Li'l Jim Wiseman & Hank Ketcham!
Well, I have to say, Al Wiseman's son Jim is married to unquestionably the swellest gal in the whole Al-Wiseman-Blogisphere! Imagine my surprise when I opened up an email from Teresa Tersol-Wiseman the other day and found this among the images attached:
Yes, it's a photo of little Jim Wiseman dressed up like "Dennis the Menace" and walking around with Hank Ketcham! Let's let Teresa explain:
"Regarding the picture of Jim and Hank - I think Jim was around six at the time. The picture was taken by a local professional photographer and was part of a series taken when Jim was under consideration to play the part of Dennis in the TV series. The pictures were all taken on the 18th green at Pebble Beach."
So if Jim was around six years old, that would mean the photo was taken sometime in 1955. The Dennis the Menace television show took a while to finalize and ultimately premiered in October 1959, starring Jay North as Dennis.
Another cool thing about the above print is that it was signed by Ketcham twice: once in the 1950's, then re-signed by him in 1987. According to Teresa:
"In 1987 Hank had a signing at a local bookstore (The Thunderbird) for a book he published that year- so Jim and I stopped by and brought the original photo."
I'm bettin' Hank was quite delighted to see the image again!
Here's another snapshot from the same photo shoot showing Jim in-character as Dennis (though wouldn't it be more in-character if he was smashing something?):
Thanks Teresa (and Jim)! You've earned our never-ending gratitude!
Yes, it's a photo of little Jim Wiseman dressed up like "Dennis the Menace" and walking around with Hank Ketcham! Let's let Teresa explain:
"Regarding the picture of Jim and Hank - I think Jim was around six at the time. The picture was taken by a local professional photographer and was part of a series taken when Jim was under consideration to play the part of Dennis in the TV series. The pictures were all taken on the 18th green at Pebble Beach."
So if Jim was around six years old, that would mean the photo was taken sometime in 1955. The Dennis the Menace television show took a while to finalize and ultimately premiered in October 1959, starring Jay North as Dennis.
Another cool thing about the above print is that it was signed by Ketcham twice: once in the 1950's, then re-signed by him in 1987. According to Teresa:
"In 1987 Hank had a signing at a local bookstore (The Thunderbird) for a book he published that year- so Jim and I stopped by and brought the original photo."
I'm bettin' Hank was quite delighted to see the image again!
Here's another snapshot from the same photo shoot showing Jim in-character as Dennis (though wouldn't it be more in-character if he was smashing something?):
Thanks Teresa (and Jim)! You've earned our never-ending gratitude!
8 Comments:
Bill said,
"I'm bettin' Hank was quite delighted to see the image again!"
Well, I think I caught him off guard at the moment of signing.
I had not seen Hank for at least 20 years.
I sensed he didn't want to get into a conversation, so Hank just signed the book, and I moved on.
WOW! I coulda been another Jay North!
(no offence Jay)
My father was all for my playing Dennis on tv.
My mother,however, was not having any of it.
I was too young to know what was being decided for me.
The road not taken.
JRW
I've only seen the "Dennis the Menace" TV show a couple of times, but Jay North struck me as a bit too cutesy acting. Or am I wrong?
I thought the problem with the TV series was that Dennis was too old to begin with. In the strip he's 5 going on 6. In the TV series, he seemd to start at about 10.
I thought Mason Gamble did a great job as Dennis in the movie.
Jay North played Dennis with like he was dragging his character along, rather than running with it.
Just my opinion.
JRW
Yeah, I agree that Jay North was too old to play Dennis. And he didn't seem quite "destructive" enough for the role. Someone told me that his "Dennis" years messed him up so badly that he had a meltdown on a daytime talk show about twenty years ago. And the kid from "The Donna Reed Show" had to help him through it.
I've never actually watched the "Dennis" movie(s). Were they any good?
Let me ammend my above "destructive" comment. I think "innocently destructive" fits better.
Bill, watch the first Dennis movie with
Mason Gamble.
Mathau was perfect for Mr Wilson.
JRW
Thanks Jim, I'll check it out!
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