The six-season season. Jerry Mathers played Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, the most adorable kid getting into trouble on television. “When we first went on the air, we didn’t even know if it would last two weeks,” the Leave it to Beaver star tells Close exclusively. “It was phenomenal because it hasn’t ever left the air since.”
The show was so popular that it even became more popular after 1963 when the new episodes stopped. Jerry, 75 years old, has heard from several generations how much they relate to Beaver’s adventures. “I have a lot of people, especially young boys that say, ‘I did that same thing as Beaver, but I got in a lot more trouble!’ Or the people that say that Beaver kept them out of trouble because they realized what they shouldn’t be doing.”
How did your career as a child actress begin?
“My mom happened to be at a department store, and a lady came up to her and said, ‘Is this your little boy? We have a fashion show — could he be one of our models?’ That’s how I got started. Live TV was still a new thing at the time. I began doing live television because I was used walking in front of an auditorium. [from the fashion shows].”
Did you enjoy starring on ‘Leave…
