a "harder version" of Dennis Mitchell.

O’Bservation:
He is NOT playing Dennis Mitchell.  It clearly states on the sign that he is Jay North, the original Dennis the Menace.

All of those appearances made him multidimensional within the Grand Mosaic of the TV Universe.  But this one made him multiversal….

From the Cineverse:

DICKIE ROBERTS, FORMER CHILD STAR (2003)

From the IMDb:
A thirty-something former child star hires a foster family to re-create the childhood he never had.  About 30 former child stars gather to record a song about being a child actor which is reminiscent of “We Are The World”.  Jay North can be seen in the second row, towards the middle of the group, third from the right.

I hope to find pictures of Jay North from ‘Hollywood Squares’, ‘I’ve Got A Secret’, ‘The Merv Griffin Show’, and the 1962 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  If you know where I can find them, contact me!

If you’re wondering about Dennis Mitchell, he qualified for membership and will kick off 2026 as the Classic Crossover Character for January.

Having Dennis with you all your life was apparently a heavy burden, but thanks anyway for bringing him to Life out of the comic strips.

“Good night and may God bless” as your fellow Hall member once said….

TVXOHOF, APRIL 2025 - JIMINY GLICK

April is the month for inducting the Fools of Toobworld into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  Usually this means the more humorous characters, but actual fools do make it into the Hall as well.  That’s why a certain Fool is an April member and not in the November wing for Newsmakers.  But then, he was inducted nearly a decade before becoming a standard Newsmaker Crossover, back when he was just a Citizen Fool.

So here we are, beginning the 26th year of the TVXOHOF, and I think we have a great candidate for this month’s candidate….

JIMINY GLICK

From Wikipedia:
Jiminy Glick is a fictional character created and portrayed by Martin Short in the TV series ‘Primetime Glick’ (2001–2003), the subsequent 2004 film “Jiminy Glick in Lalawood”, and Short's Broadway show “Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me.” He began as a recurring character on ‘The Martin Short Show.’

Glick is the main character in the feature film “Jiminy Glick in Lalawood.”

In “Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me”, Glick interviews (through complete improvisation) an audience volunteer tasked to become the show's "new star" after Martin Short is struck by lightning (a ploy to allow Short enough time to don the Jiminy Glick make-up).

O’Bservation:
Those appearances qualify Glick as a Multiversal.

Here is Glick’s biography from Wikipedia:
Born Malcolm Glickman on March 12, 1948, in Akron, Ohio (though he has claimed to have been born in Omaha, Nebraska and Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Jiminy Glick was "the middle child of 10 children" of Omar and Isabella Glickman.

Glick, who describes himself as a Tibetan-American, was often a loner and was regularly made fun of for his obesity at an early age. He was also very sickly until he was 13, when doctors discovered that he had a small Tonka truck stuck in his duodenum. As a child, while riding his bike and listening to the song "Michael Row the Boat Ashore", he lost his virginity when he fell on the "boy bar", He has said he never liked the name Malcolm and was given the nickname "Jiminy" as crickets laid eggs in his anus. But Glick also told Larry David that Jiminy is his real name, given to him because his parents "were from the Baháʼí Faith". In an interview with Ben Stiller, he asserted that he and his wife were Buddhists.

After graduating from Gale Gordon High School, and continuing on to DeVry Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin, his life changed forever when the play “Forty Carats”, starring Lana Turner, came to town. He was asked to join the show and traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he played "Onlooker Number Two", which he said was "like a dream!" After his short stage acting career and a performance as the leper in the film “Papillon”, Glick became Charles Bronson's personal assistant for five years during the 1970s. He had planned on working for Robert Vaughn, but according to Glick, he "didn't pay".

Bronson was very cruel to Glick and at one point threw him off his boat, mistaking him for Sebastian Cabot. Glick was picked up in a boat by George Maharis, of the TV show ‘Route 66’, and his cousin, Leon Maharis. Leon asked Glick if he wanted to work with him at Chasen's in Beverly Hills, California, as a busboy. Glick eagerly accepted the offer. There he ran into numerous Hollywood celebrities, such as Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Britney Spears, James Dean, and Charlton Heston.

Then, one day, while catering a party at Roddy McDowall's house, George Schlatter from ‘Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In’ offered Glick a pilot episode deal for a daytime talk show. Glick accepted and started at the Beverly Garland Motel (as opposed to the Beverly-Garland Hotel). And, Glick has said, "That’s how it all started." The daytime talk show was canceled when Beverly Garland herself came downstairs and, lacking sleep and thoroughly intoxicated, shouted to Glick and his crew to "get the hell out!" Later in his career, Glick moved to prime time.

In 1974, Glick worked as Telly Savalas's personal assistant. Savalas was mean, so Glick embezzled $85,000 from him. He was caught on his way to Ecuador and served a four-month hard labor sentence in Mississippi.

Glick is married to a heavily medicated, alcoholic Southern woman named Dixie. Together they have "four wonderfully strapping young boys": Morgan, Mason, Matthew, and Modine (named for actors Morgan Mason and Matthew Modine).

Morgan and Mason are teenaged twins and Matthew and Modine are 10-year-old twins; they were actually triplets but he sent away the third one because "two was so much already." The Glick family resides in Tarzana, California.

Dennis Miller has described Glick's life as "one big CliffsNote missing a page."

These are the shows which qualified Glick for membership:

THE MARTIN SHORT SHOW

PRIMETIME GLICK

MADtv

HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
TOM BRADY, HOST (April 16, 2005)

MAYA & MARTY
Glick appears in Maya & Marty interviewing celebrities such as Larry David, Kevin Hart, Jerry Seinfeld and Ricky Gervais.

THE TONIGHT SHOW starring JIMMY FALLON (April 28, 2017)
Glick interviewed Donald Trump (portrayed by Jimmy Fallon) about his first 100 days in office.

REAL TIME with BILL MAHER
June 21, 2024

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!
Among those Glick interviewed on that talk show were Bill Hader, Melissa McCarthy, Sean Hayes, and Nick Kroll.

AC360
Glick talked with Anderson Cooper durng that week while he guest hosted 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'

Welcome to the Hall, Jiminy!  You'll find the club room well-stocked with doughnuts and gumdrops.

MONDAY MEMORIAL MEMBERSHIP TVXOHOF TRIBUTE - SENATOR ALAN SIMPSON

 

CNN:
Alan Simpson, a longtime Republican senator from Wyoming who championed bipartisan solutions and steadfastly advocated for a moderate blend of conservatism, has died. He was 93.

Simpson died early Friday after struggling to recover from a broken hip in December, according to a statement from his family and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West provided to The Associated Press.

Simpson, a man of blunt rhetoric whose towering 6-foot-7 stature made him an instantly recognizable figure on Capitol Hill, made a career of taking on difficult congressional assignments, bringing his signature candor to epic legislative battles.

Simpson was also a fierce supporter of federal support of the arts. “If you’re just interested in politics alone, it’s barbaric. That won’t keep you alive,” he once said.

“You have to have the marvelous softening agents of books and letters and art and culture and theater, and I love that, and that’s what Ann and I have always thoroughly supported and loved and independently and also politically.”

The minimum requirement of appearance as either a character or the fictionalized version one’s self to qualify for membership into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame is three.  Senator Simpson achieved that, with three of the 1990s sitcoms which dealt with political issues.

From Wikipedia:
Alan Kooi Simpson (September 2, 1931 – March 14, 2025) was an American politician from Wyoming. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1979 to 1997. Simpson was the Republican whip in the U.S. Senate from 1985 to 1995, as majority whip from 1985 to 1987 and minority whip from 1987 to 1995. He also served as co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with Democratic Party co-chair Erskine Bowles of North Carolina.

Born in Denver, Simpson graduated from the University of Wyoming's law school (1958). Simpson served in the Wyoming House of Representatives (1965–1977) and won election to the United States Senate (1978). His father, Milward Simpson, served in the same seat (1962–1967). Simpson served as the Senate Republican Whip (1985–1995). After serving three terms in the Senate, Simpson declined to seek re-election in 1996.

After leaving office, Simpson practiced law and taught at different universities. He also served on the Continuity of Government Commission, the American Battle Monuments Commission, and the Iraq Study Group. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed him to co-chair the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which made several recommendations on ways to reduce the national debt.

He has been a vocal proponent of amending the U.S. Constitution to overturn Citizens United v. FEC (2010) and allow Congress to set reasonable limits on campaign spending in U.S. elections.

Here are those three appearances which earned him the “honor” of joining the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame:

DESIGNING WOMEN
THE STRANGE CASE OF CLARENCE AND ANITA (1991)

Mary Jo Shively:
Alan Simpson refers to this as "This sexual harassment crap."  Nice talk, huh, from a United States senator?

Bernice Clifton:
Is that Bart Simpson?
Anthony Bouvier:
Bernice, I believe you mean Alan Simpson.
Bernice Clifton:
Whatever.  You can just see how he loves to say those dirty words.

MURPHY BROWN
ALL THE LIFE THAT'S FIT TO PRINT (1993)

LATELINE
KARP'S NIGHT OUT (1999)

O'Bservation:
On the night Gail Ingersoll finally got the chance to be the executive producer, Senator Simpson appeared as a pundit on the topic of social security.  He let the old folks, the younger generation AND anchorman Pearce MacKenzie have it.

From the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum:

The Art of Political Humor
October 16, 2002

JEFF GREENFIELD:

I want to come back to this semi-serious question. Did you work with people-- I mean principals in the Senate-- who were gifted, great public servants, no sense of humor?

SEN. ALAN SIMPSON:
Yeah, I did, and they were always easy to overpower in debate or any other place. You could just get them. You’d just throw something in. They’re all buttoned down, they’ve got their script in their head, and you just do some absurdity.

AL FRANKEN:
We want names.

SEN. ALAN SIMPSON:
Yeah, I know. Franken and I, what was that show you dragged me into?

AL FRANKEN:
Oh, 'Lateline'.

SEN. ALAN SIMPSON:
That’s where you portrayed me as ...(inaudible) savager of the AARP, and I loved it.

O'Bservation:
You can tell in which one he was not a willing participant.

Because these qualifications are inviolate, appearances as himself on other programs of a more realistic nature – everything from talk shows, political roundtables, and news programs – can enhance the “flavor” of that real-life member’s televersion.

There’s one more reason why Senator Simpson is being inducted into the TVXOHOF….

He was the senator from the home state of my friend, Mark Thompson.  He met the Senator on several occasions and always speaks highly of him.

The testimony of a friend should always be accorded the weight of full consideration.

As Red Skelton would say, “Good night and may God bless….”