Lisa Mondello Popular Books

Lisa Mondello Biography & Facts

Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It stars Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers ("as The Beaver", as the opening credits put it). CBS first broadcast the show on October 4, 1957, but dropped it after one season. ABC picked it up and aired it for another five years, from October 2, 1958, to June 20, 1963. It proved to be a scheduling challenge for both networks, moving through four time slots (Wednesday through Saturday evenings) over the course of its run. The series was produced by Gomalco Productions from 1957 to 1961, and then by Kayro Productions from 1961 to 1963. It was distributed by Revue Studios. Leave It to Beaver never broke into the Nielsen Ratings top 30 in its six-season run. However, it proved to be much more popular in reruns. It also led to an unsuccessful 1997 film of the same name. Premise The show is built around young Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) and the trouble he gets himself into while navigating an often-incomprehensible, sometimes illogical world. Supposedly, when he was a baby, his older brother Wallace "Wally" (Tony Dow) mispronounced "Theodore" as "Tweedor". Their firm-but-loving parents, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley), felt "Beaver" sounded better. Conversely, Mathers has said that the real reason for the name "Beaver" is that one of the show's writers, Joe Connelly, had a shipmate named "The Beaver" in World War II; from that came the family's name, "Cleaver." Beaver's friends include the perpetually apple-munching Larry Mondello (Rusty Stevens) in the early seasons, and, later, Gilbert Bates (Stephen Talbot), as well as the old fireman, Gus (Burt Mustin). His sweet-natured-but-no-nonsense elementary school teachers are Miss Canfield (to whom Beaver declares his love in the episode entitled "Beaver's Crush") (Diane Brewster), Miss Landers (Sue Randall) and Mrs. Rayburn (Doris Packer), the school's principal. In the early seasons, Beaver's nemesis in class is Judy Hensler (Jeri Weil). In its first season, Beaver's brother Wally was in eighth grade and 13 years old, while Beaver was 7 and in second grade—a six-year age difference; in real life, the two actors were only three years apart. By the series' end, the boys were inexplicably only four years apart, with Wally graduating from high school and Beaver graduating from grammar school. Wally is popular with both peers and adults, getting into trouble much less frequently than some of the other characters. He letters in three sports. He has little difficulty attracting girlfriends, among them Mary Ellen Rogers (Pamela Baird) and Julie Foster (Cheryl Holdridge). His pals include the awkward Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford (Frank Bank) and smart aleck Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), the archetype of the two-faced wise guy, a braggart among his peers and an obsequious yes man to the adults he mocks behind their backs. Eddie often picks on the Beaver. The family lives in the fictional town of Mayfield. Beaver attends Grant Ave. Grammar School, and Wally, Mayfield High School (after graduating from Grant Ave. in season one). Cast Main characters Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver: Billingsley has said that June Cleaver's wardrobe was more than a fashion statement. The pearl necklace hid a hollow (caused by a surgical scar) in her neck which would have caused shadows and high-heeled shoes were employed to offset the boys' growing height. Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver: Before he made Ward Cleaver his acting trademark, Beaumont sometimes played villains in film and television. He directed a number of Leave It to Beaver episodes in the last two seasons, including the final one, the retrospective "Family Scrapbook". Tony Dow as Wally Cleaver Jerry Mathers as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: The casting directors noticed that Mathers was uneasy at the auditions and asked him where he would rather be. Mathers replied that he would rather be at his Cub Scout den meeting, where he was going after the audition. That boyish innocence got Mathers the part of Beaver. Supporting characters Ken Osmond as Eddie Haskell Eddie Haskell's parents played by: Karl Swenson in two 1958 episodes, "Train Trip" and "Voodoo Magic" Anne Barton in two 1963 episodes, "Summer in Alaska" and "The Credit Card" George O. Petrie in two 1963 episodes, "Summer in Alaska" and "The Credit Card" Diane Brewster as Miss Canfield (October 4, 1957 – March 21, 1958 air dates), Beaver's first teacher at Grant Ave. Grammar School. Brewster also played Miss Simms in the pilot episode. Sue Randall as Miss Alice Landers (October 16, 1958 – June 20, 1963), Beaver's teacher, replacing Miss Canfield Doris Packer as Mrs. Rayburn, the principal of Grant Avenue Grammar School Stephen Talbot as Gilbert Bates (March 19, 1959 – June 6, 1963): Appears first as an insecure braggart, becomes a character who constantly gets Beaver in trouble, and ends up as Beaver's best friend. Rusty Stevens as Larry Mondello (November 22, 1957 – 1960) Madge Blake as Margaret Mondello, Larry's mother Richard Correll as Richard Rickover (April 30, 1960 – October 18, 1962) Stanley Fafara as Hubert "Whitey" Whitney (October 4, 1957 – June 6, 1963) Jeri Weil as Judy Hensler (October 4, 1957 – October 15, 1960) Burt Mustin as Gus the fireman, head of Auxiliary Firehouse No. 7 (October 4, 1957 – February 24, 1962) Frank Bank as Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford Richard Deacon as Fred Rutherford, Lumpy's pompous, demanding father and Ward Cleaver's equally pompous, smug co-worker Buddy Hart as Chester Anderson Tiger Fafara (Stanley Fafara's brother) as Tooey Brown, Wally's friend Pamela Baird as Mary Ellen Rogers (April 16, 1958 – June 20, 1963), Wally's first girlfriend Cheryl Holdridge as Julie Foster (January 7, 1961 – April 11, 1963), another of Wally's girlfriends Episodes The pilot, titled "It's a Small World", aired on April 23, 1957. It featured Max Showalter (credited as Casey Adams) as Ward Cleaver, and Paul Sullivan as Wally Cleaver. TBS re-aired the pilot on October 4, 1987, to commemorate the show's 30th anniversary. TV Land re-aired it on October 6, 2007, as part of their twenty-four-hour marathon to commemorate the show's 50th anniversary. It is also available as a bonus episode on the season-one DVD; 234 episodes followed. A voice-over by Hugh Beaumont precedes each episode in the first season, providing a background to that episode's theme, though these are omitted in airings on TV Land. Opening titles Season one: The characters are not shown. A drawing of a street, viewed from above, displays the credits in wet concrete. Season two: Ward and June, standing at the bottom of the stairs, see the boys off to school as they come down the stairs and exit the front door. Season three: Ward and June enter the boys' bedroom to wake them. Season four: Ward and June open the front door and stand on the st.... Discover the Lisa Mondello popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lisa Mondello books.