I met Jay back in 1978 when he was stationed aboard the USS Dixie (AD14) He was assigned to the deck department as a bosn'smate. He was a regular sort of guy if not a bit of a loner. I had heard he had got into a bit of trouble on the outside and as was customary back in those days you could avoid jail time by enlisting providing your offense was not of a felony nature. He was only on board for maybe 4 or 5 months before he transfered off. I believe he got admittance to a navy school. Anyway, he was an ok guy til you brought up his, Dennis the Menace incarnation and he'd lock up tighter than Dick's hat band. That was a subject he never talked about and it was obvious there were alot of bad memories there. I did find him to be quite intelligent and was really a decient guy.

Interesting. I saw him on several talk shows in the 90s where he just seemed haunted, for lack of a better word. I sensed that he had some emotional problems even today. He told of his abuse & how he worked to let go of the anger.

I really wasn't shocked by the things Jay said, however bitter he sounded. He reminded me of Prince Charles - almost "born to duty" as a young child - a role thrust upon him against his will when all he wanted to be was like other normal boys. But he couldn't because he was a celebrity; and children like Charles or Jay - celebrities at a young age - are naturally targeted for ridicule/abuse by their peers, simply for being celebrities. Both of them were "trained" to carry themselves in just the right way. One can see it in Jay's demeanor in early photos, where he's smiling for the camera, but looking so TIRED. They really worked him hard as Dennis.

Tell me, was Jay quick-tempered, easy-going, what? Do you know what sort of trouble he got into that prompted him to join the navy? I had always assumed he went into the navy because he wanted to get into another career. How did his shipmates feel about him & did he endure a lot of teasing over DTM?

Thanks for your reply, As to your questions, was Jay quick tempered? I never saw anything personally. As far as his job was conserned, he had a lousy one for the navy. He used to come into my shop every morning to fill his mop bucket to swab down the starboard main decks of the ship. He just seemed to want to fit in as a normal sailor but it was hard for him because of his particular fame. The only time he ever got cranky was when I brought up his film past, (Maya) not even "Dennis." He stopped me short and said, "I don't talk about that stuff." He did have a few friends and he carefully chose them for not treating him like a curiosity. The general consensus was one of awe as in how does someone who had their own tv show and movie career end up swabbing decks. Its usually the other way around. As to how he ended up in the navy and getting into trouble, the rumor was and I want to stress that this is only rumor as I have no way to substanciate it was that it was drug related. If it was, it was probably simple possession or something like that. Hope this clears some thing up for you. Ned

Regarding the comments above, Jay was just a regular guy, a little out of shape and older than the rest of us. Most of us were 18 and he was about 25 years old at that time.

We met at RTC Orlando in 1977 and being that we were the only two guys from California, we would sometimes shoot the breeze. How we ended up in Orlando instead of San Diego is still an enigma. Mostly Jay & I would talk about growing up in LA and stuff we did there. He had a tougher time keeping up on PT since he was out of shape and smoked cigarettes. Had to go cold turkey during our 10 weeks of training.

As for the reason he joined the Navy, it had nothing to do with drugs, the law, etc....that's all BS. He just decided to change his life after floundering around for several years with no jobs and broken relationships. We never spoke of Dennis the Menace, he wasn't interested in covering that period of his life. Instead he was focused on making a go of the Navy and his life.

I lost track of him when we left RTC in March of 1977.

Anchor's Aweigh

thanks for shareing that story

Jay and I were good friends on the Dixie and still talk every once in a while. The reason Jay went into the Navy was the recruiter promised him a career in law enforcement which Jay was interested in - and of course the recruiter was lying which was normal in those days. The Navy at that time did not have a law enforcement "rating" so he wound up being stuck in deck division -the worst department you can be assigned to on a ship. Jay was not forced to join the Navy. He did not have a drug problem. He did not have an anger issue. He chose his friends carefully and with good reason.

I knew Jay on the Dixie as well, we worked for while doing kitchen duty together, something everyone in the junior ranks had to do. As others have said, I found him to be a very nice guy. We went out on the town a few times, I recall going with him to a hockey game one night and him introducing me to Hal Linden, who was also there for the game. Also as others have said, the talk of drugs and whatnot is just stupid, Jay wasn't into that at all when I knew him, and it was certainly readily available to anyone who wanted it. I knew a lot of guys on the ship who were into drugs, but Jay wasn't one of them.

Jay wouldn't talk alot in detail with me about his earlier acting days, but he did express a feeling of having been seriously taken advantage of by people who should have been looking out for him. I have no doubt that feeling was more than justified.

Last I recall talking with him back then, he told me his lawyer was trying to find a way to get him out of his Navy contract. I don't know if that succeeded or not, I finished up my kitchen assignment and went back to working in the electric shop, so our paths didn't cross much after that. The whole thing about the recruiter misleading him sounds very likely to me, it happened to a lot of people. I also do know that Jay had a very real interest in law enforcement, and was quite knowledgable in that area even back then. I see that he finally did end up with a career in law enforcement in Florida, I hope he found happiness at last doing that. At the end of the day, the Jay I knew was good man who had been given a bad deal in his youth and was just trying to deal with it as best he could.

Such interesting stories!! Thanks for sharing them, and thank you all for your service. patriot:

I loved the show and I'm so sorry to hear he had a hard time back then. There are quite a few child stars who were abused. :( My heart goes out to them. It can't be easy dealing with the abuse and losing your childhood. :(

I too met Jay North back in the day. I was new to the Navy myself, late 1978-early 1979 and stationed at NAS North Island, but was also dating a shipmate of his (Mark 'Hose Nose' Trauner from the Dixie). We went to Jay's house for beer and football one Sunday afternoon. I went into the kitchen to throw out some trash and found Jay washing the dishes. I grabbed a towel and started to dry. I said, 'Nobody will ever believe I dried Dennis the Menace's dishes!' We both laughed about it. He didn't seem standoffish or shy at all but we didn't really talk about his acting days. He told me that his real ambition was to be a military policeman, which I remember thinking was odd because in the Navy we had 'shore patrol' and not MP's like in the Army or Air Force. I see in one post where he probably did go to this school - when I met him he was still an undesignated striker (E-3 though) and looking or waiting for school. I saw on IMDB that as recently as April 2006 he was a prison guard in Florida. So if law enforcement was his life's ambition, I'm glad he at least got to do some of that. Any trouble he may have had with drugs/obesity was long after I met him, as those weren’t condoned in the Navy (well, if they caught you, lol). He was well spoken and intelligent as has been stated in this thread already and seemed a bit ‘filled out’ but I think that was because I remembered him as DtheM when he was such a slim little boy. He seemed to be around 25 or 26 at the time. rural88jean (Jean in rural PA)

Jay and I were good friends on the Dixie and still talk every once in a while. The reason Jay went into the Navy was the recruiter promised him a career in law enforcement which Jay was interested in - and of course the recruiter was lying which was normal in those days. The Navy at that time did not have a law enforcement "rating" so he wound up being stuck in deck division -the worst department you can be assigned to on a ship. Jay was not forced to join the Navy. He did not have a drug problem. He did not have an anger issue. He chose his friends carefully and with good reason.


i was on the uss detroit in norfolk at that time and i recall a rating
designation "master at arms". they had them in bootcamp,chow halls,
bases,ships. shore patrol's were e-4 and above.master at arms were in
charge. they were the law enforcement of the navy. the only time you
did not see any maa's were in the seabees. i was waiting in line to go
to a concert at the scope in norfolk in 1978 and someone came up and
said jay north was in line.i never did check cause i did not want to lose
my place in line. i thought they were jerking me around. but from all
these posts i see about him that guy was right, so i missed out.

I was a Navy lieutenant assigned to recruit engineering graduates for the Navy's nuclear power programs in the L.A. area for a couple of years in the mid-1970s. The recruiting headquarters building on Wilshire Blvd was occasionally visited by famous (or formerly famous) people--Jackie Cooper and Glenn Ford were officers in the Navy Reserve, and both came through the office for administrative reasons (new ID cards or some such). Also, I remember having lunch with Lloyd Haynes (Room 222) at the Santa Monica airport (he was working with a youth group that we were helping sponsor). I had nothing to do with Jay North joining the Navy, but I remember the day he came through the office to enlist. He seemed an unassuming fellow, a little older than the average recruit. It created something of a stir when it became known he was in the office, and many of us greeted him and chatted him up. He was very friendly and laid back--quite self effacing. It was a treat meeting him. I never heard any more about him, but I hope he made out okay. I don't know who recruited him. If the recruiter lied to Jay about his options in the Navy, shame on the recruiter.

Great thread..... I enjoyed all of the personal exchanges.....

I was on the USS Dixe AD 14 I lived with Jay in Chula Vista California with 2 other shipmates Carl & Al from Pa while I was in the navy in San Diego Cal. Jay would leave on the weekends to north Hollywood Ca. to be with his playboy playmate wife.Jay was not happy with the navy just like some of the post say,he was a fun guy always reading the Hollywood trash newspapers and telling us that the stories were not true about his Hollywood friends.I tried to reach out to jay but he never got back to me.If Jay happens to read this you can reach me at chicomets58@gmail.com

Fascinating thread. Thought I'd bump it up so it might be seen again.

Thanks for bumping, Stevea. I enjoyed reading about Navy guys' recollections of Jay. It's so sad that he was mistreated as a child, but I don't doubt it in the least, because what he experienced is very closely mirrored by Patty Duke's experiences, and the experiences of other Hollywood kids from that era. Many so-called guardians and parents were just horrible to the kids in that era. I think of Joan Crawford's kids and just shudder.

I think many people have heard the story of his tragic acting childhood. The seemingly happy character was a child abused by a horrible aunt in whose care he was entrusted while at the studio--it's amazing he made it thru 4 years. By accounts he never had a chance to hang out with other actors like Billy Booth--he was whisked back to his dressing room as soon as his scene was completed (and, I imagine, heaven help him if he flubbed a line and caused a retake).

It's a fascinating thread, with several shipmates of his, who all had seemingly real stories of serving with him in the Navy.