Leave It To Beaver And Wally And Eddie

This picture is making the rounds in e-mail. I don’t know if someone has altered it with a photo program to make it look worse. If so, they did a great job of it.

You might not be old enough to recognize them. From left to right, that’s Ken Osmond (a.k.a. Eddie Haskell), Jerry Mathers (a.k.a. Beaver Cleaver) and Tony Dow (a.k.a. Wally Cleaver) from the television show “Leave it to Beaver.” Though I never considered Eddie Haskell attractive, I thought Wally was a hunk, and that “The Beav” was cute, too. They certainly didn’t age well. How sad is that? How old does this make me feel?

[Aside: Isn’t it unfortunate that the word “beaver” took on an unsavory slang meaning? It makes it hard to talk about the show without tittering.]

The show had great success from 1957 to 1963 and is still shown in re-runs. But, evidently it wasn’t a big money maker for the stars. They didn’t get rich from it (I think Jerry Mathers was paid about $500 and episode) and had to enter the real world when they grew up. Obviously they don’t run with a crowd that does much “nipping and tucking.”

For the record, “Eddie” didn’t become a porn star, and Ken Osmond couldn’t have been as sleazy as his character was. He became a policeman in LA and was shot three times in the line of duty. Don’t fret, he was protected by his bulletproof vest.

“The Beav” didn’t die in VietNam, though Jerry Mathers did serve in the Air National Guard. He became a real estate salesman.

“Wally,” or Tony Dow, worked in construction, though he suffered with depression for many years. It would have to be depressing to be a “star” when you are young and grow up to find out you are just a normal person.

You can find out more about them, the other characters, and the show at Leave it to Beaver.

I’m a whitebread Baby Boomer who watched that show every chance I got. There were only two episodes with a “person of color” on them. What did the children with skin pigmentation watch back then? Looking back on it, I really don’t know why I was so hooked on the show. It focused on male characters, so it didn’t offer much for a little girl.

True, the story line had a sound moral message: “There were six important moral messages” according to the site above,”repeated throughout the program: obey/trust your parents, tell the truth, develop self-esteem, have pride in your family, help (or don’t hurt) others, and accept responsibility for your actions.” But, that wouldn’t have been enough to hook me. Maybe I just watched because my brothers did.

None of the female characters were very well developed. That is to say, their characters were not developed. June Cleaver (the mom) was built like a brick outhouse. And, according to the website above: “In one show, the producers asked Jeri Weil (Judy Hensler) to wrap her chest in a bandage to flatten her blossoming body. She refused; proud of what was taking place.”

The girls that were portrayed on it were either sappy or downright catty. There was nothing admirable about them. Was I supposed to think that I should act like them? June Cleaver created an impossible standard for us little girls to achieve when we grew up. I didn’t attain it. Fortunately, I no longer aspire to it.

That said, I need to go clean house—and maybe bake some cookies.

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. A Dose of Depp
2. Anti Social Network
3. Limericks Anyone?
4. Tough Times in Tioga, Texas
5. Optimism Virus to Battle the Cold Virus

Tagged as: Celebrities, Celebrities, Entertainers, and Entertainment, Entertainers, humor, Leave It To Beaver