Ironically, Jay North, who played a rascal and a mischievous child character in the series, has served in recent years as a correctional officer and administrator working in particular with troubled youths within Florida's juvenile justice system.
Dennis Mitchell character was modeled after Dennis Ketcham, son of animator, Hank Ketcham, the creator of the comic strip, with the same title. Despite the affable nature of the character, the real Dennis suffered a somewhat tragic life. When he was only twelve years old, Dennis lost his mother to a drug overdose while she was in the process of divorcing his father. Hank Ketcham then moved them to Switzerland but when Dennis had trouble adjusting to his new life and environment, then started getting into trouble in school, Hank shipped him off to a boarding school back in USA while he stayed behind in Switzerland with his new wife and family. Dennis managed to straighten his life out and even joined the military and fought in Vietnam. After he returned home, he suffered from PTSD and all the while being estranged from his father who, by then, had earned (and continue earning) a lot of money from the daily newspaper comic strips he drew based on his son.
After Joseph Kearns's unexpected death, during season three, the explanation was that 'George Wilson' had gone on a trip to Ohio, and his brother John (Gale Gordon) had come to take care of the house for him and visit his sister-in-law, Martha Wilson, while 'George Wilson' was away.
As explained by Gloria Henry, in an interview for the first season DVD set, only the series debut, Dennis Goes to the Movies (1959), depicted Dennis Mitchell, as he intentionally got into mischief (by secretly sneaking out of the house at night and misleading the babysitter, wondering where he may be). For the rest of the series, any misadventures caused by Dennis were always the result of his earnestness, or despite Dennis' good intentions, but never misbehavior.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
