In 1983, the cast got together again for the filming of the TV movie "Still the Beaver." Featured in Leave It to Beaver: Family Scrapbook (1963) 4 /10 gattonero975 Details Release date October 4, 1957 (United States) Country of origin United States Language English Filming locations Revue Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA Production company Gomalco Productions See more company credits at IMDbPro Technical specs Edit June Cleaver: All right, but we respected it last summer and they set fire to the attic! Because of that scene, the show was almost banned from the airwaves entirely. Paul Sullivan, who played Wally in the pilot and who sits in the audience, discusses his career after the pilot. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. For his appearance, he pulled out the old interview uniform, explaining that during the shows run, he and Tony Dow would wear a Mayfield High School letterman sweater for their press appearances. She got married three times, and remained with her last husband, Dr. William S. Mortensen, until his death. Wally and Beaver may have been the center of the show, but the story certainly wouldnt have been the same without having Eddie Haskell in the mix. Ward was originally portrayed by Max Showalter in the pilot episode, while Wally was played by Paul Sullivan. Tony Dow almost didnt make it into the acting business, but rather decided to tag along with a friend of his who was a lifeguard at one of the pools he swam in. In his later years, he became a stockbroker, after finding it hard to break allusions that he really was Lumpy. Thank goodness they made some major changes before the actual first season began because there were some actors who needed to be replaced. Wally arrives home and finds his mother preparing dinner; he regales her with teenspeak banter about the day's events at school. June Cleaver: Ward, can you see any possible use for Franklin Milk bottle caps? One of the most curious things about the final seasons of the show is that the Cleavers car very distinctly had no back windshield. Meet 'Leave It to Beaver' Actors Over 60 Years after the Show Ended In one episode, however, Ward is out of town and Wally is asked to play the man of the house. It would go on to enjoy a total of six seasons before it wrapped. UnlikeBeaver,Happy Days was filmed during the 1970s, even though it took place in the 1950s. Many episodes have a very brief "after school" scene in the kitchen between June and Wally. TV Shows. Off-screen, the actress enjoyed being a mom to two boys just like in the show. The only actor who didnt return was Hugh Beaumont, who had died several years prior. The pilot was misplaced but was found and aired as the third season premiere for the 1980s revival series "The New Leave It to Beaver" on October 4, 1987, 30 years after the original series premiered on CBS. His dating life is sometimes frustrating as he tries to deal with the thoughts and emotions of teenaged girls. Both her pearls and her heels are one of the most cited examples of what it meant to be a housewife in the 1950s. Child actor Paul Sullivan, however, portrays the character in the series pilot, "It's a Small World", which aired in April 1957. In a play taken straight from Beavers life, Mathers was shooting an episode where Beaver cares for a neighbors cat. At the time, no show had ever shown a bathroom, and the censorship authorities wanted to do more than just remove the scene from the show. However, Tony Dow wasnt always a member of the fictional family. In the 1980s, Osmond was shot three times while he was on duty during a chase with a criminal. It also helped him hide his sneaky ways. There was good reason the boys lives were so relatable to viewers. The characters grew older along with the actors. Some of that stems from the fact that Tony Dow himself was an accomplished athlete, even before he made it onto the show. The family lives at 213 Pine Street next door to his widowed mother June, Beaver, and Beaver's sons; Ward had died shortly before the events of Still the Beaver take place (series star Hugh Beaumont had died in 1982). [4][pageneeded], Last edited on 11 December 2022, at 20:53, "Leave it to DVDs to give us the best of the Beav", "Museums; Weekend Chat; A TV Tribute With No Middle", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=It%27s_a_Small_World_(Leave_It_to_Beaver)&oldid=1126896586, This page was last edited on 11 December 2022, at 20:53. The pilot had no "canned" laughter in the background. Producers took advantage of Dow's popularity and scripted episodes delving into Wally's dating life, his after school jobs, his pals, and his car. UnlikeBeaver,Happy Days was filmed during the 1970s, even though it took place in the 1950s. The last episode was a retrospective one called "Family Scrapbook" and has claimed its place in TV history as the first prime time sitcom episode specifically written as a series finale. Trending. It was Tonys luck, however, that whenLeave It To Beaver realized they needed to recast Wally, they remembered him and gave him a call. They didnt want a big laugh; they wanted chuckles. You may have wondered why the humor of the show was styled as such, so its nice that Dow provided the answer. Leave it to Beaver: Jerry Mathers Said Show Had to Move On from Original Wally Cleaver for One Reason. More than 60 years after Leave It To Beaver first began airing in 1957, it still maintains its place in the pantheon of great television. However, Barbara Billingsley didnt wear heels at the start of the show. Fans can enjoy a tour of the iconic place even today. Production was shifted to a different backlot, and other than their air time changing, the show otherwise remained the same. Eddie might have been quite the rascal on the set ofLeave It To Beaver, but Osmonds future profession showed just how different he was from his character. Family matriarch June Cleaver was played by the gorgeous Barbara Billingsley. Other members of the original series cast, including Dow, reprised their roles. One high-school friend who made five "romantic" appearances was Julie Foster. This wasnt because cars lacked the technology for them, but rather because the glass of the windshield created a glare when filmed by the cameras. Many associate June Cleavers classic pearls as the quintessential look for a 1950s housewife, but the truth is, that wasnt necessarily every mothers uniform. After he was cast as Ward Cleaver, he had to get himself to California pronto, which meant flying. The first episode of the main series revolved around Wally and Beaver buying an alligator, which they needed to put in water. When the show first debuted in 1957, its ratings were only so so, which caused executives at CBS to rethink their commitment to the program. 10. A portrait of Jerry Mathers circa 1959. Beaver was relegated to the background. When the purebred show cat was put in the tree for the scene, however, it was spooked by its surroundings and ran away. He was 77. One of the shows writers, Joe Connelly, based Wally and Beaver off of his own children, whose antics he would scribble down in a notebook on the regular. In 1997, the feature film Leave It to Beaver was released with young Erik von Detten as Wally. What Cooper had meant was that he behaved a lot like the character of Haskell as a child, not that he portrayed him. Sadly, he passed away in 1982 from a heart attack at just 79 years old. | Source: Wikimedia Commons. The producers wanted someone who would look younger, so they cast Tony Dow as Wally instead. Highlights of the original and previously unaired pilot for Leave it to Beaver, called "It's a Small World" and featuring different actors in roles of Ward a. It didnt stop because of poor ratings, though. 1961-1962 Leave It to Beaver TV Series Bill Scott Scott. Thereafter, he was cast as Clarence Rutherford in 101 episodes of . Paul Sullivan, who initially portrayed Wally, was replaced by Tony Dow after going through a growth spurt following the filming of the pilot episode. He left behind wife Kathryn Adam and their three children, Mark, Kristy, and Hunter. He was otherwise an ordained minister with a degree in theology from University of Southern California. For the main series, producers cast Tony Dow to take Paul Sullivan's place as Wally. Keep . Wallace "Wally" Cleaver is a fictional character in the iconic American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. The town was Skokie, Illionis, but the footage wasnt taken for the show. In 1985, a sequel to the original series was produced called Still the Beaver, again starring Jerry Mathers and other original cast members. The Gold Coast in Australia, situated 62 miles southeast of Brisbane, has traditionally gotten a Pens & Patron is a travel site dedicated to wandering spirits. Somehow, a myth was begun and perpetuated that Mathers had in fact been killed in Vietnam, which is ironic because the military wouldnt let him serve for that reason. Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow, Barbara Billingsley, and Jerry Mathers in an episode of "Leave it to Beaver." Later on, they reunited again to film the sequel series "The New Leave It to Beaver. Trending. A follow-up series called "The New Leave It To Beaver" followed in 1983 which featured the original characters as the older generation. During an interview for the shows 60th anniversary, Tony Dow toldToday that the shows writers didnt wantLeave It To Beaver to be filled with jokes that had audiences rolling on the floor in laughter. He's kind of goofy-looking but he wasn't as bad as I would have guess after I first saw him. Jerry Mathers - Wikipedia Mathers was dressed in his cub scout uniform, however, it wasnt just a costume choice. Explore, taste, and write about the world. Leave IT To Beaver Characters - Main Characters and Cast Here's What Happened to the 'Leave It to Beaver' Cast - Closer Weekly The rumor spread like wildfire. He often showed off his personal flare by coming up with constant nicknames for the other characters, most of which were improvised by Ken Osmondon the spot. In celebration of the TV shows 60th anniversary, many of the cast members began doing interviews on many TV networks in order to discuss their time on the show. Wally, on the other hand was in 8th grade, meaning there was a six year gap between the boys. Americans have been in love with the idealistic Cleaver family for generations since. Fox News reports that Osmond became a Los Angeles Police Department officer for 18 years before becoming a celebrity spokesman. Theres more to the tale of the toilet onLeave It To Beaver than simply being censored for wanting to show a toilet. It wasnt uncommon for stars of the 1950s to cross over into other artistic genres, not unlike many stars today. As Beaver grew into an awkward young teen, he sometimes took a back seat to his older brother Wally, a student in his final years of high school. It just so happened that playing Ward Cleaver was the best way to do so. More than 60 years after Leave It To Beaver first began airing in 1957, it still maintains its place in the pantheon of great television. Beaumont blamed himself and his work on the show for her death, because he wasnt there to drive the car instead of Hunter. Before he was a Beaver, actor Jerry Mathers was Little Ricky on the show "I Love Lucy" for one scene. Though there are four bedrooms in the Cleaver house, Wally and Beaver share a bedroom. When the show first began, Beaver was only in second grade, making him around 7 years old. Beaumont didn't remain the show business after "Leave It to Beaver." He became a Christmas tree farmer in the '60s but was forced to retire due to a stroke in 1972. In Still the Beaver and The New Leave It to Beaver, Wally is married to high school-sweetheart Mary Ellen and is an attorney engaged in private practice. After the series was picked up by CBS, Hugh Beaumont replaced Casey Adams as Ward Cleaver while the role of Wally went to Tony Dow after Sullivan experienced a growth spurt before the series' production. Leave It To Beaver had a curious effect on fashion trends of the era. To that end, Beaumont was able to play a part in writing for several episodes ofLeave It To Beaver, as well as to also direct some of the episodes. Actor Paul Sullivan played Wally Cleaver in the show's pilot. One day after "Leave It to Beaver" star Tony Dow was pronounced dead by mistake, his son issued a confirmation Wednesday saying his father died after a long health battle in hospice care. In fact, there was someone else who played little Beaver before Dow. ", Actress Barbara Billingsley attends the opening of "Radio City Christmas Spectaculor" on December 11, 1998 at the Universal Ampitheater in Universal City, California | Photo: Getty Images. The series lasted one season on the Disney Channel before being picked up by TBS in 1986 and renamed The New Leave It to Beaver. Have you noticed while watching the show that the Cleavers car is missing the rear windshield? Mathers genuinely had a cub scout meeting to go to after his audition, which he was anxious to get too. Oh, who are we kidding, we don't need to summon you guys! The toilet was shown in an episode when Wally and Beaver tried to keep a baby alligator in the toilet tank. Because of that scene, the show was almost banned from the airwaves entirely. Tony Dow, Barbara Billingsley and Jerry Mathers in a scene from "Leave it to Beaver." Unfortunately, Sullivan wouldnt be able to reprise Wallys role in other episodes due to an inevitable growth spurt. When the show opens, Beaver is seven years old ("almost . The wise father of two boys would often advise Beaver and Wally in hopes that something might stick. Instead of showing up, reading some lines, and then hoping for the part, Mathers arrived in his Cub Scout uniform and informed the casting directors that he had to hurry because he had a meeting to attend. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher wrote the teleplay with Jerry Hopper directing the episode. He had to leave his family in Minnesota to work on the show. His friends, Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford and Eddie Haskell, have a knack for getting into trouble and taking Wally along for the ride. Neither song got very much air time, which was fortunate, because they werent considered to be that good. Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont as June and Ward Cleaver from the television program "Leave it to Beaver." If you were to go on a tour of the Universal lot, theres still a chance you too could visit the Cleaver house. Paul Sullivan Jr. is known for The Natural (1984). Unlike most TV shows today, the pilot that was shot for Leave It To Beaver featured several different actors than the ones who would later become famous for the show. Jerry Mathers was a huge star during his time, and the network wanted to make extra money, so they had him record a music single, titled Dont Cha Cry. Instead, his son drove the family, but ended up in an accident on the way, which Hughs mother-in-law didnt survive. Paul Sullivan, Actor: Over the Top. Beaver may not have been reliant on pop culture for its storylines, but it certainly made mention of the Sputnik launch during several episodes.
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