Leave It to Beaver (1962)

 

As with the 1961 episodes for Leave It to Beaver, the episodes for 1962 centered on Beaver and Wally trying to adjust to the pressures of growing up and getting into trouble due to bad advice and unreasonable requests from "friends" like Eddie Haskell, Lumpy Rutherford, Gilbert Bates, and Richard Rickover. The hardest lesson for the Cleaver boys to learn is to just say "no" when they are asked or pressured to do something they know is wrong but end up doing anyway. While Wally has no trouble telling Beaver not to follow Eddie Haskell's advice, he is not always as successful doing it himself. In "Lumpy's Car Trouble" (March 31, 1962), Wally is supposed to ride in Lumpy's car to an out-of-town track meet with Beaver getting permission to go along and Eddie getting picked up as team manager, but on the day of the meet Lumpy's car won't run, and since Ward is not using his own car, having ridden to work with Lumpy's father Fred, Ward gets talked into letting Lumpy, who has already received his driver's license while Wally has not, drive the Cleaver car to the track meet. Despite Ward's stern instructions to Wally to have Lumpy only drive straight to the meet and back, Eddie and Lumpy decide to try a shortcut on the way back and wind up crashing through a large mud hole on an unpaved section of road, causing the car to die and requiring the boys to push it to the nearest service station. Though the boys have enough money between them to pay to get the car fixed and get it home without having to tell Ward what happened, he finds out about it anyway from a work colleague who just happened to drive past them while they were pushing the car to the service station. Ward tells Wally he will not get to use the car again for a long time but refuses to tell him how he found out about it so that he won't think he can figure out how to get away with things in the future. But the lesson doesn't stick with Wally because after he gets his license in the Season 6 episode "Wally's License" (October 11, 1962), he gets talked into misusing Ward's brand new car in "Wally's Car Accident" (November 29, 1962) after being given permission to drive his date Shirley Fletcher to the prom while his parents are out of town. Once again Ward gives Wally the ground rules of not picking up any other riders and only going to the dance and back, but once again he is pressured by Eddie and Wally, who have ridden to the dance together and are now stranded because Lumpy's car won't start, to use Ward's car to push Lumpy's to get it started. Even Wally's date Shirley knows that Wally shouldn't help them, but after they promise to wrap Ward's bumper with a blanket Wally gives in only to have Lumpy still make an unexpected maneuver and smash the front headlight on Ward's car. As in the earlier episode, the boys cobble enough money together to get the car fixed good as new and almost pull off slipping the ruse past Ward, but this time Lumpy phones the Cleaver home with the intention of urging Wally not to tell his father about the accident, only Ward picks up the phone and Lumpy starts talking before realizing he is not speaking to Wally. Wally can tell Ward knows about the accident just from his expression after getting off the phone and ends up confessing to the whole mess without having to be prompted. But it remains to be seen if Wally has finally learned not to get into such messes in the first place.

Speaking of Eddie Haskell, as we covered in our last post, we began to get a bit of backstory for his annoying behavior due to a botched hair experiment his mother gave him when he was in kindergarten, and for the first time we saw his vulnerability behind his overconfident bluster when he is afraid to stay at home alone while his parents are out of town. The 1962 episodes continue this theme with more stories about the pathetic reality behind Eddie's two-faced hustler facade. In "Beaver's Fear" (February 24, 1962), Beaver gets his parents to pressure Wally to take him along when he, Eddie, and Lumpy go to an amusement park which has a terrifying new rollercoaster. Beaver needs a pep talk from Gus the fireman to get over his fear of heights and actually go on the rollercoaster, but for all of Eddie's tough talk and swagger, he is the one who winds up getting sick on the rollercoaster. In "A Night in the Woods" (June 9, 1962), Eddie is annoyed that Wally has committed to taking Beaver and his friends camping out in the woods on the same night that Eddie needs him on a triple date that will only work if Wally agrees to take out Mary Denton in exchange for Eddie and Lumpy getting to take out her two visiting cousins. When Wally refuses to back out on his camping promise, Eddie recruits Lumpy to try to scare the campers to abandon their overnight stay in time to still make the dates but winds up getting frightened himself and then stranded on the side of a cliff, requiring him to be rescued by a forest ranger who quickly shuts down his face-saving flippancy after he has been pulled to safety. In "Eddie Quits School" (March 10, 1962), Eddie drops out of high school after a run-in with the track coach and boasts to Wally and Lumpy about how enslaved they are with all their high school responsibilities while he will be making $80 a week working at a car repair garage. Not long afterward Eddie shows up at Wally's house sporting expensive new clothes purchased with his first week's pay, but when Wally and Lumpy decide to drop in on him at work, they overhear his boss berating him for constant mistakes, and later Eddie can't find anyone to hang out with him since they are all busy with school activities. Sensing that Eddie is really miserable behind his facade, Wally talks the school principal into gently suggesting that he return to school, and after more trouble with his boss, Eddie jumps at the chance but continues to put an overconfident spin on his decision by claiming that the principal and track coach begged him to come back. In "Eddie, the Businessman" (November 1, 1962), Eddie gets conned into an ice-cream theft ring at the local dairy where he and Wally have taken part-time jobs. Eddie becomes an easy mark for the crooked foreman running the scam after telling Wally that you have to suck up to the higher ups to get ahead. After Eddie gets caught red-handed loading cases of ice cream into the foreman's trunk by the dairy manager and the foreman claiming he never told Eddie to do it, Wally has to bail him out by telling the manager what really happened. And "Bachelor at Large" (November 15, 1962) plays out in similar fashion to "Eddie Quits School": this time he moves out of his parents' house into a boardinghouse after an argument, then tries to convince Wally and Lumpy that he is living the high life with attractive young women in his boardinghouse cooking for him. But at the same time he is desperate for company and after inviting Wally and Lumpy over for dinner, Ward gets a call from Mr. Haskell asking that they not humor Eddie, which will only make things worse, so Wally goes to the boardinghouse with Beaver tagging along to tell Eddie he won't be coming to dinner. They learn from his landlady that he is desperately lonely, his room is a sad mess, there are no young women living in the house, and Eddie even resorted to adopting a dog just to have some company. Later we learn that Eddie eventually moved back home, and while he claims in usual Eddie style that his parents begged him to come back, Wally figures that the landlady called his parents to come get him. While Leave It to Beaver deserves credit for fleshing out Eddie's character into a multi-faceted personality, the writers seem to have gotten stuck in portraying him as a pathetic loser who covers his short-comings with a show of bluster, while everyone around him agrees not to burst his balloon. What began as a comic creation of a two-faced hustler has been turned into a tragic figure who is more to be pitied than laughed at.

In his autobiography, Eddie, actor Ken Osmond alludes to the fact that getting cast as Eddie Haskell was both a blessing and a curse--he became a cultural icon with steady work for six seasons despite never being cast as a regular with a contract, but he also found it impossible to find acting work after the series ended and was saddled with a bad reputation by people who couldn't separate the actor from his character or mistakenly thought he had "grown up" to become pornographic actor John Holmes or shock-rocker Alice Cooper. Osmond comments in his book that he appreciated the plots that showed Eddie's vulnerability, but he also seems to judge an episode's value by how many lines he had and spends far more time and provides more detail about his role in the 1980s reboot The New Leave It to Beaver where he played an adult Eddie Haskell with his own son. Granted, he had a soft spot for the newer series because he got to act with his son Eric, and the memories were no doubt fresher on the reboot than on the original series from 20 years earlier. But among Osmond's more interesting memories from the original series are that the character of Eddie Haskell appeared to have been based on a friend of co-creator Bob Mosher, Jr.'s son named Buddy Del Giorno, who like Eddie always complimented Mrs. Mosher on her wardrobe but would immediately change into a troublemaker once there were no adults around. In the pre-pilot for Beaver, titled It's a Small World, the conniving teenager was named Frankie Bennett and was played by Harry Shearer, later of Spinal Tap and The Simpsons fame. And Osmond credits director Norman Tokar with helping him define the Eddie Haskell character traits, including his trademark cackle.

Despite the fact that by the 1962 episodes all the other characters on the show are wise to Eddie's duplicity and penchant for bad advice, Beaver in particular keeps falling for it, then admitting he should have known better. In "Beaver's Typewriter" (April 21, 1962), Beaver lets Eddie talk him into typing his English assignment due the next day for a few bucks since Beaver is having a hard time learning to use the expensive equipment he talked his parents into buying for him. Eddie is actually an excellent typist, but after Beaver turns in the neatly typed assignment, his teacher expects him to continue typing everything, which becomes impossible when he receives an even longer assignment the next day. Rather than letting Eddie again type his work for a fee, Beaver decides to write it out in long-hand, but Eddie offers to help him by disabling some keys on his typewriter so that he will have a valid excuse for not using it. However, word eventually gets back to Beaver's parents from his teacher about the disabled typewriter, which leads to Ward forcing Beaver to stick with his typing until he gets the hang of it. In "Stocks and Bonds" (June 23, 1962), Ward gives the boys some money to invest in the stock market to learn about how it works, but Beaver ends up listening to Eddie's advice about taking a flyer on a penny stock called Jet Electro rather than the more established if less exciting Mayfield Power and Electric utility recommended by Ward. Needless to say, Jet Electro crashes and burns while Mayfield Power just keeps plugging along upward. And in "Beaver, the Hero" (December 13, 1962), Beaver gets a swelled head after making a fluke game-winning touchdown for his school football team and then listens to Eddie about how to maximize his earning power as a football star, including skipping football practice, which ends up getting him suspended for the next game. Even though they know who they are dealing with, the Cleaver boys never seem to wise up enough to resist the fast-talking Eddie's latest easy way out.

But as gullible as Beaver is in falling for Eddie Haskell's bad advice, he is even more often goaded into poor decisions by his own friends Gilbert Bates and Richard Rickover. In fact, the 1962 episodes are book-ended by a pair of Gilbert-inspired pickles, beginning with "Ward's Golf Clubs" (January 6, 1962) and finishing with "The Party Spoiler" (December 27, 1962). In the former episode, Gilbert pressures Beaver into taking one of his father's golf clubs without asking so that they can hit some balls Gilbert scrounged from the driving range. Even though Beaver knows he will get in trouble by following Gilbert's advice, Gilbert is able to persuade him to do it by claiming that the only things worth doing are the ones that can get you into trouble. But Beaver doesn't realize that Ward returned home from golfing earlier that afternoon and told June that he broke his driver and would have to replace it, so when Beaver takes his first swing, the head flies off and into the bushes. After getting caught by Wally trying to sneak the broken club back into the closet, Beaver plans to confess his sin until his father gets angry with Wally for taking one of his shirts to wear on a date without asking him. So Beaver decides he had better replace the golf club rather than admitting that he broke it and arranges a payment plan with the sporting goods store clerk to pay for the new club. Of course, Ward immediately notices that his broken club is suddenly fixed and extracts a confession from Beaver, telling him he should have come to him first. Beaver later acts like he has learned his lesson when he tells Wally he is going to stop getting into trouble, but we all know there wouldn't be much of a series if he followed his own advice. In "The Party Spoiler" Beaver again follows Gilbert's advice to sabotage Wally's teenager party with prank items from the magic store as revenge for Wally not inviting Beaver to the party. Naturally, Wally is finally pressured by his parents to include Beaver in his party, but the forced invitation comes too late, after Beaver has already planted rubber cheese in the sandwiches, a fake ice cube with a fly in it in the punch bowl, soap-centered candies in the candy dish, and an electric outlet adapter that makes the record player go on and off randomly. When Beaver see Wally's friends blaming him for all the childish pranks, he feels compelled to step forward and take the blame. Beaver falls for another Gilbert scheme in "Long Distance Call" (June 16, 1962) when he agrees to call Dodger Stadium to talk to star pitcher Don Drysdale after Gilbert and Alan Boothby agree to all chip in to pay for the call, not realizing that they don't have nearly enough to afford it. After they hang up the call, Gilbert tells Beaver he can call the operator back to figure out how much the call cost and is horrified to hear that it comes to $9.35 when they collectively only have a couple of dollars. But Beaver compounds the problem by again following Gilbert's lead in not telling his father about it right away, with Gilbert arguing that he won't get the bill for a few weeks and they may come up with a plan to pay for it before then. Gilbert then makes matters worse by bragging about the phone call to a snotty school classmate whose father writes a column for the Mayfield newspaper, thereby ensuring that Ward will read about the phone call in his morning paper.

Gilbert teams up with Richard Rickover in "Three Boys and a Burro" (March 3, 1962) to get Beaver to chip in on buying a pet burro after promising that Beaver would not have to keep the burro in his yard because they would be splitting the caretaking between the two of them, which is the only reason Ward and June agree to let Beaver participate in the partnership. But of course things do not work out as promised because the burro wreaks havoc on the yards and gardens at the Bates' and Rickover's homes and Beaver gets stuck with the burro. Fortunately, Ward is able to find a new home for the burro from a work colleague who has a relative with a farm, but as with all his dealings with his friends, Beaver is the one who gets stuck holding the bag. The same scenario plays out with Richard, Whitey, and Alan in "Sweatshirt Monsters" (June 2, 1962) when the boys make a pact to all buy sweatshirts with grotesque monsters painted on the front and then wear them to class together. When Beaver tries going to school the next day wearing the sweatshirt, June forbids it and tells him to go change, but for Beaver loyalty to his friends outweighs his parent's orders, and he sneaks the sweatshirt out and puts it on before walking into class, only to discover that none of the other boys are wearing their sweatshirts and he is the only one to face discipline from their teacher. Apparently, that episode wasn't painful enough for Beaver because he commits the same error with a different group of friends in "Beaver's Football Award" (October 4, 1962) when the star football player from his school team announces that he is not going to wear a suit to the annual awards dinner, vowing that he is going to dress casually just as he does for school and pressuring the other boys on the team to do the same. But after a struggle with his parents, who keep telling him he is going to be sorry until Ward finally tells June that since Beaver is growing up he needs to learn to live with his own choices, Beaver gets to the awards dinner in his casual outfit only to find out that everyone else is wearing a suit. Ward bails him out by secretly bringing along his suit in the car trunk so that Beaver can hurriedly rush outside and change clothes before the dinner gets started, but one wonders how many times he will have to suffer this sort of humiliation before he realizes that his "friends" are all talk.

Which brings us to perhaps the most surprising pattern of the series: none of Beaver's and Wally's friends seem to have their interests at heart--all they do is pressure Beaver and Wally to do something stupid and then run away when they get into trouble. Besides Eddie Haskell, Gilbert Bates, and football star Terry Richmond, Richard forces Beaver to go to absurd lengths to cover for his own mistakes in "Beaver's Jacket" (February 3, 1962) and "Beaver's Laundry" (March 24, 1962). Lumpy does the same to Wally in "Wally Stays at Lumpy's" (March 17, 1962) and "The Merchant Marine" (April 28, 1962). Even newly introduced friends Mike and Kevin steer Beaver wrong in "Tell It to Ella" (November 8, 1962) by advising him to write an anonymous letter to a Dear Abby-like columnist at the local newspaper complaining about Ward grounding him for staying out late on a school night. Needless to say, Ella takes Ward's side, and when his letter appears in the paper Ward has no difficulty figuring out who wrote it. But even Ward seems not to have any good friends--the only person we see him spending any time with is Fred Rutherford, who is a big blow-hard that Ward can barely stand but nevertheless has to work with. What lesson, then, does Leave It to Beaver teach about friendship? Each week the series seems to suggest that the only relationships that can be trusted are familial ones, assuming that you don't live in a dysfunctional family.

Still, despite the series' odd take on friendship outside the family and the Cleaver boys' inability to learn not to bow to peer pressure (though there is one exception when Wally refuses to join a mean-spirited exclusive boys club in "One of the Boys" [May 26, 1962]), Leave It to Beaver occasionally hits the nail on the head in depicting some of the hard truths about growing up. For Beaver, it is being burdened with unrealistic expectations because of Wally's accomplishments in "The Younger Brother" (April 14, 1962). Beaver is encouraged to try out for a city basketball team simply because Wally helped lead a team to the league championship. Beaver doesn't have a natural interest in basketball, but when he sees how proud his parents are of Wally's achievements, he decides to try out and even Wally's old coach seems to think the team is in good hands with Beaver aboard. But Beaver quickly learns that not all athletic talent is genetic as he performs poorly at the first practice and is soon the laughingstock of the other players. Rather than face the humiliation of telling his parents and brother that he isn't good at basketball, he pretends to continue attending practice but really just hides out to cover the time. The jig is up when Ward decides to stop by the park on his way home from work one evening to see how Beaver is making out, and he learns from the coach that Beaver quit after the first practice and didn't want to sign up for a lesser league to develop his skills. Ward is surprised that Beaver didn't feel he could come to Ward and tell him he didn't make the team, so Wally has to explain to Ward that Beaver didn't really want to succeed at basketball for himself but to avoid disappointing his father. This episode turns out to be a teaching moment for the parents rather than the children. Growing up the younger sibling of highly accomplished older brothers and sisters myself, this episode had the ring of truth for me personally and helps demonstrate why this series at its best was superior to most of the other family sit-coms of its day.

Wally learns his hard lesson in "Tennis, Anyone?" (May 19, 1962) when he unwittingly becomes a pawn in a young woman's attempt to make her boyfriend jealous. He shows up at the public tennis court just after pretty but noticeably older Carol Martin has a falling out with her tennis instructor and boyfriend Don Kirk. When Eddie Haskell is late showing up to play Wally, Carol invites him to volley with her while Don is still hovering nearby, hoping to make him jealous. Wally mistakes her friendliness for interest in him, and makes a date to play again with her the next day. When Beaver and Eddie see Wally playing with an attractive older woman, they assume that they are an item, but leaving the tennis court on the second day Wally is confronted by Don, who warns him to stay away from Carol, whom he claims is his girl. Wally takes his problem to Ward, who asks him how old Carol is. When Wally says that she is 22, Ward advises him to stay away from her because she is too old for him. Wally decides to go back to the tennis courts the next day anyway but then sees Carol and Don arm in arm after reconciling. He is initially downcast but then admits surprise that his father knows so much about romance. Again, this episode has the ring of truth from my personal experience--when you're young and naive, it's easy to get mixed up in someone else's romantic problems without realizing their true intentions. Fortunately for Wally, he got good advice and his interlude ended quickly and without any real damage to his psyche. Not everyone is so lucky, but perhaps if more of us had seen this episode while growing up, we would have been better prepared to avoid love's pitfalls.

The Actors

For the biographies of Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow, Jerry Mathers, Ken Osmond, Frank Bank, Stanley Fafara, and Sue Randall, see the 1960 post on Leave It to Beaver. For the biographies of Stephen Talbot, Karen Sue Trent, Richard Correll, Cheryl Holdridge, and Burt Mustin, see the 1961 post on Leave It to Beaver. For the biography of Richard Deacon, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 5, Episode 14, "Ward's Golf Clubs": Henry Hunter (Doctor Summerfield on Hazel) plays sporting goods store clerk Sam Higgins.

Season 5, Episode 15, "Farewell to Penny": Jean Vander Pyl (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Flintstones) plays Penny's mother Mrs. Woods.

Season 5, Episode 16, "Beaver the Bunny": Alice Backes (Vickie on Bachelor Father) plays Beaver's school pageant coordinator Miss Lawrence.

Season 5, Episode 17, "Beaver's Electric Trains": Toby Michaels (starred in Love in a Goldfish Bowl, first wife of director and Bewitched associate producer Richard Michaels) plays girl sent to pick up Beaver's electric train set Georgia Batson.

Season 5, Episode 22, "Three Boys and a Burro": Jane Dulo (Liz Murray on Hey, Jeannie!, WAC Pvt. Mildred Lukens on The Phil Silvers Show, Molly Turner on McHale's Navy, Agent 99's mother on Get Smart, Nurse Murphy on Medical Center, and Grandma Mildred Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) plays Richard's mother Mrs. Rickover.

Season 5, Episode 23, "Eddie Quits School": Frank Wilcox (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays Wally's school principal Mr. Farmer. Bert Remsen (Detective Lawrence on Peyton Place, Mr. Pell on Gibbsville, Mario on It's a Living, and Jack Crager on Dynasty) plays repair garage owner Mr. Thompson.

Season 5, Episode 26, "Lumpy's Car Trouble": Pat McCaffrie (Chuck Forrest on Bachelor Father and Dr. Edgar Harris on Outlaws) plays Ward's work colleague Bill Boothby.

Season 5, Episode 27, "Beaver the Babysitter": Jennie Lynn (Jenny Baker on Love and Marriage) plays Beaver's babysitting assignment Pattie Murdock. Marjorie Reynolds (starred in Holiday Inn, Ministry of Fear, and The Time of Their Lives and played Peg Riley on The Life of Riley) plays her mother Mrs. Murdock.

Season 5, Episode 28, "The Younger Brother": Russ Conway (shown on the left, played Fenton Hardy on The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, Gen. Devon on Men Into Space, and Lt. Pete Kile on Richard Diamond, Private Detective) plays Wally's former basketball coach Mr. Doyle.

Season 5, Episode 29, "Beaver's Typewriter": Ed Prentiss (the narrator on Trackdown and played Carl Jensen on The Virginian) plays Beaver's English teacher Mr. Bailey.

Season 5, Episode 31, "Brother vs. Brother": Hardie Albright (shown on the right, appeared in This Sporting Age, The Song of Songs, White Heat, The Scarlet Letter, The Pride of the Yankees, and Angel on My Shoulder) plays Beaver's English teacher Mr. Collins. Mimi Gibson (appeared in The Three Faces of Eve, Houseboat, and The Children's Hour and played Barby McGovern on Westinghouse Playhouse) plays new student Mary Tyler.

Season 5, Episode 32, "The Yard Birds": Bartlett Robinson (Willard Norton on Wendy and Me and Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays empty lot owner Mr. Hill.

Season 5, Episode 33, "Tennis, Anyone?": Cynthia Chenault (shown on the left, appeared in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Dino, and This Earth is Mine and played Carol Potter on The Tom Ewell Show) plays tennis student Carol Martin.

Season 5, Episode 34, "One of the Boys": Martin Dean (Junior on Dick Tracy) plays exclusive club president Rick Davis.

Season 5, Episode 35, "Sweatshirt Monsters": Hardie Albright (see "Brother vs. Brother" above) returns as Beaver's English teacher Mr. Collins. Jane Dulo (see "Three Boys and a Burro" above) returns as Richard's mother Mrs. Rickover.

Season 5, Episode 36, "A Night in the Woods": John Hart (appeared in The Buccaneer, Jack Armstrong, and The Ten Commandments and played Nat "Hawkeye" Cutler on Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans,  was Clayton Moore's replacement on The Lone Ranger from 1950-53 when Moore was in the midst of a contract dispute, and played Narbo on Rawhide) plays a forest ranger.

Season 5, Episode 37, "Long Distance Call": Don Drysdale (shown on the right, Hall-of-Fame Dodgers pitcher and announcer) plays himself. Dennis Olivieri (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Betty Hutton Show) plays Beaver's bragging classmate Kenny. Ray Montgomery (Prof. Howard Ogden on Ramar of the Jungle) plays his newspaper reporter father. Johnny Eimen (Monk on McKeever and the Colonel) plays Kenny's school friend.

Season 5, Episode 39, "Un-togetherness": Brenda Scott (shown on the left, married and divorced actor Andrew Prine three times, now married to producer Dean Hargrove, played Midge Pride on The Road West and Dr. Gina Dante Lansing on General Hospital) plays Wally's new girlfriend Lori-Ann.

Season 6, Episode 1, "Wally's Dinner Date": Than Wyenn (Licenciado Piña on Zorro) plays a restaurant waiter.

Season 6, Episode 3, "Wally's License": Russ Bender (appeared in It Conquered the World, Dragstrip Girl, Invasion of the Saucer Men, and The Amazing Colossal Man) plays driving instructor Mr. Barnsdall. Beverly Lunsford (shown on the right, played Amy Ames Britton Kincaid on The Secret Storm) plays driving student Shirley Fletcher. Larry J. Blake (played the unnamed jailer on Yancy Derringer and Tom Parnell on Saints and Sinners) plays the DMV driving test administrator.

Season 6, Episode 5, "Double Date": Vicky Albright (daughter of actor Hardie Albright) plays Wally's date Carolyn Stewart. Diane Mountford (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Assignment: Underwater) plays her younger sister Susan.

Season 6, Episode 6, "Eddie, the Businessman": Don Haggerty (Jeffrey Jones on The Files of Jeffrey Jones, Eddie Drake on The Cases of Eddie Drake, Sheriff Dan Elder on State Trooper, and Marsh Murdock on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays dairy manager Ted Worden. Howard Caine (Schaab on The Californians and Maj. Wolfgang Hochstetter on Hogan's Heroes) plays one of his foremen. John Baer (Terry Lee on Terry and the Pirates) plays the foreman's assistant.

Season 6, Episode 7, "Tell It to Ella": Tim Matheson (shown on the right, played Roddy Miller on Window on Main Street, Jim Horn on The Virginian, Griff King on Bonanza, Quentin Beaudine on The Quest, Rick Tucker on Tucker's Witch, Harry Stadlin on Just in Time, Charlie Hoover on Charlie Hoover, Sheriff Matthew Donner on Wolf Lake, Bill Dunne on Breaking News, John Hoynes on The West Wing, Larry Sizemore on Burn Notice, Dr. Brick Breeland on Hart of Dixie, and Doc Mullins on Virgin River, and voiced Jonny Quest on Jonny Quest, Sinbad, Jr. on Sinbad, Jr. and His Magic Belt, Samson on Young Samson & Goliath, Jace on Space Ghost, Capt. John O'Rourke on The Legend of Calamity Jane, and Brad Chiles on Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated) plays Beaver's friend Mike. Robert Eyer (brother of actor Richard Eyer) plays his friend Kevin.

Season 6, Episode 8, "Bachelor at Large": Lurene Tuttle (shown on the left, appeared in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Ma Barker's Killer Brood, Psycho, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Fortune Cookie and played Doris Dunston on Father of the Bride and Hannah Yarby on Julia) plays Eddie's landlady Mrs. Evans.

Season 6, Episode 9, "Beaver Joins a Record Club.": George Cisar (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dennis the Menace) plays the mailman.

Season 6, Episode 10, "Wally's Car Accident": Beverly Lunsford (see "Wally's License" above) plays Wally's date Shirley Fletcher.

Season 6, Episode 11, "Beaver, the Sheep Dog": Ed Prentiss (shown on the right, see "Beaver's Typewriter" above) returns as Beaver's teacher Mr. Bailey.

Season 6, Episode 12, "Beaver, the Hero": Carol Faylen (daughter of actor Frank Faylen, played Janice Collins on The Bing Crosby Show) plays Beaver's classmate Donna.

Season 6, Episode 13, "Beaver's Autobiography": Harlan Warde (shown on the left, played John Hamilton on The Rifleman and Sheriff John Brannan on The Virginian) plays Beaver's English teacher Mr. Thompson. Annette Gorman (Addie Slaughter on The Magical World of Disney Texas John Slaughter series) plays Beaver's new classmate Betsy Carter. Frances Mercer (starred in Crime Ring, Smashing the Rackets, The Mad Miss Manton, and There's Always Tomorrow and played Nurse Ann Talbot on Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal) plays Betsy's mother Mrs. Carter.

Season 6, Episode 14, "The Party Spoiler": Vicky Albright (shown on the right, see "Double Date" above) plays Wally's party guest Carolyn.

Leave It to Beaver (1960)

Today it is viewed as the quintessential quaint and naive 1950s situation comedy depicting an idealized world of wholesome family values and innocence that never really existed. Yet it has also remained one of the most popular television shows of all time despite the fact that during its 6-year run from 1957-1963 it never cracked the top 30 in the ratings. But the most surprising aspect of this All-American TV classic is how funny the show remains today, far superior to the contrived punch-line driven fare that passes for contemporary comedy. The credit for Beaver's still-fresh humor goes to the series' creators and principle writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who wrote over 1500 scripts for the radio and later TV comedy Amos 'n' Andy. After a failed attempt on their own writing for a Ray Milland-led anthology series, the two decided to focus on what they knew--the everyday situations and language of their own children. They also took the novel approach of showing these situations from the children's point of view, with Connelly's 8-year-old son Ricky providing the model for the character of Beaver and his 14-year-old son Jay as the model for Wally. Connelly carried a notebook with him to record what his children said and did, and Mosher had two children of his own that sometimes provided material. This real-world observation helped Connelly and Mosher come up with dialogue and behavior that isolated television writers couldn't have dreamed up on their own, such as when Beaver brings home his friend Richard for the first time and introduces him to his parents by stating the obvious, "This is Richard. He's a kid." The dialogue of teenager Wally is also infused with more satire than one would expect from a wholesome, idealized comedy and gives the show unexpected zing decades later. 

The other criticism most often lobbed against Beaver is its sermonizing, in which each episode drives toward a life lesson, usually administered by one or both parents to one or both children. And while there are plenty of episodes that end with Ward Cleaver dispensing learned wisdom to Beaver or Wally after their misguided attempts, many other episodes show Ward and June being the recipients of a teachable moment, such as in "Tire Trouble" (January 2, 1960) when Beaver accidentally flattens one of the tires on Ward's car and he and Wally try to get it fixed before their father finds out. However, Ward inadvertently finds out what they are up to from Eddie Haskell, then asks why they didn't tell him about the flat. Wally replies that he was afraid Ward would call him stupid, causing Ward to apologize and explicitly say that when he talks to them he often learns more than they do. In "Wally's Election" (February 6, 1960), Ward pushes Wally to campaign hard for class president, after Fred Rutherford obnoxiously crows about his own son Lumpy, then has to apologize to Wally when his son loses the election because he pushed too hard. Ward admits that sometimes parents push their children to achieve things that they themselves failed at. And in "Ward's Baseball" (April 9, 1960), Ward is about to give in and let Beaver come down for dinner after sending him to his room for destroying an autographed baseball of Ward's that he was told not to play with. But Wally intervenes and says that when Ward had gone easy on him after he had told his friends he was grounded, he felt that his friends had lost some respect for his father. So Ward takes Wally's advice and lets Beaver serve out his punishment so that he will know his father isn't a push-over.

Another parenting topic that is depicted repeatedly is the use of corporal punishment. Though there are never any scenes showing spanking or hitting, Wally in particular makes frequent references to getting clobbered. In "Tire Trouble" he says he would prefer being hit to being called stupid. Eddie Haskell also frequently talks about being hit for misbehaving, and the plot of "Larry Hides Out" (January 9, 1960) revolves around Beaver's friend Larry Mondello running away from home to hide at the Cleavers after his mother catches him reading his sister's diary and tells him he is going to get it when his father gets home. Even Ward recounts that his father used a belt on him in "The Hypnotist" (March 12, 1960). The frequent references to physical punishment that never seems to materialize, along with frequent claims of parents yelling at their children when they rarely raise their voices, suggest the child's point of view in which such displays of anger have an outsized effect on the child's psyche. In some ways, the Cleavers' parenting philosophy bears some resemblance to the ideas of Dr. Benjamin Spock, whose The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care had become enormously influential in new ways of child rearing since its publication in 1946. Rather than rigidly demanding that their children conform to adult-derived beliefs about behavior, they make a concerted effort to understand their children's problems while teaching them how to behave. They attempt to enforce consistent discipline but always with the explanation that it is done out of love for the children.

But perhaps one of the more justified criticisms of the show is the way in which the Cleaver household is portrayed as the ideal when compared to any others its family members encounter. The Rutherfords are headed by obnoxious, overconfident Fred and his lethargic son Lumpy. The Mondellos have an absent father and overwhelmed mother. Eddie Haskell often talks about the ways he outsmarts or cons his father. In "Beaver's House Guest" (October 8, 1960), Beaver has his friend Chopper come and stay with him, but we learn that Chopper's parents are divorced and use him to get at each other. And in "Beaver and Kenneth" (December 17, 1960), Beaver is befriended by a boy who steals things from his classmates and gives them to Beaver to win his friendship. When Ward takes Beaver over to Kenneth's house to tell his father, the father is easily duped by Kenneth into standing behind his lies. Even members of the Cleavers' extended family, such as Ward's "Uncle Billy" (December 31, 1960) fail to live up to the nuclear Cleavers' standards for honesty.

The pilot for Leave It to Beaver, "It's a Small World," appeared as an episode on the anthology series Heinz Studio 57 on April 23, 1957, with Casey Adams cast in the role of Ward Cleaver and Paul Sullivan as Wally. Those two actors were replaced with Hugh Beaumont and Tony Dow when the show was picked up as a regular series, debuting on October 4, 1957 on CBS. After its first season, the show was dropped by CBS but was then picked up for five more seasons on ABC. Reportedly Tony Dow said that the reason for switching networks was because the sponsor got a better deal with ABC. As noted above, the show was never a top ratings winner, though it had a steady following and was still popular when it was finally canceled because Jerry Mathers wanted to attend high school as a regular kid.

The music associated with the show is its sprightly instrumental opening theme, "The Toy Parade," composed by David Kahn, Melvyn Leonard, and Mort Greene. In its final season, the theme song was given a jazzy makeover by Pete Rugolo. Incidental music for individual episodes was largely precorded library music not created specifically for the show. Though earlier seasons of the show included teaser scenes from the episode and narration by Hugh Beaumont, by calendar year 1960 (seasons 3 and 4), each episode began with the same sequence of scenes, though these opening sequences were changed each season. For season 3, the opening sequence shows Ward and June coming up to the boys' bedroom to wake them up in the morning. For season 4, the opening sequence shows Ward and June coming out of the front door to see the boys off to school, handing them jackets and sack lunches much like the opening sequence for The Donna Reed Show. Another notable difference in these sequences is the tone of announcer Bob LeMond, whose cheery up-beat delivery in season 3 is replaced with a much more deadpan, toned-down delivery in season 4.

The complete series has been issued on DVD by Shout!Factory. Two hundred of the show's 234 episodes are also available online at imdb.com.

The Actors

Barbara Billingsley

Barbara Lillian Combes  was born in Los Angeles in 1915. Her parents divorced when she was 4, and her father went on to be of the assistant Chief of Police while her mother became a factory worker. After  graduating high school and a single year of college, she moved to New York when the play Straw Hat was brought to Broadway, though it lasted there for only 5 performances. Later she found work as a model and a card balancer for a magician. Her work in film began with several uncredited appearances beginning in 1945, with her first credited role coming three years later in The Argyle Secret. Her TV appearances began in 1952 and she starred as a doctor's wife in the short-lived series Professional Father in 1955. She also had 5 appearances as the character Barbara on The Brothers in 1956-57 before landing the role of June Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver. Though it is often cited as an example of the show's artificiality, Billingsley later revealed that the reason she wore pearls even when cleaning house on the show was to hide a surgical scar.

After playing such an iconic role, she had difficulty finding any roles other than June Cleaver or a character playing off that role, such as the jive translator in the movie Airplane! She, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers reprised their Leave It to Beaver roles on the 1983 TV movie Still the Beaver, which was then spun into a cable television series that ran from 1984-1989. However, she did provide the voice of the Nanny on Muppet Babies from 1984-1991. She took her acting surname Billingsley from her first husband Glenn Billingsley, nephew of the owner of New York's famous nightspot The Stork Club. Through Billingsley she is also related to actor Peter Billingsley, who played the central character Ralphie in the movie A Christmas Story. She died October 16, 2010 at the age of 94.

Hugh Beaumont

Born in Lawrence, Kansas, Beaumont's father was a traveling salesman, causing the family to move quite a bit. He graduated from high school in Chattanooga, TN and attended the University of Chattanooga but left when his position on the football team was changed. Later he attended and graduated from USC with a degree in theology and became an ordained lay Methodist minister. He began in show business in 1931, making appearances in nightclubs, in theaters, and on the radio, then moved over into film acting in 1940. A conscientious objector in World War II, he found steady work in films such as the noir classic The Blue Dahlia and took over the role of detective Michael Shayne from Lloyd Nolan in films such as Murder Is My Business. His work in television began in 1952, most notably as the narrator on Racket Squad and he had multiple appearances on show like The Public Defender and The Loretta Young Show as well as occasional film appearances in movies such as The Mole People before landing his career-defining role as Ward Cleaver.

Beaumont apparently felt that after Leave It to Beaver he had been typecast and his acting career was limited to occasional guest appearances on shows like Petticoat Junction, The Virginian, and Mannix through the late 60s and early 70s. When he retired from acting, he became a Christmas tree farmer on Balgillo Island, Minnesota, which he owned. However, he suffered a life-threatening stroke in 1972 and was told he would never walk or talk again. But he did recover enough to do some directing in community theatre. He died from a heart attack on May 14, 1982 while visiting his son Hunter, a psychology professor living in Munich, Germany.

Tony Dow

Born in Hollywood, Dow's mother, Muriel Montrose, was a stuntwoman in early westerns, Clara Bow's movie double, and a Mack Sennett bathing beauty. Dow himself was a Junior Olympics diving champion before answering a casting call and being cast as Wally Cleaver with little prior acting experience.

He graduated from high school in 1963, the year Leave It to Beaver finished its 6-year run and had occasional guest appearances on other shows before joining the National Guard from 1965 to 1968. After that, he resumed acting but also studied construction and would later design luxury condominiums, became an amateur abstract sculptor, representing the U.S. at an exhibit at the Louvre in 2008, and ventured into directing episodes of Coach, Babylon 5, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was also visual effects supervisor on Babylon 5. In the 1990s he admitted to suffering from clinical depression and has appeared in videos on the subject. He currently lives in the mountains of Santa Monica with his second wife Lauren Schulkind.

Jerry Mathers

Gerald Patrick Mathers was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of a high school principal, and began appearing in commercials at the age of 2. He had already appeared in four feature-length films before being cast as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, a role he won because he told the casting director that he would rather be at his cub scout meeting than at the audition. He was the first child actor to receive royalties from tie-in merchandise, which is still being produced today. At the end of the show's run in 1962, he recorded a single for Atlantic Records, "Don't 'Cha Cry" b/w "Wind-Up Toy," and formed a band called Beaver and the Trappers that continued recording for Atlantic after the TV show ended. One of their singles, "Happiness Is Havin'," became a #1 hit in Hawaii and Alaska.

Mathers wanted to leave Leave It to Beaver to attend high school as a normal kid, and after graduating from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, CA in 1967, he attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy. From 1966 to 1969 he was a member of the Air National Guard. In the 1970s he used his earnings from TV to get into real estate development and banking, serving as a loan officer for several years. He also ran his own catering company in the late 1990s called Cleaver's Catering. He was diagnosed with diabetes in 1996, and after taking corrective action and losing 55 pounds, he became a leading lecturer about the disease, even testifying before Congress on the topic. He has also been a spokesman for the National Psoriasis Foundation. He published his autobiography, And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver in 1998. In 2007, he replaced Jere Burns in the Broadway production of Hairspray. He remarried, to Teresa Modnick, in January 2011.

Ken Osmond

Osmond was born in Glendale, CA, the son of a carpenter and a homemaker with show business dreams for her boys Kenneth and Dayton. She had them take acting lessons, as well as lessons in diction, dialects, martial arts, and equestrian riding. Osmond began appearing in commercials at age 4 and his first film appearance was as a child extra in the Spencer Tracy film Plymouth Adventure. He had a few other appearances in film and TV shows like Fury, Annie Oakley, and Lassie before being cast as Wally's best friend, the two-faced troublemaker Eddie Haskell. Originally, the role was supposed to be a one-shot affair, but the producers were so impressed with Osmond's performance that he became a regular on the series and a cultural icon, so much so that, like most of the other actors from the series, he had trouble finding other work once Beaver ended.

After the occasional appearance on The Munsters and Petticoat Junction, Osmond gave up acting and joined the Los Angeles police force, growing a mustache to disguise his identity and working in vice and narcotics. He once was shot three times while pursuing a suspected car thief, though two of the bullets hit his bullet-proof vest and the third ricocheted off his belt buckle. He retired from the force in 1988 and took up managing rental properties in the Los Angeles area. He reprised his role as Eddie Haskell on all the subsequent Beaver  TV shows and movies, including the 1997 feature Leave It to Beaver.

Frank Bank

Besides playing the lethargic Lumpy Rutherford, Wally's classmate on Leave It to Beaver, Bank's film career is brief. He appeared as the child version of Will Rogers in The Story of Will Rogers in 1952 and had a single appearance on Father KnowsBest in 1956 before making 50 appearances on Beaver starting in 1958. During the show's run he had occasional work on Cimarron City, 87th Precinct, and Bachelor Father, as well as playing the title role in the 1962 TV movie and pilot about comic book character Archie Andrews, Life With Archie, which was not picked up for production. Like the other Beaver actors, Bank could not find work in acting after the series and became a successful municipal bonds trader in Southern California. He appeared in the 1980s TV movie and series as an adult Lumpy, and in 2002 published his autobiography Call Me Lumpy: My Leave It To Beaver Days and Other Wild Hollywood Life in which he claimed to have bedded over 1000 women and engaged in other escapades completely at odds with his TV character.

Rusty Stevens

Born Christmas Day 1948, Stevens played Beaver Cleaver's friend Larry Mondello in 68 episodes of Leave It to Beaver from 1957 till 1960, at which point his family left Burbank, CA for Philadelphia and effectively quashed his acting career. Prior to Beaver, Stevens had but a single appearance on the TV show Telephone Time, but during the show's run he had single appearances on 77 Sunset Strip, Shirley Temple Theatre, and Angel, as well as an uncredited appearance in the film Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

After his family movied to Philadelphia, Stevens was able to make a few appearances on other TV show in the 1960s, including My Three Sons, Perry Mason, and Wagon Train. He later worked as an insurance salesman in New Jersey, and a detective had to be hired to track him down for his appearance in Still the Beaver and 3 episodes of The New Leave It to Beaver.

Stanley Fafara

Born in San Francisco, Fafara (whose older brother Tiger also appeared on Leave It to Beaver as Tooey Brown), Fafara had only a couple of acting appearances before being cast as Beaver's friend Whitey Whitney, though he had been appearing in commercials since the age of 4. He also had single appearances on The Millionaire, Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Man Without a Gun during Beaver's 6-year run. After the show ended, however, Fafara not only left acting but soon descended into a world of alcohol and drug abuse, even living with the rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders for a while. He started using hard drugs in the mid-60s and then began dealing, eventually being arrested for breaking into pharmacies and sentenced to a year in jail. He tried working as a roofer, waiter, and janitor before succumbing to drugs again, but he finally became sober in 1995 and remained so for the last 8 years of his life. However, by this time he had contracted hepatitis C and would die from it September 23, 2003 at the age of 54.

Sue Randall

Marion Burnside Randall was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of an internationally known real estate consultant. After graduating with honors from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York , she began appearing on TV at age 20 in 1955. She made her only feature-length film appearance in the Spencer Tracy-Katherine Hepburn vehicle Desk Set two years later, then made 4-6 TV guest appearances per year until first appearing as Beaver's teacher Miss Landers on Leave It to Beaver in 1958. She made 28 appearances on the series and continued with occasional guest appearances on other shows like Perry Mason, Bonanza, and The Fugitive until 1971. A heavy smoker all her life, she died of lung cancer at the age of 49 on October 26, 1984.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 3, Episode 14, "Tire Trouble": Richard Deacon (shown on the right, played Sherman Hall on The Charles Farrell Show, Roger Finley on Date With the Angels, Uncle Archie on Walt Disney Presents: Annette, Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Roger Buell on The Mothers-in-Law) plays Ward's business colleague Fred Rutherford.

Season 3, Episode 15, "Larry Hides Out": Madge Blake (shown on the left, played Mrs. Barnes on The Joey Bishop Show, Flora MacMichael on The Real McCoys, Tillie the Fan Club President on The Jack Benny Show, and Aunt Harriet Cooper on Batman) plays Beaver's friend Larry's mother Mrs. Mondello.

Season 3, Episode 16, "Pet Fair": Tim Graham (Homer on National Velvet) plays pet store owner Mr. Allen.

Season 3, Episode 17, "Wally's Test": Frank Albertson (shown on the right, starred in Alice Adams, Man Made Monster, and It's a Wonderful Life and played Mr. Cooper on Bringing Up Buddy) plays Wally's teacher Mr. Gannon.

Season 3, Episode 19, "Wally's Election": Ross Elliott (Freddie the director on The Jack Benny Show and Sheriff Abbott on The Virginian) plays Wally's teacher Mr. Hyatt. Cindy Carol (starred in Gidget Goes to Rome and played Binkie Massey on The New Loretta Young Show) plays Wally's classmate Alma Hanson. Ann Barnes (Cookie Bumstead on Blondie) plays Wally's classmate Frances Hobbs. Richard Deacon (see "Tire Trouble" above) returns as Fred Rutherford.

Season 3, Episode 21, "Beaver's Dance": Katherine Warren (starred in The Lady Pays Off, The Glenn Miller Story, and The Caine Mutiny) plays dance club hostess Mrs. Prescott. Karen Sue Trent (later played Penny Woods on Leave It to Beaver) plays a young girl at the dance. Madge Blake (see "Larry Hides Out" above) returns as Mrs. Mondello.

Season 3, Episode 25, "Wally and Alma": Jean Vander Pyl (shown on the left, the voice of Wilma Flintstone on The Flintstones, Rosie the Robot on The Jetsons, Ma and Floral Rugg on The Atom Ant Show, and The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, and Marge Huddles on Where's Huddles?) plays Alma's mother Mrs. Hanson. Cindy Carol (see "Wally's Election" above) returns as Alma Hanson. Barry Curtis (Ricky North on The Adventures of Champion and Court Whitney on Walt Disney Presents: Annette) plays Wally's classmate Harry Myers.

Season 3, Episode 26, "Beaver's Bike": Paul Bryar (Sheriff Harve Anders on The Long, Hot Summer) plays police Sgt. Peterson.

Season 3, Episode 27, "Wally's Orchid": Pamela Baird (Hildy Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Nancy on Bachelor Father, and Mary Ellen Rogers on five other episodes of Leave It to Beaver) plays Wally's date Myra. Doris Packer (Mrs. Sohmers on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Clara Mason on Happy, and Clarice Osborne on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays Beaver's principal Mrs. Rayburn.

Season 3, Episode 28, "Ward's Baseball": Richard Deacon (see "Tire Trouble" above) returns as Fred Rutherford.

Season 3, Episode 29, "Beaver's Monkey": Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays a veterinarian.

Season 3, Episode 30, "Beaver Finds a Wallet": Valerie Allen (shown on the right, appeared in The Joker Is Wild, The Five Pennies, Bells Are Ringing, and Pillow Talk, and played Verna Mason on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and Anne Banner on The Texan) plays the woman who lost the wallet, Miss Tomkins. Jess Kirkpatrick (Frank Teeters on Gunsmoke) plays an unnamed police sergeant.

Season 3, Episode 31, "Mother's Day Composition": Doris Packer (see "Wally's Orchid" above) returns as Mrs. Rayburn. Bill Baldwin (announcer on The Bob Cummings Show, the narrator on Bat Masterson, and played a variety of announcers, newsmen, and emcees on a host of programs including Mister Ed, The Beverly Hillbillies, and The Addams Family) plays TV interviewer Frank.

Season 3, Episode 32, "Beaver and Violet": Veronica Cartwright (shown on the left, older sister of Angela Cartwright, starred in The Birds, The Children's Hour, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Alien, The Right Stuff, and The Witches of Eastwick and played Jemima Boone on Daniel Boone, Molly Hark on Tanner '88, A.D.A. Margaret Flanagan on L.A. Law, Cassandra Spender on The X-Files, Valerie Shenkman on Invasion, and Bun Waverly on Eastwick) plays Fred Rutherford's daughter Violet. Majel Barrett (Nurse Christine Chapel on Star Trek, the voice of the computer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager, and played Julianne Belman on Earth: The Final Conflict) plays Fred's wife Gwen. Richard Deacon (see "Tire Trouble" above) returns as Fred Rutherford.

Season 3, Episode 34, "Beaver the Model": Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays Ward's lawyer friend George Compton. Aline Towne (Joan Gilbert on Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe) plays Compton's secretary.

Season 3, Episode 35, "Wally the Businessman": Ann Jillian (shown on the right, starred in Babes in Toyland, Gypsy, and Mr. Mom and played Milly on Hazel, Jennifer Farrell on Jennifer Slept Here, Cassie Cranston on It's a Living, and Ann McNeil on Ann Jillian) plays one of Wally's ice cream customers.

Season 3, Episode 35, "Wally's Play": Tommy Ivo (Herbie Bailey on The Donna Reed Show and Haywood Botts on Margie) plays Wally's fraternity brother Duke Hathaway.

Season 4, Episode 1, "Beaver Won't Eat": Hal Smith (shown second from left, played Charlie Henderson on I Married Joan, Hickey on Jefferson Drum, Otis Campbell on The AndyGriffith Show, Engineer Taurus on Space Angel, and did voicework on The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, The Fantastic Four, The Dukes, and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) plays a restaurant manager. Bea Silvern (Etta Bormann on Secrets of Midland Heights) plays a waitress.

Season 4, Episode 2, "Beaver's House Guest": Barry Gordon (shown on the right, played Dennis Whitehead on The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Charlie Harrison on Fish, Gary Rabinowitz on Archie Bunker's Place, Roger Hightower on A Family for Joe, and the voice of Donatello on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) plays Beaver's friend Chopper. Clark Howat (Dr. John Petrie on The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu) plays Chopper's "Uncle Dave."

Season 4, Episode 4, "Wally the Lifeguard": John Hiestand (Mr. Jason on Room for One More and the radio announcer's voice on The Waltons) plays Friend's Lake manager Mr. Burton. Dick Gering (Johnny Green on Margie) plays a lifeguard. Cindy Carol (see "Wally's Election" above) returns as Alma Hanson. Pamela Baird (see "Wally's Orchid" above) plays Mary Ellen Rogers.

Season 4, Episode 6, "Beaver's Contest": Burt Mustin (shown on the left, played Foley on The Great Gildersleeve, Mr. Finley on Date With the Angels, Jud Fletcher on The Andy Griffith Show, and Justin Quigley on All in the Family) plays Gus the fireman. Mark Allen (Matt Kissel on The Travels of Jamie McPheeters and Sam Evans on Dark Shadows) plays a traffic cop.

Season 4, Episode 8, "Eddie's Double-Cross": Reba Waters (Francesca on Peck's Bad Girl) plays Eddie's girlfriend Caroline Shuster. Cindy Carol (see "Wally's Election" above) returns as Alma Hanson.

Season 4, Episode 9, "Beaver's I.Q.": Doris Packer (see "Wally's Orchid" above) returns as Mrs. Rayburn. Karen Sue Trent (see "Beaver's Dance" above) plays Beaver's classmate Penny Woods.

Season 4, Episode 10, "Wally's Glamour Girl": Bernadette Withers (shown on the right, played Ginger on Bachelor Father) plays Wally's date Kitty Bannerman.

Season 4, Episode 11, "Chuckie's Shoes": Marjorie Reynolds (Peg Riley on The Life of Riley) plays the Cleavers' neighbor Mrs. Murdock. Jess Kirkpatrick (see "Beaver Finds a Wallet" above) plays a department store shoe salesman.  

Season 4, Episode 12, "Beaver and Kenneth": Jean Vander Pyl (see "Wally and Alma" above) plays mother's day school committee head Mrs. Thompson. William Bakewell (starred in The Iron Mask, Playing Around, Guilty Hands, and The Fabulous Dorseys) plays Kenneth's father Mr. Purcell. 

Season 4, Episode 13, "Beaver's Accordion": John Hoyt (shown on the left, starred in My Favorite Brunette, The Lady Gambles, and Blackboard Jungle and played Grandpa Stanley Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) plays music company collector Mr. Franklin.

Season 4, Episode 14, "Uncle Billy": Edgar Buchanan (shown on the right, played Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays Ward's Uncle Billy. Henry Hunter (Doctor Summerfield on Hazel) plays a sporting goods store clerk.