Jeannie Russell

Last updated
Jeannie Russell
Jeannie Russell in Dennis the Menace 1963 (cropped).jpg
Russell as Margaret Wade
on Dennis the Menace in 1963
Born
Occupation(s)Actress, voice actress, chiropractor
Years active1959–1993

Jeannie Russell (born Jeanne K. Russell) is an American actress best known for playing Dennis's playmate, Margaret Wade, in the television series Dennis the Menace , which was based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name and aired from 1959 to 1963 on CBS.

Contents

Russell was chosen at the suggestion of Jay North, who starred in the role of Dennis, to play his nemesis playmate. She appeared in 31 of the series' 146 episodes over the four-year run of the show.

Career

Besides Dennis the Menace, Russell appeared in several other popular TV shows of the era, including The Deputy (1959), Assignment: Underwater (1961), Death Valley Days (1961), and The Dinah Shore Show . Russell provided a singing voice in the 1961 Disney movie Babes in Toyland and made an uncredited appearance in the 1963 popular suspense horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds , in which she played a school child. In 1971, she moved to St. Louis to film the long-running children's show Where will my feet take me today? for KETC with Buster Fronto. She later appeared with Mel Winkler in Unique New York, and The Letter People (Meet Mister J, 1978).

She has done live theater and soundtrack work, as well as performing as a singer. In the 1990s, Russell was active on the national talk-show and news-feature circuit. In 1993, she made a cameo appearance in the film version of Dennis the Menace playing one of the Mitchells' neighbors.

Personal life

Since 1978, Russell has been practicing chiropractic medicine in the North Hollywood/Toluca Lake (California) area. She also counsels and coaches patients, assisting them with "intuitive eating" skills to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Russell had developed a powerful posture building series of movement and strengthening exercises, which draw from her career in show business.

She is also trained in ballet and jazz dance. North and she occasionally appear together at celebrity events.

Russell co-chaired the Screen Actors Guild Young Performers' Committee for several years.

Russell is the sister of Bryan Russell, who was also a child actor from 1959 to 1967. She currently resides in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Film

Television

Related Research Articles

<i>Dennis the Menace</i> (U.S. comics) American newspaper comic strip

Dennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written, and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. The comic strip made its debut on March 12, 1951, in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate. It is now written and drawn by Ketcham's former assistants, Marcus Hamilton, Ron Ferdinand, and son Scott Ketcham, and distributed to at least 1,000 newspapers in 48 countries and in 19 languages by King Features Syndicate. The comic strip usually runs for a single panel on weekdays and a full strip on Sundays.

<i>Dennis the Menace</i> (1959 TV series) American sitcom

Dennis the Menace is an American sitcom based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name. It preceded The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday evenings on CBS from October 4, 1959 to July 7, 1963. The series stars Jay North as Dennis Mitchell; Herbert Anderson as his father, Henry; Gloria Henry as his mother, Alice; Joseph Kearns as George Wilson; Gale Gordon as George's brother, John Wilson; Sylvia Field as George's wife, Martha Wilson; and Sara Seegar as John's wife, Eloise Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Korman</span> American actor and comedian (1927–2008)

Harvey Herschel Korman was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. His big break was being a featured performer on CBS's The Danny Kaye Show, but he is best remembered for his performances on the sketch comedy series The Carol Burnett Show, for which he won four Emmy Awards, as well as his partnership with Tim Conway. Korman also appeared in several comedy films by Mel Brooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay North</span> American actor

Jay Waverly North Jr. is an American actor. His career as a child actor began in the late 1950s with roles in eight TV series, two variety shows and three feature films. At age 7 he became a household name for his role as the well-meaning but mischievous Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace (1959–1963), based on the comic strip created by Hank Ketcham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stafford Repp</span> American actor (1918–1974)

Stafford Alois Repp was an American actor best known for his role as Police Chief Miles Clancy O'Hara on ABC's Batman television series.

<i>Babes in Toyland</i> (operetta) Operetta by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough

Babes in Toyland is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough, which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a musical extravaganza. Following the extraordinary success of their stage musical The Wizard of Oz, which was produced in New York beginning in January 1903, producer Fred R. Hamlin and director Julian Mitchell hoped to create more family musicals. MacDonough had helped Mitchell with revisions to the Oz libretto by L. Frank Baum. Mitchell and MacDonough persuaded Victor Herbert to join the production. Babes in Toyland features some of Herbert's most famous songs – among them "Toyland", "March of the Toys", "Go to Sleep, Slumber Deep", and "I Can't Do the Sum". The theme song "Toyland", and the most famous instrumental piece from the operetta, "March of the Toys", occasionally show up on Christmas compilations.

<i>Babes in Toyland</i> (1961 film) 1961 film

Babes in Toyland is a 1961 American Christmas musical film directed by Jack Donohue and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It stars Ray Bolger as Barnaby, Tommy Sands as Tom Piper, Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary, and Ed Wynn as the Toymaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Abbott</span> American actor

Philip Abbott was an American character actor. He appeared in several films and numerous television series, including a lead role as Arthur Ward in the crime series The F.B.I. Abbott was also the founder of Theatre West in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Williams (actor)</span> American actor (1915–1992)

William Herman Katt, known as Bill Williams, was an American television and film actor. He is best known for his starring role in the early television series The Adventures of Kit Carson, which aired in syndication from 1951 to 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parley Baer</span> American actor (1914-2002)

Parley Edward Baer was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Chester" in the radio version of Gunsmoke, and as the Mayor of Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spring Byington</span> American actress (1886–1971)

Spring Dell Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1960s. Byington received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Penelope Sycamore in You Can't Take It with You (1938).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Paris</span> American actor and director (1925–1986)

William Gerald Paris was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show, and for directing the majority of the episodes of the sitcom Happy Days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bing Russell</span> American actor and baseball club owner (1926–2003)

Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell and grandfather of ex–major league baseball player Matt Franco and actor Wyatt Russell.

<i>Dennis the Menace</i> (1993 film) 1993 live-action American family film directed by Nick Castle

Dennis the Menace is a 1993 American family comedy film based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name, directed by Nick Castle, written and coproduced by John Hughes and distributed by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Corcoran</span> American actor and film director (1949–2015)

Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran was an American child actor, director and producer. He appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, leading him to be honored as a Disney Legend in 2006. His nickname, Moochie, established him as an irrepressible character in film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Calvin</span> American actor

Henry Calvin was an American actor known for his role as the Spanish soldier Sergeant Garcia on Walt Disney's live-action television series Zorro (1957–1959).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Rossitto</span> American actor

Angelo Salvatore Rossitto was an American actor and voice artist. He had dwarfism and was 2'11" (89 cm) tall, and was often billed as Little Angie or Moe. Angelo first appeared in silent films opposite Lon Chaney and John Barrymore. On screen, he portrayed everything from dwarfs, midgets, gnomes and pygmies as well as monsters, villains and aliens, with appearances in more than 70 films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Henry</span> American actress (1923-2021)

Gloria Henry was an American actress, best known for her role as Alice Mitchell, Dennis' mother, from 1959 to 1963 on the CBS family sitcom Dennis the Menace.

Merrie Virginia Eggers, known professionally as Ginny Tyler, was an American voice actress who performed on dozens of cartoons and animated films from 1957 to 1993. In 2006, she was named a Disney Legend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Hewitt</span> American film, television and stage actor

Alan Hewitt was an American film, television, and stage actor. His most prominent TV roles were Detective Brennan in My Favorite Martian and the district attorney in How to Murder Your Wife.

References

    Further reading

    External sources