Leave It to Beaver
The misadventures of young Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver and his family.
Leave It to Beaver was a TV sitcom about a suburban boy, his family, and friends, with Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Sitcom; Children's television series
- Creator
- Joe Connelly; Bob Mosher
- Starring
- Hugh Beaumont
- Barbara Billingsley
- Tony Dow
- Jerry Mathers
- Theme music
- David Kahn
- Melvyn Leonard
- Mort Greene
- Opening theme
- "The Toy Parade"
- Composer
- Pete Rugolo (1957–62); Paul Smith (1962–63)
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Premise
The series centers on Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, a young boy whose curiosity and misunderstandings of the adult world often land him in trouble. His nickname originated either from his older brother Wally's babyish mispronunciation of "Theodore" as "Tweedor," which their parents preferred, or, according to actor Jerry Mathers, from a World War II shipmate of writer Joe Connelly, who was called "The Beaver" and inspired the family surname "Cleaver." Beaver's early friends include the ever-present apple-eater Larry Mondello, later replaced by Gilbert Bates, along with elderly firefighter Gus. His teachers are Miss Canfield, Miss Landers, and principal Mrs. Rayburn, while Judy Hensler serves as an early classroom rival. In season one, Wally is 12 and in eighth grade, Beaver is 7 and in second grade, but by the finale, the age gap shrinks to four years, with Wally graduating high school and Beaver finishing grammar school. Wally, popular and rarely in trouble, excels in three sports and dates girls like Mary Ellen Rogers and Julie Foster. His friends include the clumsy Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford and the two-faced Eddie Haskell, who bullies Beaver while flattering adults. The Cleavers reside in the fictional, unspecified town of Mayfield, where Beaver attends Grant Avenue Grammar School and Wally goes to Mayfield High School.
Cast
Barbara Billingsley, who played June Cleaver, once explained that her character’s wardrobe served practical purposes: the pearl necklace concealed a hollow in her neck that would otherwise create shadows on camera, and the high heels helped her keep eye level with her growing sons. Hugh Beaumont, known for his role as Ward Cleaver, had earlier portrayed villains in other film and television work. He also directed several episodes of the show during its final two seasons, including the series finale, a retrospective titled "Family Scrapbook." Tony Dow played Wally Cleaver. Jerry Mathers was cast as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver after casting directors noticed his nervousness at auditions; when asked where he would rather be, he said he preferred his Cub Scout den meeting, which he planned to attend afterward. That genuine, boyish quality won him the part. Ken Osmond played Eddie Haskell. Diane Brewster played Miss Canfield, Beaver’s first teacher, and also appeared as Miss Simms in the pilot. Sue Randall took over as Miss Alice Landers, Beaver’s subsequent teacher. Doris Packer played Mrs. Rayburn, the school principal. Stephen Talbot played Gilbert Bates, who began as an insecure braggart, often got Beaver into trouble, and eventually became his best friend. Rusty Stevens played Larry Mondello. Other cast members included Majel Barrett, Madge Blake, Richard Correll, Stanley Fafara, Jeri Weil, Karen Sue Trent, Burt Mustin, Frank Bank, Richard Deacon, and Buddy Hart.
Episodes
In this pilot, Max Showalter (billed as Casey Adams) played Ward Cleaver, and Paul Sullivan played Wally Cleaver. The second episode, "Captain Jack," was meant to be the pilot, but Jerry Mathers explained in a 2014 Fox News interview that it required showing a toilet, which censors prohibited at the time. In the episode, Wally and Beaver place their pet alligator in the toilet tank because it needed water. The episode aired with only the tank visible, and Mathers noted the show "actually set some precedent for the television industry." Hugh Beaumont provided a voice-over before each first-season episode, offering context for the story. TV Land omits these voice-overs, but MeTV includes them. The opening credits changed each season: season one featured a top-down drawing of a street with credits appearing in wet concrete; season two showed Ward and June at the bottom of the stairs as the boys left for school; season three had them entering the boys' bedroom to wake them; season four showed them on the front stoop handing out lunches and jackets; season five depicted June bringing refreshments to the men in the yard; and season six showed the family heading to a picnic, with Ward reversing the car toward the camera. The bouncy theme song, "The Toy Parade," was composed by David Kahn, Melvyn Leonard, and Mort Greene. For the final season, Pete Rugolo arranged a jazz-like version.
Spinoffs
In 1983, the television reunion film Still the Beaver brought back most of the original cast, though Hugh Beaumont had passed away the year before. His character, Ward Cleaver, still appeared through flashbacks to the classic series, as the story focused on a grown-up Beaver dealing with divorce and raising his own children alone, while also worrying about his widowed mother selling the family home. June Cleaver eventually wins a seat on the Mayfield City Council. In that show, Beaver and Lumpy Rutherford take over Ward’s old company, Wally works as a lawyer and expects a child, June sells the house to Beaver but moves in to help raise his two young sons, and Eddie Haskell runs his own construction business with a son named Freddie who mirrors his father’s two-faced nature. Critics largely disliked it, though Roger Ebert gave it three stars. It earned just under $11 million against a $15 million budget, with original cast members Barbara Billingsley, Ken Osmond, and Frank Bank appearing in cameos.
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