Jerry Mathers
Encyclopedia
Gerald Patrick "Jerry" Mathers (born June 2, 1948) is an American television, film, and stage actor. Mathers is best known for his role in the television sitcom series Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...

 (1957–1963), in which he played Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver
Theodore Cleaver
Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver is the fictional title character in the American television series Leave It to Beaver. Seven-year-old Beaver is son to June and Ward Cleaver and sibling to thirteen-year-old Wally Cleaver .Beaver prefers "messin' around" with his pals and reading comic books to...

, the younger son of archetypal suburban couple June
June Cleaver
June Evelyn Bronson Cleaver is a principal character in the American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. June and her husband, Ward, are often invoked as the archetypal suburban parents of the 1950s. The couple are the parents of two sons, Wally and "Beaver"...

 and Ward Cleaver
Ward Cleaver
Ward Cleaver is a fictional character in the American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. Ward and his wife, June, are often invoked as archetypal suburban parents of the babyboomer 1950s. The couple are the parents of Wally, a thirteen-year-old in the eighth grade, and seven-year-old ...

 (played by Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley was an American film, television, voice and stage actress. She gained prominence in the 1950s movie The Careless Years, acting opposite Natalie Trundy, followed by her best–known role, that of June Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver and its sequel Still...

 and Hugh Beaumont
Hugh Beaumont (actor)
Eugene Hugh Beaumont was an American actor and television director. He was also licensed to preach by the Methodist church...

), and the brother of Wally Cleaver
Wally Cleaver
Wallace "Wally" Cleaver is a fictional character in the iconic American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. Wally is the thirteen-year-old son of archetypal 50s suburban parents, Ward and June Cleaver and the older brother of the seven-year-old title character, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver...

 (played by Tony Dow
Tony Dow
Tony Lee Dow is an American film producer, director, sculptor, and a television child actor of the 1950s and 1960s.Dow is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963...

).

Early acting career

Mathers was born in Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....

, the son of a high school principal. His acting career began early. In a commercial
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...

 for PET Milk, at age 2, he walked into a barroom wearing diapers, six guns, cowboy boots and a big cowboy hat. Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 comedian Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....

 was behind the bar and several cowboy actors began portraying a bar fight. At this point, Mathers walks through the fighting cowboys and one of them picks him up and they all say, "Why are you here?" Mathers responds, "I’m the toughest hombre in these parts. You better have my brand," while he pounds on the bar.

His early movies included This is My Love (1954), Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), The Seven Little Foys
The Seven Little Foys
The Seven Little Foys is a 1955 film starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. James Cagney reprises his role as George M. Cohan for an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence. In addition to the famous film, the story of Eddie Foy, Sr...

 (1955) and The Trouble with Harry
The Trouble with Harry
The Trouble With Harry is a 1955 American black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Trevor Story. It was released in the United States on October 3, 1955 then rereleased once the distribution rights were acquired by Universal Pictures in 1984...

 (1955).

As he moved into his teenage years, Mathers retired from acting to concentrate on high school.

In 1978, he reentered the entertainment industry. He has since starred in Playing Patti (1998) and Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). He has also been in It's Howdy Doody Time (1987), Down the Drain (1990) and Sexual Malice (1994).

Leave It to Beaver

Mathers reportedly got the role of Beaver Cleaver when he told the show's producers he'd rather be at his Cub Scout
Cub Scout
A Cub Scout is a member of the section of the worldwide Scouting movement for young persons, mainly boys normally aged about 7 to 11. In some countries they are known by their original name of Wolf Cubs and are often referred to simply as Cubs. The movement is often referred to simply as Cubbing...

 meeting than auditioning for the part. The producers found his candidness appealing and perfect for the role. During the show's six seasons, Mathers also had a remarkable, professional relationship with both Billingsley and Dow, who were both his second mother and brother and close friends, both on- and off-camera. Mathers played the Beaver for six years, appearing in all 234 episodes of the series. After the series, Mathers remained close to Billingsley for over 45 years, until her death in October, 2010. Just a few years before her death, he sang at her co-star's mother's 80th birthday party, after she returned from a play on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

.

Mathers was the first child actor ever to make a deal to get a percentage of the merchandising revenue from a television show. The Leave It to Beaver show still generates merchandise revenue today, 48 years after its original production run ended.

The original sitcom has been shown in over 80 countries in 40 languages. Mathers has noted that the Leave It to Beaver phenomenon is worldwide. "I can go anywhere in the world, and people know me," Mathers has said. "In Japan the show’s called 'The Happy Boy and His Family.' So I’ll be walking through the airport in Japan, and people will come up and say, 'Hi, Happy Boy!'"

His role as the Beaver was reprised in 1983, when Mathers, along with original cast members Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley was an American film, television, voice and stage actress. She gained prominence in the 1950s movie The Careless Years, acting opposite Natalie Trundy, followed by her best–known role, that of June Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver and its sequel Still...

 (as "June Cleaver
June Cleaver
June Evelyn Bronson Cleaver is a principal character in the American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. June and her husband, Ward, are often invoked as the archetypal suburban parents of the 1950s. The couple are the parents of two sons, Wally and "Beaver"...

"), Tony Dow
Tony Dow
Tony Lee Dow is an American film producer, director, sculptor, and a television child actor of the 1950s and 1960s.Dow is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963...

 (as "Wally Cleaver
Wally Cleaver
Wallace "Wally" Cleaver is a fictional character in the iconic American television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. Wally is the thirteen-year-old son of archetypal 50s suburban parents, Ward and June Cleaver and the older brother of the seven-year-old title character, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver...

"), Ken Osmond
Ken Osmond
Ken Osmond is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of four, Osmond is best known for his iconic role as Eddie Haskell on the 1950s television situation comedy Leave It to Beaver, and for reprising the role on the 1980s revival series The New Leave It to...

 (as "Eddie Haskell
Eddie Haskell
Edward Clark "Eddie" Haskell is a fictional character on the Leave It to Beaver television situation comedy, which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957 to 1958 and then on ABC from 1958 to June 20, 1963...

"), and Frank Bank
Frank Bank
Frank Bank is an American actor, particularly known for his role as Clarence 'Lumpy' Rutherford on the situation comedy television series Leave It to Beaver.Bank is a bond broker in Los Angeles, California...

 (as "Clarence 'Lumpy' Rutherford
Clarence Rutherford
Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford is a fictional character in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. The show aired from October 4, 1957 to June 20, 1963. Lumpy is a bit of a bully and, with Eddie Haskell, is one of Wally Cleaver's friends....

"), appeared in a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 T.V. movie, Still The Beaver. These same original cast members were then featured in a new television sitcom version of this movie in 1985, which in its first season was a Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

 feature, then went on to be picked up by TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...

 and broadcast syndication, where it was retitled The New Leave It to Beaver and ran until 1989.

Recordings

In 1962, near the end of the run of the original show, Mathers recorded two songs for a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 45rpm: Don't 'Cha Cry, a retread of Spanish Harlem; and for the flip side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

, the twist
Twist (dance)
The Twist was a dance inspired by rock and roll music. It became the first worldwide dance craze in the early 1960s, enjoying immense popularity among young people and drawing fire from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed...

 ditty, Wind-Up Toy ("Wind-up Toy! Wind-up Toy! Say, when you gonna treat me like a real live boy.") During his high school years, following the production of the original show, Mathers had a band called "Beaver and the Trappers." They made some records for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

, including one called Happiness is Havin, which was the number one single in Hawaii and Alaska for a while. The song was co-written by Mathers and Richard Correll
Richard Correll
Richard Thomas "Rich" Correll is an American television actor, director, producer and writer.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles County, California, Correll is the son of Charles Correll, who starred as Amos Jones on the radio program, Amos and Andy. He is the brother of Barbara Correll, Dottie Correll...

, who played Richard Rickover in the original sitcom. Mathers's band recorded for about three-and-a-half years and played sock-hops
Sock Hop
The sock hop was an informal sponsored dance at American high schools, typically held in the high school's own gym or cafeteria. The term sock hop came about because dancers were required to remove their shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium. These hops were a cultural feature of...

 and parties in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Stage

Mathers has appeared in numerous stage productions. In 2007, he made his Broadway debut with a starring role as Wilbur Turnblad in the Tony winning best musical "Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...

" at the Neil Simon Theater. In Mathers' first week, he boosted the attendance to 90% and for the rest of his run he played to standing room only houses with attendance at 110%.

Personal life

  • In 2009 and 2010, Mathers was the national spokesperson for PhRMA and their Partnership for Prescription Assistance program. This organization helps uninsured and financially-struggling patients obtain prescription medicines for free or nearly free.

  • Jerry Mathers is the older brother of Jimmy Mathers
    Jim Mathers
    James Mathers is a former child actor, who developed a career as a cinematographer and director of photography. He is the younger brother of former child television star Jerry Mathers of Leave It to Beaver fame.Mathers appeared under the name "Jimmy Mathers" in several TV and film productions...

     who was also a television actor who had spots on Bewitched
    Bewitched
    Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...

    , The Munsters
    The Munsters
    The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...

    , My Three Sons
    My Three Sons
    My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...

     and Adam-12
    Adam-12
    Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...

    .

  • Mathers graduated from Notre Dame High School, in Sherman Oaks
    Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California
    Sherman Oaks is an affluent district in the San Fernando Valley area of the city of Los Angeles, California. In contrast to much of the Valley, the area is relatively urbanized, with commercial skyscrapers along Ventura Boulevard as well as scattered throughout...

    , California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

    , in 1967. He went to college at the University of California, Berkeley
    University of California, Berkeley
    The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

     and graduated with a BA
    Bachelor of Arts
    A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

     degree in philosophy
    Philosophy
    Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

     in 1973.

  • Mathers was a member of the Air National Guard
    Air National Guard
    The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...

     (1966–69).

  • With Rhonda (second wife), married 14 years, he had three children; his son Noah Mathers (1978) works in film and video production. Two daughters; Mercedes (1982) and Gretchen (1985)

Diabetes

Mathers was diagnosed with diabetes in 1996. He took preventive action, lost 55 pounds and is currently one of the leading lecturers on living with and dealing with diabetes. Mathers has partnered with diverse organizations to build awareness among both children and adults of the epidemic of diabetes in the United States. He has been invited to share his experience with diabetes on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....

 numerous times and has spoken to the Congressional Caucus on diabetes at the Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...

 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 Mathers also speaks with the media to alert individuals about the importance of early diagnosis, diet and exercise, and the proper treatment of diabetes.

Other careers

  • Using well-invested savings from his acting career, which began at $500 a week, he started a successful career in real-estate development and banking.

  • Mathers has owned and operated a catering business and also has done commercial work for national and regional spots for advertisers such as PET Condensed Milk, Kellogg’s (he and Tony Dow were the first non-athletes on a box of corn flakes), General Electric
    General Electric
    General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

    , Purina, Kern International, Chevrolet
    Chevrolet
    Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

    , Toyota, General Mills
    General Mills
    General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...

    , AOL
    AOL
    AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...

    , Coca Cola, Jim Beam
    Jim Beam
    Jim Beam is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky. It is currently one of the best selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 , seven generations of the Beam family have been involved in whiskey production for the company that produces the brand, which was given the name...

     and Biogen.

Selected filmography

  • Men of the Fighting Lady
    Men of the Fighting Lady
    Men of the Fighting Lady is a 1954 Korean War drama film starring Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Keenan Wynn, and directed by Andrew Marton. The screenplay was written by Harry A. Burns. The original music score was composed by Miklós Rózsa.-Synopsis:...

     (1954)
  • This is My Love (1954)
  • The Trouble with Harry
    The Trouble with Harry
    The Trouble With Harry is a 1955 American black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Trevor Story. It was released in the United States on October 3, 1955 then rereleased once the distribution rights were acquired by Universal Pictures in 1984...

     (1955)
  • The Seven Little Foys
    The Seven Little Foys
    The Seven Little Foys is a 1955 film starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. James Cagney reprises his role as George M. Cohan for an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence. In addition to the famous film, the story of Eddie Foy, Sr...

     (1955)
  • That Certain Feeling
    That Certain Feeling (film)
    That Certain Feeling is a 1956 American comedy film directed by Melvin Frank, and starring Bob Hope, Eva Marie Saint, and George Sanders.-Plot:A beautiful, sophisticated New York woman who goes by the name Dunreath Henry seems to have it all...

     (1956)
  • Bigger Than Life
    Bigger Than Life
    Bigger Than Life is an American film made in 1956 directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Mason, who also co-wrote and produced the film, about a school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control upon becoming addicted to cortisone. The film co-stars Barbara Rush as his wife and...

     (1956)
  • The Shadow on the Window
    The Shadow on the Window
    The Shadow on the Window is a 1957 film directed by William Asher. It stars Philip Carey and Betty Garrett.-Cast:*Philip Carey as Tony Atlas*Betty Garrett as Linda Atlas*John Drew Barrymore as Jess Reber*Corey Allen as Gil Ramsey...

     (1957)
  • Leave It to Beaver
    Leave It to Beaver
    Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...

     (TV) (1957–1963)
  • The Deep Six
    The Deep Six
    The Deep Six is a 1958 Warnercolor World War II drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, was based on a novel with the same name by Martin Dibner...

     (1958)
  • Back to the Beach
    Back to the Beach
    Back to the Beach is a 1987 comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903...

     (1987)
  • It's Howdy Doody Time (1987)

  • Down the Drain
    Down the Drain (film)
    Down the Drain is a 1990 American comedy film. It was directed by Robert C. Hughes and starred Andrew Stevens, Teri Copley and John Matuszak, in his last film. Jerry Mathers and Stella Stevens also appeared in the film. It was released on video April 25, 1990.-Plot:A crooked lawyer brings together...

     (1990)
  • Married With Children (1991)
  • Sexual Malice (1994)
  • Playing Patti (1998)
  • The Amanda Show
    The Amanda Show
    The Amanda Show is an American live-action sketch comedy and variety show that aired on Nickelodeon from November 6, 1999 to September 21, 2002. It starred Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, and Nancy Sullivan, along with several performing artists who came and left at different points, such as John Kassir,...

     (1999)
  • Better Luck Tomorrow
    Better Luck Tomorrow
    Better Luck Tomorrow is a 2002 crime-drama film directed by Justin Lin. The movie is about Asian American overachievers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime and material excess...

     (2002)
  • Angels with Angles (2005)
  • Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
    Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
    Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector is a 2006 comedy film starring American stand-up comedian Larry the Cable Guy. Larry, a municipal restaurant health inspector, is assigned a new rookie partner after recklessly closing restaurants for code violations, Amy Butlin , by his boss, Bart Tatlock...

     (2006)
  • Will to Power
    Will to Power
    The will to power is a prominent concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and in the psychotherapy of Alfred Adler. The term may also refer to:*The Will to Power , a posthumous publication of Nietzsche's notebooks...

     (2006)
  • The Von Trapp Family Christmas (release date December 2007)

External links

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