Why We Sti Love Leave It to Beaver
BY MATT ROUSH
Boys will be boys.
That fact of life has rarely been more affectionately portrayed than on Leave It to Beaver. The eternally appealing family comedy depicts the misadventures of Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, a mischievous though never mean-spirited kid who vexed but also amused his older brother Wally and their wise and loving parents, Ward and June.
Bridging the 1950s, when The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and Father Knows Best set the wholesome tone, and the more raucous 1960s of The Beverly Hillbillies and its wacky offshoots, the original five-season run of Beaver (1957 to 1963) remains a timeless piece of idealized Americana. It provides a gentle and whimsical time capsule of the way families wished they were. In the safe suburban idyll of Mayfield, small everyday problems are magnified through the lens of a well-meaning grade schooler, and no dilemma is so great that it can’t be resolved by a sincere sit-down with Dad.
Why “Beaver”? There are several origin stories for his peculiar moniker. One version is that cocreator Joe Connelly intended it as an homage to a World War II shipmate nicknamed “Beaver.” Another is that in Cleaver family lore, Wally couldn’t pronounce his baby brother Theodore’s name, favoring “Tweedor,” and Ward and June adapted the malapropism into “Beaver,” which stuck.
By any name, Beaver is adorable, and Jerry Mathers was a natural. A child actor in commercials since age 2, Mathers’ most notable pre-Beaver role was in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 dark comedy The Trouble With Harry as the tyke who discovers Harry’s body. Impressing producers during his audition by telling them he’d rather be at a Cub Scout meeting (how Beaver of him), Mathers projected an awshucks innocence as “the Beav” that softened even his most aggravating escapades.
His rapport with novice actor Tony Dow as allAmerican heartthrob Wally, the golden-boy jock who barely tolerated his pesky kid brother, was essential to the show’s success. “You know something, Wally? I’d rather do nothin’ with you than somethin’ with anybody else,” Beaver once confessed. Hanging with the Cleavers soon became a favorite pastime.
An early Season 1 episode, “The Haircut,” epitomizes the show’s heartwarming allure. When Beaver loses the money his dad gave him for a haircut, Wally helps the frantic lad cut it himself—badly, of course—and both try to cover up the mess by wearing stocking caps to dinner. When Ward discovers the ruse, his decision to punish them is defused by June, who reminds him that Beaver was merely acting out of fear over losing the money. Ward’s heartto-heart involves a promise that the boys never be afraid to tell them when there’s a problem.
“Dear, do you think all parents have this much trouble?” June asked Ward after another mountain was made of a molehill. “No, just parents with children,” Ward sighed.
Leave It to Beaver is unimaginable without Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley as the unflappable authority figures, who ruled their household firmly but fairly. June performed her domestic duties in pearls with nary a hair nor pleat out of place, and Ward’s office job never seemed to get in the way of finding time for his sons. Were there ever such perfect parents? Probably not, but their low-key performances, delivered with sly acknowledgment of the absurdity of their kids’ situations, made the Cleavers still seem somehow down to earth.
When the boys’ antics weren’t enough, more comic relief was provided by their friends: Beaver’s awkward buddy Larry Mondello (Robert “Rusty” Stevens), the blustery Clarence “Lumpy” Rutherford (Frank Bank) and especially the smarmy Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), who hid his sharp and derisive tongue behind an oily obsequiousness whenever an adult would appear.
An Eddie Haskell classic: “Oh, good afternoon, Mrs. Cleaver. I was just telling Wallace how pleasant it would be for Theodore to accompany us to the movies.” As if.
Despite the series’ many charms, Beaver never cracked the Top 30 in ratings and was even dropped by CBS after its first season, moving to ABC for the rest of its original run. It wasn’t until the show went into daily national syndication that generations of fans discovered and embraced the Cleaver way of life. Long may Theodore, Wally, Ward and June reside among our favorite TV families.
Believe it or not, there was a time when families gathered together every night, united by a single screen—the TV. Granted, it was forever ago, but it happened. In the July 13, 1996, TV GUIDE MAGAZINE cover story, audiences lamented the loss of wholesome early evening programming, replaced by edgier content. With networks shifting their focus from families to young adults, Golden Age classics like Leave It to Beaver vanished. The article even joked that, had the series aired in the ’90s, June Cleaver would’ve worn bustiers. Whether or not she would have, one thing was certain: The times were a-changin’.
Jerry Mathers Interview
All Grown Up
From a 2023 issue of Remind Magazine: Jerry Mathers talks Beaver, his infamous audition as a Cub Scout and how his German shepherd saved his life
BY BARB OATES
Jerry Mathers Interview
Jerry Mathers was everyone’s favorite kid brother in Leave It to Beaver, playing Theodore Cleaver—“the Beaver”—in 235 episodes between 1957 and 1963.
After the show’s run, Mathers finished school and then served in the California Air National Guard. In the years after, he continued to make TV appearances on shows like The Love Boat and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, as well as playing the grown-up version of the Beaver in The New Leave It to Beaver (1983–89). In 1997 Mathers was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, lost 55 lbs. on the advice of his doctor and became the first male spokesperson for Jenny Craig.
The now 74-year-old is still one of the most beloved child actors who regularly makes himself accessible to his fans on social media, as well as by touring the country and sharing his memories.
WHAT MAKES HIM THE PROUDEST ABOUT PLAYING THE BEAVER
When we talked to Mathers, he told us why he still looks back so proudly to his role and the show’s lasting longevity, as it still airs on nostalgia channels.
“What makes me most proud is the longevity of it,” Mathers says. “Most shows that were on and they quit making, they just disappeared. Usually with a series, you do 39 shows a year, but with Leave It to Beaver, we did 39 and it just kept going and going and people really liked it. It’s amazing to have done something as a
“It’s amazing to have done something that people are still watching and saying, ‘You were so good’”
child that people are still watching and coming up to me and say, ‘Oh, you were so good.’ And I say, ‘Well, thank you very much.’ But it’s been on since 1957, and it’s never been off the air. And it’s not only in this country—it plays all over the world. Now in Japan, it’s funny to watch it because not only do I speak it, but it’s a little girl’s voice.”
In the Japanese version of the show, Mathers tells us his character and sitcom are called “Happy Boy and His Family.”
“Some people think, ‘Oh, it was just in the United States.’ It played all over the world. I would get things from Japan and all over Europe. And a lot of times fans would say, ‘Excuse my broken English in my letter, but I really like the show’ and whatever. It kind of brought American culture to
“Between
takes, we’d throw footballs, throw baseballs—it was
like an
extended family” Jerry Mathers Interview
a lot of places that didn’t really know much about America.”
“Leave It to Beaver was about a little boy growing up in the ’50s and ’60s. And kids are still doing the same things. People say, ‘Oh, but that was the ’50s,’ but kids still do all the same things. It’s a show that kids and parents can relate to.”
ON-SET FUN AND WHAT HE REALLY WANTED TO BE DOING
When it came to playing the Beaver, we asked Mathers if his offscreen personality mirrored any elements in the Beaver.
“Well, I got in a lot less trouble,” he laughs. “But then again, I had a lot of people watching me all the time. Because when I was doing the show, there were about 60 men and probably eight or nine
women on the show. These were lighting people and all the different things that they have to do to make a series. Between takes, when I wasn’t doing things, they would come out and we’d play—throw footballs, throw baseballs. It was like an extended family. There was a whole bunch of people, and they wanted me not to say, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’”
HIS INFAMOUS AUDITION
Although working as a child actor was fun at times, Mathers was very honest during his original audition for Leave It to Beaver.
“I came dressed in a Cub Scout uniform, so that should have been a big clue. I had my very first Cub Scout meeting, and I walked in, and I had seen them probably three or four times, maybe even more than that. I don’t really remember, but they had seen me a certain way. And this time they said, ‘Jerry, what’s the matter here? Don’t you want to be here?’ I said, ‘No.’ They went, ‘You don’t want to be here?’ And I said, ‘No, I’ve got a Cub Scout meeting.’ And they said I could go. And my mom, who had been taking me for quite a few weeks—we didn’t know that I’d already been picked to be the Beaver, but what they were doing was getting other fathers and mothers and Wallys so that we could have the whole family. So I walked in and about probably five minutes later, I walked out, and my mom went, ‘What happened?’ And I said, ‘Well, they asked me if I wanted
From the Archives
From the Archives
From the Oct. 8, 1960, edition of TV GUIDE MAGAZINE
CLEAVER, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER
JUNE CLEAVER, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER
dress Mrs. Haskell’s
nature aside, to Who was together than Beaver’s June (Barbara From 1957 (Tony Beav’s Mathers) mom emblem of calm, doing impeccably in matter what sons cooked so nice for Ward (Hugh to come
“That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing, Mrs. Cleaver.” Eddie Haskell’s (Ken Osmond) obsequious nature aside, the kid was on to something. Who was more put together than Leave It to Beaver’s June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley)? From 1957 to 1963, Wally (Tony Dow) and the Beav’s (Jerry Mathers) mom was an emblem of domestic calm, doing housework impeccably in pearls. No matter what mischief her sons cooked up, she was so nice for husband Ward (Hugh Beaumont) to come home to.
WORD SEARCH
THE 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR
Missing
Barbara Billingsley television and film image. To solve the a part of Barbara’s grid. The words can working your way row, with some words next. The words are particular order. Here are the 10 words to fill:
WORD SEARCH
THE 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR
She was named after a summer month, most likely because June Cleaver was all sunshine and happiness. Find the 12 calendar months in the puzzle below.
She was named after a summer month, most likely because June Cleaver was all sunshine and happiness. Find the 12 calendar months in the puzzle below.
8
or
the
