Passed at 53, 'Leave It to Beaver' Actor Stanley Couldn't Afford a Gravestone

Leave it to Beaver was one of the most important and controversial Coming of Age shows of all time the show began in 1957 and was about Theodore Beaver Cleaver and his family it was the first show to ever show something from the point of view of a child this affected later popular shows like the Wonder gears and Malcolm in the Middle even though it's been years behind the scenes details about Leave it to Beaver are still coming to light Jerry Mathers was little Ricky on I love l Luc before he was the beaver an episode of I Love Lucy called Ricky's old girlfriend had a scene where Jerry mther was seen he sat on Lucy's lap while she dreamed her husband had left her for an old flame named Carla Romero Ricky and Carla beg for money outside of a movie theater by dropping coins into their cups so far this fact may not have been known because Mathers was in the scene but wasn't given credit the show's episode aired in 195 3 4 years before leaveing to Beaver Mathers dawned his Cub Scouts uniform to the audition although 8-year-old Jerry Mathers tried out many times for the part of beaver it was only during one meeting with casting that he was chosen Mathers came dressed in his blue Cub Scout outfit the young boy won over the casting staff with his truthfulness and innocence when he told everyone that he was worried about being late for his den meeting he got the part that night the first television program to show a toilet Leave it to Beaver was one of the first TV shows to show a toilet even though it was only the tank Wally put an alligator in the toilet tank in the episode Captain Jack which took place while the boys were in the bathroom which was connected to their bedroom the episode was supposed to be the first but it came out in the second week instead the show was originally called It's a Small World the pilot for Heights Studio 57 was called It's a Small World a star from This Is Spinal Tap and The Simpsons Harry Shear was in the episode bicycle Punk shown here another name for the show was being thought about Wall-E and the Beaver however the corporate sponsor didn't like the sound of it so it was taken off the [Music] list because of a growth spurt a new Wall-E was cast Paul Sullivan played wall in the pilot episode of the show it was said that the kid was changed because he grew too big after filming the first show Tony da would take over for Paul Sullivan the reason Tony got the part was that he went to the studio with another friend who was also trying out Tony wasn't planning to be in the show he was just there to help but he got the part of Wall-E anyway the show was canceled after its first season Leave it to Beaver wasn't exactly a big hit at the time but now the show is revered and known as a legend not many people were watching and season 1 didn't have very good numbers first season finished in 1958 and right after that CVS canceled the show ABC a competitor saved the show and thankfully kept it on the air for five more seasons in the soup became the most expensive episode the season 4 episode in the soup cost a lot of money because ABC didn't skimp on the budget in the episode Beaver got stuck in a big bowl of soup that was shown on a sign naturally Beaver was interested and wanted to find out if the sign did have real soup on it he screamed and got stuck in the process the episode was shot for about $50,000 which is about $400,000 today the show never made it to the top 30 Leave it to Beaver was on for a long time but it never made it into nielson's top 30 rated shows list those shows along with the Ford show the an Southern show and the Gary Moore Show are now even less wellknown than the show it's not a big deal though and it won't hurt the scores list in any way it's possible the beaver was just too far ahead of its time however like many other great shows at the time it had get its time to shine in the end Mathers became the first ever child actor to get a cut Hut of the merchandise Revenue even though Leave it to Beaver wasn't the most popular show at the time it still made comic book and board games about it plus Jerry Mathers got a piece of it all which made things even better it was a big deal because it was the first time that a pre-teen got earnings Ma's parents and lawyer should both be proud of getting that deal Beverly cley wrote Leave it to Beaver novels when we talk about products the popular character Ramona was created by Beverly clear who also wrote three books that went with the show and won a national book award and a Newbery Medal she did tell the LA times that the work was boring though she also said she was used to writing in the yard she also got letters saying the books were better than the movie she thought it might be because she left out Dear Old dad's philosophical ramblings the family was forced to pack up and move in the end the Cleavers moved from 485 Mapleton Drive to 211 Pine Street while the show was being filmed because of business the move had to happen when the show moved from Republic Studios to Universal the front of the original house was moved from the Republic Studios lot to the Pine Street house the house on Pine Street was also used in Marcus wellby MD and Desperate Housewives some jokes were removed from the scripts the goal of the show was to make everyone laugh in a balanced way that's why words like wow Wall-E were used and laugh out loud moments like the ones on the I Love Lucy show were planned AR magazine says that Tony Dao said that lines that made people laugh too much were taken out the people in charge of the show wanted people to laugh a few times not laugh out loud practical reasons for Barbara Billingsley accessories it wasn't always about fashion and getting dressed up in June of course she wore pearls to the show They Were Meant To Hide A Big Hollow in her neck it was in an interview that she admitted that she would wear the necklace to hide it she also said she would have to wear high heels because the boy was going through growth spurts the boys were going to get taller and she had to look taller too she also made fun of the fact that they didn't put her in an Apple box first TV show to air an intentional series finale back then TV shows didn't often get bumped from the lineup without a reason but Wally was about to start college and Mathers wanteded to go back to high school so the show had to end the last episode of Leave it to Beaver family scrapbook was an emotional way to say goodbye it also taught viewers why he was called Beaver aside from The Fugitive and howdy Duty not many shows planned to end in the 1960s Hugh Bowmont was an ordained minister in real life Hugh Bowmont was speaking to a group before he took over for Ward Cleaver he was too poor to get a living wage it was true that he was a minister Bowmont worked as a model to pay the bills and make ends meet this led him to work in movies on the show Leave it to Beaver Bowmont played the father figure who everyone knew in loved Edie Haskell did not grow up to be Alice Cooper rumors were going around that the rock and roll singer Ellis Cooper was Ken Osmond the story spread when Cooper was asked in an interview where his bad boy Behavior came from and how he got into trouble Cooper said he was a lot like Eddie Haskell from L it to Beaver a lot of people thought this meant that Alice Cooper was Edie Haskell and played him on the show no way folks the Cleavers lived in Wisconsin not much was shown on the show that made it clear where in the US the Cleavers lived but two signs proved they were from Wisconsin which is known as the cheese capital of the US there were two hints the first was when Wally said the high school band was going to Madison for a tournament the Cleaver's choice to watch the Green Bay Packers and their trip to the game was another sign the Cleavers could have easily looked different well everyone knows that the cleaver family was made up of beaver June Ward and Wall-E the group wasn't involved in the making of the show despite this Jerry Mathers says the performers could have been very different to me TV in 2014 Mather said that he and Barbara Billingsley were the only ones on the test their roles as Hugh Bowmont and Tony da were played by different actors not people who would later join the group beaver and w-e didn't behave like brothers until later in life even though they were played as brothers Tony da and Jerry M others didn't have a family bond the main reason they didn't get along was their different ages aside from work they also didn't have any chances to hang out after 30 years the two would finally be in a play together but they didn't become friends until they were adults the show is taught as a college curriculum someone might enjoy the humor and Leave it to Beaver but could a comedy be called something other than just entertainment some experts say that Leave it to Beaver dealt with and taught a lot of people about social problems in its time due to its similarities to current family and other current comedies some sociology teachers and experts think that the show should be taught in college playing Wall-E cost Dow future gigs and work Tony da had a hard time getting out of his Wall-E part most casting directors couldn't get past the idea that he could play any other part they thought he was typ cast which is what happens to some actors when they become linked to certain roles when Tony da played Wall-E he sealed his fate he'd miss out on a lot of work and chances to grow his business he said he was trying to be a serious actor but still kept getting silly Parts the last time he said this was in 2019 H Bowmont had a reputation for playing tough guys on screen it may have seemed like Ward Cleaver was one of the nicest and most gentle characters on TV but Bowmont got his big break when he played mean and tough Parts before he was on Leave it to Beaver the actor was a police officer Michael Shane in a few movies is a tough guy who made Bowmont feel a little bad about himself Mathers even said he wasn't sure if the character was something a preacher would want to be known for sponsors ordered Ward to change his car during the shows run both General Electric and Purina bought ads for Leave it to Beaver but in season 3 there would be another big backer Chrysler a well-known carpet business offered their support even though Ward Cleaver drove a Ford in the show to make sure that a competitor wasn't shown Chrysler and the makers of the show decided to switch out the Ford for a Plymouth Fury the pilot episode was thought to have been lost for 30 years it's a small world was the first episode of Leave it to Beaver people around the world saw the show for the first time on April 23rd 1957 but fans of the show had to wait 30 years after after the pilot aired before they could watch it again since the show was lost many people thought there was no way to find it again for 30 years people all over the world could experience the premiere only in 1987 when the pilot show was found in a storage unit in Illinois Judy Hensler was removed from the show due to puberty it's always a problem when you work with kid actors because they grow up unfortunately this means they don't stay kids for long which can get them kicked off shows this was the case with Judy Hensler who played Jerry wheel when the actress's character hit puberty the director asked her to tie her chest back to keep her character looking young but she didn't listen she was kicked out of Mayfield and told she would never see him again Mathers was on exceptionally good terms with Cinema's greatest aour Mathers had a part in Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie The Trouble with Harry in 1955 he did all of this before he was on Leave it to Beaver but it was just a coincidence that the show was shot close to the Alfred Hitchcock Presents offices both of them would often see each other on set and the famous director would call the young Mathers Mr whatever they saw each other Mathers was mistakenly reported as Kia Jerry Mathers joined the US Air Force Reserve in 1966 he worked his way up until he was a sergeant news spread in 1968 that private J Mathers had died in Vietnam the character was said to have been killed in action or kia but it turned out to be a lie because Mathers never even went overseas let alone fought lumpy Rutherford made good money in real life Frank Bank did a great job as lumpy Rutherford even though the character wasn't the smartest color or the best tool in the shed it's in his last name bank would make Bank as the show came to an end he was making over $300,000 a year as a trader bank also worked as a lawyer for co-stars Tony da Mathers and Billingsley Larry Mandel's mother cost him the role people often say that you should never work with kids or animals in the case of Larry mandelo though it was the pushy parent who made things worse beaver's best friend was played by an actor who was fired when his Overly Attached mother got involved Billings Lee said that his character was fired from the show because Mandel's mother and the director were always fighting and arguing with each other a parent who is always bothering can be worse than a child Who's acting up Creator Joe Connelly was inspired by his experience as a father Joe Connelly one of the people who helped make the show Leave it to Beaver is known for how well it shows what it's like to be a kid as well Connelly had a lot to draw from it was connell's Boy boys Ricky and Jay who gave the book its ideas for Beaver and his brother Wall-E a lot of the stories in the show were also based on real life talks between his kids the show had an early appearance from everyone's favorite neighbor many of the stars of L to Beaver today had small parts then but Harry Shear who was 14 at the time played Frankie he would go on to do the parts of Ned Flanders Seymour Skinner and Montgomery Burns in The Simpsons another cast M who went on to bigger and better things was Harry Shear he may not have been as well known but we've all been listening to his famous voice for decades Mathers attempted to launch a singing career a lot of stars got into singing after they're done acting and Jerry Mathers is no different the first record he released was don't cry in 1962 on Atlantic Records for the end of Leave it to Beaver in 1963 the song didn't do well at the charts after that Mathers formed the band beaver and the Trappers but they didn't succeed either Stanley farfara couldn't afford a gravestone child artists often have a hard time after becoming famous and successful sad to say Stanley fafara did the same thing after the 1963 end of L it to Beaver fafara who played Whitey on the show started using drugs he lost his job and his money and he died in 2003 he was so poor that a a headstone couldn't be paid for so his grave went unnamed for 13 years if you've watched the video till here that means you've enjoyed the video subscribe 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Channel: Past Paradise

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Length: 17min 4sec (1024 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 22 2024