Jeannie Russell

Jeannie Russell
Jeannie Russell in Dennis the Menace 1963 (cropped).jpg Russell as Margaret Wade on Dennis the Menace in 1963
Born	(1950-10-22) October 22, 1950 Pasco, Washington, U.S.
💼 Occupation	Actress, voice actress, chiropractor
📆 Years active	1958–1978

Jeannie Russell (born Jeanne K. Russell; October 22, 1950) 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.

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

Russell also appeared in 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 the 1976, she appeared as Abigail Stiles from Unique New York and The Letter People TV Series until her last appearance in the episode of the show “Meet Mister W” (1978), Abigail Stiles portrayed by a puppet.

She has done live theater and sound track work, as well as performing as a singer. In the 1990s, Russell was active on the national talk-show and news-feature circuit.

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.

Further reading

• Goldrup, Tom and Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 259–268. ISBN 1476613702. Search this book on

External sources

• Jeannie Russell on IMDb
• "Tinseltown Talks: Dennis the Menace’s ‘pain in the neck’ now cures them," by Nick Thomas For The Daily Item, Aug 27, 2015

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