Dennis The Menace
This famous black and white sitcom from CBS featured young
scamp Dennis Mitchell (Jay North) who couldn't resist getting into
mischief despite his (usually) good intentions.
Joseph Kearns played the stern, bespectacled George Wilson
until 1962.
 Kearns died in his sleep in early 1962 with six
episodes left to shoot for the season, so producers brought in
Gale Gordon (The Lucy Show) to finish up and introduced him
as the other Mr. Wilson, George's brother, John, who was staying
with Martha Wilson (Sylvia Field) while George was "away on
business."
Ominously, the next season he was merely "Mr. Wilson"
and he and his wife (Sara Seeger) inhabited the Wilson abode as if
the previous owners had simply been wished into the cornfield.
The series ran on CBS for four seasons from October 1959 to
September 1963 and was shown in the UK as Just Dennis to avoid
confusion with the Beano comic character also called Dennis The
Menace. The series screened in re-runs across the USA almost
continuously.
Mr. Wilson was never intended to be a major character when the
series first launched, but the interplay between Dennis and the
perpetually aggravated neighbour worked better than anyone
anticipated and the character ended up in episode after episode.
Hank Ketcham was the creator of the comic strip upon which the
show was based. Ketcham had favoured an animated version of his
character (who was named for his son after his wife called the boy
a menace), but the networks weren't interested, so the artist
concentrated on the strip. But eventually Hollywood did come
calling.
Defending his creation, Ketcham once said. "He is a
totally well-meaning, totally honest little boy. Everything he
does is out of curiosity, energy or just because it is fun to do
or because he thinks he is being helpful - in short, all the
things that are normal in a young animal. Always there is his
belief that he is doing the right thing."
A two hour TV movie version was made in 1987, starring Victor
Di Mattia as Dennis. Subsequent releases have included a one-off
animated special in 1981, a full animated series screened in the
USA from 1986 to 1988 and a 1993 feature film, Dennis, with
Mason Gamble as Dennis and Walter Matthau as Mr Wilson.
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