Updated: October 12, 2007

Cast:

Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver Jerry Mathers as Beaver (Theodore) Cleaver Tony Dow as Wally Cleaver Ken Osmond as Eddie Haskell Diane Brewster as Miss Canfield (1957-1958) Sue Randall as Miss Landers (1958-1962) Rusty Stevens as Larry Mondello (1958-1960) Stanley Fafara as Whitey Whitney Frank Bank as Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford (1958-1963) Richard Deacon as Mr. Fred Rutherford Stephen Talbot as Gilbert Bates (1959-1963) Richard Correll as Richard (1960-1963) Madge Blake as Mrs. Mondello Doris Packer as Mrs. Rayburn Tiger Fafara as Tooey Burt Mustin as Gus, the Fireman Buddy Hart as Chester Cheryl Holdridge as Julie Foster (1960-1963) Jeri Weil as Judy Hensler

This family comedy focused on life through the eyes of a young boy. Beaver Cleaver was 7 when the series began, and his brother Wally, 12. Beaver was a typically rambunctious youth, more interested in pet frogs than in girls, but Wally, just entering his teens, was beginning to discover other things in life. The counterpoint between the two, plus some good writing and acting, lent the series its charm. The boys' parents, June and Ward Cleaver were one of those nice, middle-class couples so often seen in this kind of program. Larry, Whitey, and Gilbert (among others) were Beaver's pals. Eddie and Lumpy were Wally's buddies. Eddie was one of the more memorable characters, unctuous and oily to adults ("Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver"), but a bully to little kids--a thoroughgoing rat. Miss Canfield and Miss Landers were Beaver's school teachers. The locale was the suburban town of Mayfield where Ward worked for Mr. Rutherford (Lumpy's father) as an accountant.

As the years passed and Beaver got older, the stories naturally moved away from the little-boy premise until, in the final season, Beaver was about to enter his teens and Wally was ready for college.

In 1987, in the midst of a Leave It to Beaver revival, the original 1957 pilot for the series surfaced, containing a somewhat different cast than most people remembered. Billingsley and Mathers were there, but Ward Cleaver was played by Casey Adams, Wally by Paul Sullivan, and "Frankie"--the Eddie Haskell-type character-by Harry Shearer, who years later would become a regular on Saturday Night Live. For the further adventures of the Cleaver clan in the '80s, see The New Leave It to Beaver.