Jerry Mathers of the classic Leave It to Beaver television series was born Gerald Patrick Mathers on June 2, 1948, in the town of Sioux City, Iowa. Outside of his television courier Mathers also worked in film and as a stage actor.
His father was a high school principle and Jerry Mathers made his first television commercial at the tender age of two for PET milk. In 1967 he graduated from Notre Dame High School, located in Sherman Oaks, California. He went on to graduate college with a BA degree in Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1973.
As a child star he appeared in several movies that included This is My Love and also in Men of the Fighting Lady in 1954. Then in 1955 he played roles in the movies The Seven Little Foys and The Trouble with Harry.
However, his greatest fame came when he won over the producer of Leave It to Beaver and garnered the role of Beaver Cleaver. This turned out to be a role he played for six successful years as he appeared in all 234 episodes of the show.
Jerry Mathers was the intricate part that helped the show to go on and be counted as one of the classics in the annals of television sitcoms. Rumor has it that Mathers told the producer at his audition that he would rather be at his Boy Scout meeting, rather than doing the interview. The producer liked him so much that he still offered him the role.
Other than Mathers, the other co-stars of the Leave It to Beaver were Barbara Billingsley, who played the role of June Cleaver, Tony Dow played Beaver’s older brother Wally, and Ken Osmond who played the role of Eddie Haskell. Frank Bank also played Beaver’s best friend, Lumpy, on the show.
Leave It To Beaver has been shown in over 80 countries and in 40 languages and after 50 plus years its merchandising still pays Jerry Mathers an income as he was the first child actor to make a deal to get a percentage of the merchandising revenue from a television show.
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