LAKE BUTLER, Fla. — Jay North, who starred as the towheaded mischief maker on TV’s “Dennis the Menace” for four seasons starting in 1959, has died. He was 73.

North died Sunday at his home in Lake Butler, Florida, after battling colon cancer, said Laurie Jacobson, a longtime friend, and Bonnie Vent, who was his booking agent.

“He had a heart as big as a mountain, loved his friends deeply. He called us frequently and ended every conversation with ‘I love you with all my heart,’” Jacobson wrote in a tribute on Facebook.

North was 6 when he was cast as the smiling troublemaker in the CBS sitcom adaptation of Hank Ketcham’s popular comic strip that took place in an idyllic American suburb.

Often wearing a striped shirt and overalls, Dennis’ mischievous antics frequently frustrated his retired next-door neighbor George Wilson, played by Joseph Kearns. Dennis’ patient parents were played by Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry.

The show ran on Sunday nights until it was canceled in 1963. After that it was a fixture for decades in syndication.

Later, North appeared on TV in shows including “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Lucy Show,” “My Three Sons,” “Lassie” and “The Simpsons,” and in movies like “Maya” (1966), “The Teacher” (1974) and “Dickie Robert: Former Child Star” (2003).

North is survived by his third wife, Cindy, and three stepdaughters.

LOS ANGELES — Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.

“While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the oval office nor by the wealthiest among us,” Harris said after receiving the NAACP’s Chairman’s Award. “The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people.”

The 56th annual Image Awards was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the Los Angeles area.

Harris, defeated by Trump in last year’s presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state’s attorney general.

In her first major public appearance since leaving office, Harris did not reference her election loss or Trump’s actions since entering the Oval Office, although Trump mocked her earlier in the day at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Harris spoke about eternal vigilance, the price of liberty, staying alert, seeking the truth and America’s future.

“Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask ‘What do we do now?’” Harris said. “But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before. And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate. We advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path.”

Other winners of the Chairman’s prize have included former President Barack Obama, the late Rep. John Lewis and the late actor Ruby Dee.

Harris was honored during the ceremony along with the Wayans family. The family was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame in recognition of pioneering contributions to film, TV, sketch and stand-up comedy that have shaped Hollywood for decades.

Keenen Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr., Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kim Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. each were recognized.

Marlon Wayans, whose guest appearance on Peacock’s “Bel-Air” was up for an NAACP award, shared how Keenen Ivory Wayans sparked the family’s rise.

“He raised us all like Jedis,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our big brother.”

Marlon Wayans joked that when his brother told their mom he was leaving college for comedy, she said, ”Boy, I’ve known you your whole life, and you ain’t never said nothing funny. That’s the funniest thing you’ve said.”

The crowd erupted in laughter, a fitting tribute to a family that has kept audiences laughing for more than three decades.

The family has a long list of credits. Keenen Ivory Wayans created the sketch comedy series “In Living Color” in 1990 and directed the 2000 slasher spoof “Scary Movie,” which was written by Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans, who also wrote and starred in “White Chicks” in 2004. Damon Wayan’s had a starring role in the 1995 comedy “Major Payne,” and currently co-stars with son Damon Wayans Jr. in the CBS sitcom “Poppa’s House,” which was nominated for an NAACP Award. The pair also were nominated for their acting on the show.

Damon Wayans Jr. has acted in two of the most critically acclaimed comedies in recent years: “Happy Endings” and “New Girl.” Kim Wayans, a comedian, actor and director, also received praise for her work in the 2011 drama “Pariah.”

Keke Palmer expressed her surprise after her name was called as winner of the coveted entertainment of the year.

“Oh my gosh. Guys, I didn’t think I was going to win,” said Palmer, who paid homage to fellow nominee Cynthia Erivo’s Oscar-nominated performance in “Wicked.”

Palmer starred in the buddy comedy “One of Them Days,” which debuted No. 1 at the box office last month. She also won an Emmy for her hosting efforts on NBC’s “Password.”

“It’s such an amazing category to be in with all these people,” Palmer said. “It’s a beautiful night. It’s Black History Month, y’all. It’s so important we all come here together and celebrate one another with one another.”

Other nominees included Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe.

Image Awards host Deon Cole honored residents of the nearby Altadena neighborhood who were affected by January’s devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires.

A video of the fire devastation played before actor Morris Chestnut took the stage.

“Homes were lost, stores destroyed, countless lives shattered and over two dozens souls gone forever,” said Chestnut, a Los Angeles native who referenced impacted areas such as Altadena, the Pacific Palisades and Malibu.

“But what was not lost is the spirit of our community,” said Chestnut, who noted 22 Altadena residents attended the show on Saturday. Many in the audience stood and applauded.

Cole shifted tone and brightened the mood with a comedic prayer for Kanye West’s wife to find more clothes after her barely-there Grammys look and for Shannon Sharpe to finally size up his T-shirts.

The opening act was a lead-up to the evening’s first award: Queen Latifah as best actress in a drama series for her role in “The Equalizer.”

Dave Chappelle was honored with the President’s Award for his “thought-provoking humor.”

Accepting the award, Chappelle talked about the NAACP’s push against negative portrayals of Black people in media and the importance of representation.

“Every opportunity we get, we just keep chipping away at this monster of a machine,” he said.

Past recipients of the President’s Award include Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Usher, Rihanna and John Legend.

WASHINGTON — The Keke Palmer buddy comedy “One of Them Days” opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” by a hair. By the end of Monday’s holiday, “Mufasa” will have the edge, however.

“One of Them Days” cost only $14 million to produce, which it is expected to earn by Monday. The very well-reviewed buddy comedy stars Palmer and SZA as friends and roommates scrambling to get money for rent before their landlord evicts them. Notably it’s the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since “Girls Trip” came out in 2017 and it currently carries a stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

But the marketplace was also quite weak overall. The total box office for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will add up to less than $80 million, according to data from Comscore, making it one of the worst Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997.

“For an individual film like ‘One of Them Days’ this was a great weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “You can still find success stories within what is overall a low grossing weekend for movie theaters.”

The Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa” was close by in second place with $11.5 million from the weekend, its fifth playing in theaters. Globally, the Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has made $588 million. It even beat a brand-new offering, the Blumhouse horror “Wolf Man,” which debuted in third place with $10.6 million from 3,354 North American theaters.

Writer-director Leigh Whannell’s monster tale starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner did not enter theaters with great reviews. It currently carries a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews don’t generally affect the success of horror movies in their first weekend, but audiences also gave it a lackluster C- CinemaScore in exit polls. The Blumhouse production and Universal Pictures release cost a reported $25 million to make and is expected to reach $12 million by the close of Monday’s holiday.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3″ was in fourth place with $8.6 million and “Den of Thieves 2” rounded out the top five with $6.6 million.

In specialty releases, Brady Corbert’s 215-minute post-war epic “The Brutalist” expanded to 388 screens where it made nearly $2 million over the weekend. A24 reported that it sold out various 70mm and IMAX showings. The studio also re-released its Colman Domingo drama “Sing Sing” in theaters and prisons, where over 1 million incarcerated people in 46 states were able to view the film.

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend has seen major successes in the past. Dergarabedian noted “Bad Boys for Life,” which had a three-day opening of $62.5 million in 2020, and “American Sniper,” which earned $89.3 in its first weekend in wide release in 2016.

“This is a year that’s going to get a big boost starting with ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ and ‘Paddington in Peru’ in February,” Dergarabedian said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “One of Them Days,” $11.6 million.

2. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $11.5 million.

3. “Wolf Man,” $10.6 million.

4. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” $8.6 million.

5. “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,” $6.6 million.

6. “Moana 2,” $6.1 million.

7. “Nosferatu,” $4.3 million.

8. “A Complete Unknown,” $3.8 million.

9. “Wicked,” $3.6 million.

10. “Babygirl,” $2 million.

When the Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood’s awards season was in full swing. The Golden Globes had transpired less than 48 hours earlier and a series of splashy awards banquets followed in the days after.

But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California has quickly snuffed out all festiveness in the movie industry’s high season of celebration. At one point, the flames even encroached on the hillside above the Dolby Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards.

The fires have struck at the very heart of a movie industry still trying to stabilize itself after years of pandemic, labor turmoil and technological upheaval. Not for the first time this decade, the Oscars are facing the question of: Should the show go on? And if it does, what do they mean now?

“With ALL due respect during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have gathered to victims of the fires and the firefighters,” “Hacks” star Jean Smart, a recent Globe winner, wrote on Instagram.

The Oscars remain as scheduled, but it’s certain that they will be transformed due to the wildfires, and that most of the red-carpet pomp that typically stretches between now and then will be curtailed if not altogether canceled. With so many left without a home by the fires, there’s scant appetite for the usual self-congratulatory parades of the season.

Focus has turned, instead, to what the Oscars might symbolize for a traumatized Los Angeles. The Oscars have never meant less, but, at the same time, they might be more important than ever as a beacon of perseverance for the reeling movie capital.

The film academy on Monday for the second time delayed its nominations announcement. Nominations will now be announced virtually on Feb. 23. The academy also canceled its annual nominees luncheon and said it’s planning to honor frontline workers and to support relief efforts.

“We will get through this together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community,” vowed Bill Kramer, academy chief executive, and Janet Yang, academy president.

The fires, one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history, continue. The ongoing nature of the crisis, which has killed at least 25 people, has made remaking well-laid plans a moving target. The Critics Choice Awards have been postponed. Nominations to the Producers Guild Awards have been delayed twice with no new date set. On Tuesday, the guild established a fund to support producers affected by the fires.

The 67th Grammy Awards, scheduled to be held Feb. 2 in downtown Los Angeles, are going forward, albeit with significant changes. Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy chief executive and Board of Trustees chair Tammy Hurt said this year’s Grammys “will carry a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours.”

Some telethon-like element also seems sure to accompany the Oscars. In recent days, many throughout the industry have voiced suggestions for how the broadcast could be reconsidered. A not dissimilar process happened during the 2021 Oscars, which were postponed to late April because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oscars have been moved a few times throughout history, including in 1938, when the show was delayed a week due to historic flooding in Los Angeles.

For the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the wildfires have been acutely personal. Four of the academy’s 55-person board of governors lost their homes, according to The Hollywood Reporter, including producer Lynette Howell Taylor, visual effects governor Brooke Breton, sound branch governor Mark P. Stoeckinger and animation branch governor Jinko Gotoh. The Pacific Palisades, which was largely destroyed by the fires, was home to many stars and executives.

For potential nominees, this would normally be when they’d be at their most active, campaigning in Q&As and other events tied to the all-important nominations voting period. All of that has ground to a halt. Isabella Rossellini, who’s favored to be nominated for best supporting actress for her performance in “Conclave,” on Instagram posted a photograph of an Oscar lying in ashes. The photo turned out to be fake, but it accurately captured Hollywood’s current mood.

Several high-profile TV series were forced to pause production because of the fires but notably few movie shoots were affected. That, in itself, is a reflection of a Hollywood that has seen the majority of film production seek tax incentives in other states.

Work throughout the film and TV industry hasn’t rebounded following the 2023 strikes, leaving large numbers of crew members unemployed. So quiet are studio lots that actress Natalie Morales (“Grey’s Anatomy”) has advocated for studios, in the wake of the fires, to turn empty soundstages into temporary classrooms, erected by out-of-work craftspeople, for children whose schools burned down.

It’s a reminder that many in the film business need all the work they can find, including all the jobs that accompany the Oscars. Not only are the Academy Awards a vital spotlight on a wide swath of movies that otherwise might struggle to find audiences, the awards provide a lot of jobs to an awards season industrial complex of workers, stylists and vendors.

With so many out of work before the fires hit, Silvina Knight, an Emmy-winning makeup artist, calls this latest crisis “another setback – a big one.” She is currently working on “Suits LA,” one of the series that stopped filming due to the fires.

“I’m not sure how people are going to feel about getting dressed up and when they just lost everything,” said Knight of the Oscars. “But I don’t know, it might be a show of force when we come back. Yeah, this is tragic, but we are all coming together. Even driving home the other night, motorists were being very considerate of each other, which is unusual for Los Angeles.”

LAS VEGAS — It was on a school playground where she learned her last name carries weight, when another girl pointed a finger at her and ordered the other kids to follow her.

“Let’s go,” the girl said. “That’s a Capone.”

Diane Capone Pette is the granddaughter of Al Capone, one of the most infamous mobsters in American history who was nicknamed “Scarface” for a slash he got in a fight. His legacy in the public eye is marked by violence, prison time and crime. His reign starting in the 1920s over the Chicago Outfit has inspired dozens of shows and movies, including the 1983 film “Scarface” starring Al Pacino.

At home, Pette said Capone led a very different life.

“He was not one-dimensional. He was a man of many facets,” Pette told The Associated Press. “He seemed to have the capacity to be quite ruthless and aggressive,” and on the other hand, she said, “this was also a man who was incredibly loving and loyal to family and friends.”

A rare glimpse into that part of Capone’s life will be on display for the public in a new exhibit, “The First Public Enemy,” opening Wednesday at the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. For the first time, the public can get an up-close look at Capone’s favorite personal weapon and a short home movie shot by the mob boss himself in 1929.

After Capone’s death in 1947 of natural causes, his belongings stayed in the family for decades. First with his wife and son, and then after their deaths, with his four granddaughters. Two including Pette are still alive.

Pette, 81, and her sisters auctioned some of their grandfather’s belongings a few years ago, afraid they might lose them to the wildfires common in California where they now live, or that the items would be lost or forgotten after their own deaths.

One of their most treasured hand-me-downs was Capone’s favorite weapon, a Colt 1911 .45-caliber pistol that was popular during World War I.

“He called her — we refer to it as a her — his sweetheart,” Pette said.

In family lore, the pistol has taken on its own identity as a faithful companion to Capone, credited with saving the mobster more than once.

“She saved him, and so she was very special to him and so very special to us,” Pette said.

Geoff Shumacher, historian and vice president of exhibits and programs at the museum, said the artifacts from the Capone family collection are one of a kind. Most of the items already sold by the family at auction went to personal collectors, he said, adding, “this a slice of life that you can get nowhere else except at the museum.”

In 1929, a few years before Capone was convicted of federal tax evasion and sent to prison for seven years, he filmed a short home movie at his Miami waterfront mansion.

Capone is behind the camera and never appears in the black-and-white silent film, but it showcases a day with friends by the pool and on a boat. Two of those friends are fellow mobsters Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello.

The Mob Museum has the only physical copy of the 12-minute and 20-second home movie, which was captured on 16mm film. A shorter version of the film will play at the museum.

In it, Luciano is on the high dive above the pool with a towel around his neck while Costello sits poolside, watching people take turns jumping into the water. Later, they get on a boat, and Capone’s footage captures Luciano and Costello sitting together, smiling.

After Capone was released from prison in 1939, he retired from mob life and spent his final years in the Miami mansion.

Pette was 3 when her grandfather died, but some of her earliest memories are with her “Papa.” Their January birthdays were days apart, and she can remember sitting on his lap while blowing out the candles together on their cake.

Her last and most vivid memory of him was just before his death. Capone was sick and in bed, and Pette’s father — Capone’s only son — placed her on the bed to say goodbye.

Pette kissed the mobster’s cheek. Capone said, “I love you, baby girl.”

“And that was the last thing he said to me,” Pette said.

NEW YORK — On a quiet weekend in movie theaters, while much of Hollywood’s attention was on the wildfires that continue to rage in Los Angeles, Lionsgate’s “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” debuted atop the box office with $15.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Mid-January is often a slow moviegoing period, and that was slightly exacerbated by the closures of about 10 theaters in Los Angeles, the country’s top box-office market.

A sequel to the Gerard Butler 2018 heist thriller, “Den of Thieves 2” performed similarly to the original. The first installment, released by STX, opened with $15.2 million seven years ago. O’Shea Jackson Jr. co-stars in the sequel, which debuted in 3,008 North American theaters.

Butler’s films are becoming something of a regular feature in January. He also starred in “Plane,” which managed $32.1 million after launching on Jan. 13 in 2023.

“Den of Thieves 2,” made for about $40 million, was a bit more costly to make. Audiences liked it well enough, giving it a “B+” CinemaScore. Reviews (58% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) weren’t particularly good. But it counted as Lionsgate’s first No.1 opening since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in November 2023.

Also entering wide release over the weekend was the Robbie Williams movie “Better Man,” one of the more audacious spins on the music biopic in recent years. Rather than going the more tradition routes of Elton John (“Rocketman”) or Elvis Presley (“Elvis”), the British popstar is portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee in Michael Gracey’s film.

The Paramount Pictures release, produced for $110 million and acquired by Paramount for $25 million, didn’t catch on much better than Williams’ previous forays into the United States. It tanked, with $1.1 million in ticket sales from 1,291 locations. Gracey’s previous feature, 2017’s “The Greatest Showman” ($459 million worldwide), fared far better in theaters. Reviews, however, have been very good for “Better Man.”

It was bested by “The Last Showgirl,” the Las Vegas drama starring Pamela Anderson. The Roadside Attractions release expanded to 870 theaters and collected $1.5 million.

Also outdoing “Better Man” was Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist.” Coming off winning best drama at the Golden Globes, the A24 postwar epic grossed a hefty $1.4 million from just 68 locations. It expands wider in the coming weeks.

The weekend’s lion share of business went to holiday holdovers, including “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” “Nosferatu” and “Moana 2.”

In its fourth week of release, Barry Jenkins “Mufasa” continued to do well, adding $13.2 million to bring its total to $539.7 million worldwide. Also on its fourth weekend, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” padded its $384.8 million global total with $11 million. Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu,” the surprise hit of the Christmas period, collected $6.8 million in ticket sales, bringing the vampire tale to $81.1 million domestically.

The Walt Disney Co.’s “Moana 2,” in its seventh week of release, added $6.5 million to bring its global tally to $989.8 million. In the coming days, it will become the third Disney film released in 2024 to notch $1 billion, joining “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool and Wolverine.”

Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,” $15.5 million.

2. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $13.2 million.

3. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” $11 million.

4. “Nosferatu,” $6.8 million.

5. “Moana 2,” $6.5 million.

6. “A Complete Unknown,” $5 million.

7. “Wicked,” $5 million.

8. “Babygirl,” $3.1 million.

9. “Game Changer,” $1.9 million.

10. “The Last Showgirl,” $1.5 million.

A student injured his teacher and several other students in a knife attack at his school in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, police said Friday

ZAGREB, Croatia — A student injured his teacher and several other students in a knife attack at his school in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, police said Friday.

They said the attack happened at 9:50 a.m. at a school in the Precko neighborhood. They described the attacker as a “young male” and said he had been detained. They did not confirm media reports that one student had died.

Video footage published by Croatian media showed children running away from the school building.