section_path: Career/Adult years
section_name: Adult years
paragraph_text: Adult years
  
  After completing filming on the Maya television series, North found work as a voice actor for animated television series, providing the voices of Prince Turhan in the Arabian Knights segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Terry Dexter in Here Comes the Grump, and a teenaged Bamm-Bamm Rubble on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. In 1971, he left Hollywood for Chicago to perform in dinner theater, appearing in several stage productions, including principal roles in Norman, Is That You? and Butterflies Are Free. In January 1972, while appearing in Butterflies Are Free, 20-year-old North met actress Kathleen Brucher, who had a four-year-old son from a previous marriage. After touring with the production for over a year, the two returned to Los Angeles and were married on July 20, 1973, but the marriage lasted less than a year. The young couple separated in April 1974, and their divorce was final on October 21, 1974.
  
  In 1974, North appeared in his last starring role in the R-rated coming-of-age suspense thriller The Teacher, opposite Angel Tompkins. Though the film's adult themes were branded "vulgar" and "lurid" by some who still thought of North as his Dennis character from 10 years prior, Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas appreciated North's work in the film, writing,
  
  The plot of The Teacher isn't worth outlining, yet it develops a relationship between a 28-year-old woman and an 18-year-old high school boy with sensitivity and credibility unusual for an exploitation film. Avedis displays much concern for his people and allows Miss Tompkins and North plenty of room to give fresh, spontaneous performances.
  
  Over the next several years, North held onto the hope of being rediscovered by Hollywood and continued to take acting classes, but by early 1977, disillusioned with his career in show business, he left acting and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In January 1977, he reported to Navy boot camp at NTC Orlando. He was assigned to the USS Iwo Jima, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, as a seaman recruit boatswain's mate, the Navy's lowest rank. He received good evaluations for his work, but was unprepared for the harsh treatment he received from his shipmates and superiors for being a former child star. Within a year, he wanted out of the Navy. He then began his administrative process and was temporarily assigned on board the destroyer tender USS Dixie stationed in Long Beach, California. On August 10, 1979, he left the Dixie and the Navy with an honorable discharge and returned to Los Angeles.
  
  In 1980, he appeared in a cameo role in the television movie Scout's Honor, with other former child stars Angela Cartwright from The Danny Thomas Show, Lauren Chapin from Father Knows Best, and Paul Petersen from The Donna Reed Show. In 1982, he landed a week-long stint on the daytime soap General Hospital, but steady work in show business continued to elude him. Financially secure from real estate investments his mother had made with his earnings from Dennis The Menace and frustrated by the direction his career had taken, he retreated from public life for the next several years and worked in the health food industry. In 1984, he optioned the book Burn Judy, Burn for $5,000, hoping to play the lead role of executed killer Steven Judy. In his 1999 interview with E!, North spoke of his desire to play darker roles: "I was ready to play very dramatic, scary type characters. I thought maybe if I played some villains and scared the pants off of people, maybe Hollywood might take me seriously." However, the Steven Judy story never made it to the screen.
  
  In January 1986, North landed a small role in the Yugoslavian feature film Divlji Vetar (Wild Wind). Later that year, he read for the role of serial killer Ted Bundy in the television miniseries The Deliberate Stranger, but lost the part to Mark Harmon. Still interested in stories about serial killers, North decided to try his hand at screenwriting. His first script was about a 1984 prison break by six death-row inmates from Virginia 's Mecklenburg Correctional Center, but the screenplay was never completed. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, he appeared with other former television stars on news and talk shows such as Good Morning America, Donahue, and Oprah. In October 1988, he acted out his frustrations toward Hollywood in a comedy sketch on an episode of HBO 's Not Necessarily the News, satirizing his role as Dennis the Menace. Dressed in overalls, striped t-shirt, and cowlick, 37-year-old North portrayed an angry adult Dennis, taking revenge on "Hollywood pigs" with a telescopic rifle.
  
  After completing filming on the Maya television series, North found work as a voice actor for animated television series, providing the voices of Prince Turhan in the Arabian Knights segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Terry Dexter in Here Comes the Grump, and a teenaged Bamm-Bamm Rubble on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. In 1971, he left Hollywood for Chicago to perform in dinner theater, appearing in several stage productions, including principal roles in Norman, Is That You? and Butterflies Are Free. In January 1972, while appearing in Butterflies Are Free, 20-year-old North met actress Kathleen Brucher, who had a four-year-old son from a previous marriage. After touring with the production for over a year, the two returned to Los Angeles and were married on July 20, 1973, but the marriage lasted less than a year. The young couple separated in April 1974, and their divorce was final on October 21, 1974.
  
  In 1974, North appeared in his last starring role in the R-rated coming-of-age suspense thriller The Teacher, opposite Angel Tompkins. Though the film's adult themes were branded "vulgar" and "lurid" by some who still thought of North as his Dennis character from 10 years prior, Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas appreciated North's work in the film, writing,
  
  The plot of The Teacher isn't worth outlining, yet it develops a relationship between a 28-year-old woman and an 18-year-old high school boy with sensitivity and credibility unusual for an exploitation film. Avedis displays much concern for his people and allows Miss Tompkins and North plenty of room to give fresh, spontaneous performances.
  
  Over the next several years, North held onto the hope of being rediscovered by Hollywood and continued to take acting classes, but by early 1977, disillusioned with his career in show business, he left acting and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In January 1977, he reported to Navy boot camp at NTC Orlando. He was assigned to the USS Iwo Jima, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, as a seaman recruit boatswain's mate, the Navy's lowest rank. He received good evaluations for his work, but was unprepared for the harsh treatment he received from his shipmates and superiors for being a former child star. Within a year, he wanted out of the Navy. He then began his administrative process and was temporarily assigned on board the destroyer tender USS Dixie stationed in Long Beach, California. On August 10, 1979, he left the Dixie and the Navy with an honorable discharge and returned to Los Angeles.
  
  In 1980, he appeared in a cameo role in the television movie Scout's Honor, with other former child stars Angela Cartwright from The Danny Thomas Show, Lauren Chapin from Father Knows Best, and Paul Petersen from The Donna Reed Show. In 1982, he landed a week-long stint on the daytime soap General Hospital, but steady work in show business continued to elude him. Financially secure from real estate investments his mother had made with his earnings from Dennis The Menace and frustrated by the direction his career had taken, he retreated from public life for the next several years and worked in the health food industry. In 1984, he optioned the book Burn Judy, Burn for $5,000, hoping to play the lead role of executed killer Steven Judy. In his 1999 interview with E!, North spoke of his desire to play darker roles: "I was ready to play very dramatic, scary type characters. I thought maybe if I played some villains and scared the pants off of people, maybe Hollywood might take me seriously." However, the Steven Judy story never made it to the screen.
  
  In January 1986, North landed a small role in the Yugoslavian feature film Divlji Vetar (Wild Wind). Later that year, he read for the role of serial killer Ted Bundy in the television miniseries The Deliberate Stranger, but lost the part to Mark Harmon. Still interested in stories about serial killers, North decided to try his hand at screenwriting. His first script was about a 1984 prison break by six death-row inmates from Virginia 's Mecklenburg Correctional Center, but the screenplay was never completed. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, he appeared with other former television stars on news and talk shows such as Good Morning America, Donahue, and Oprah. In October 1988, he acted out his frustrations toward Hollywood in a comedy sketch on an episode of HBO 's Not Necessarily the News, satirizing his role as Dennis the Menace. Dressed in overalls, striped t-shirt, and cowlick, 37-year-old North portrayed an angry adult Dennis, taking revenge on "Hollywood pigs" with a telescopic rifle.