Leave IT To Beaver Characters - Main Characters and Cast

Main Characters and Cast

The show's four main characters appeared in all 234 episodes of the show, and, in the opening sequence, were introduced in the following order:

• June Evelyn Bronson Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) is the wife of Ward Cleaver and the mother of two sons, Wally and Beaver, who is also the main character of the series. She grew up in the Mayfield area and summered with her aunt, Martha Bronson, at Riverside, a community a few hours from Mayfield. June attended boarding school, dated Ward in her teens, and attended college. June mentions that her Aunt Martha "practically raised her". When Beaver asks her about her life, June doesn't mention she ever held down a full-time job. She merely indicates she had a part-time job and was dismissed when she got her books messed up so bad. When the show opens, she is a full-time wife and mother, often seen tidying the house, preparing meals in the kitchen, or tending her family. Her outside interests include social events such as weddings and her sons' school events. In the later seasons, many episodes feature a brief "after-school" scene in the kitchen for June and Wally. Wally breezes through the back door and regales his mother with a short recital couched in teen-speak of his school day. The camera zooms-in on June's amusingly mystified countenance as Wally trots away with a hot dog or other snack-in-hand. During the course of the series' run, June has several housekeepers, including Minerva, Mrs. Manners (who smells like gingerbread according to Beaver), Mrs. Manners' teen daughter Margie (who becomes a romantic interest for Wally), and other unnamed women. Actress Barbara Billingsley appeared in the pilot, every episode of the series, and in the show's spin-offs. Throughout the series' run, she wore either a necklace or a dress with a high collar, jabot, or scarf to hide a surgery-inflicted hollow in her neck which would have caused on-screen shadows.

• Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont) is June's husband, and the father of Wally and Beaver. He is a farmer's son who grew up on a farm near Shaker Heights, a community in the vicinity of Mayfield. It's never stated Ward went to the same prep school as June but it is established he dated June in high school, and majored in Philosophy at college. He was an engineer in the Seabees during World War II and, through the show's run, works in a white collar office job, though the nature of his work is never specified. A co-worker, Fred Rutherford, is also a friend and the two men socialize outside the workplace. Though Ward speaks of his father and siblings when recalling his childhood, only his globe-trotting uncle Billy pays visits to the Cleaver home. Ward drives a Ford Fairlane and plays golf at a country club. Ward and his wife sleep in twin beds and have a portable television set in their bedroom – the only TV in the house until the last few seasons at which time a console TV (rarely used) stands in Ward's first-floor den. In one episode, Beaver allows a tramp to bathe in his parents' bathroom. The tramp then absconds from the Cleaver house wearing one of Ward's suits and a pair of his shoes. Ward is a good-natured, understanding man who is often called upon to give his sons some moral instruction regarding their choices and behavior. Actor Hugh Beaumont often played villains and heavies in film and television before capturing his signature role as Ward Cleaver. Just before filming the premiere episode for Leave It to Beaver, Beaumont flew from his home in Minnesota to Hollywood while his wife, son, and mother drove. An accident on the road killed his mother and severely injured his wife and son. Jerry Mathers later stated that Beaumont's entire participation in the production was seriously impaired by the tragic accident, with Beaumont often walking through his part. Beaumont wrote the story for one episode from the second season, "A Horse Named Nick", and directed a number of episodes in the last two seasons, including the final, retrospective "Family Scrapbook". The character of Ward was portrayed by Max Showalter (credited as Casey Adams) in the pilot episode, "It's a Small World".

• Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow) is the son of Ward and June Cleaver and the older brother of Beaver. When the show opens, Wally is 12 and in the eighth grade at Grant Ave. Grammar School. He is an above average student and a top-notch athlete, eventually lettering in three sports. Wally is popular with his peers as well as adults, and, has little difficulty attracting girlfriends, among them Mary Ellen Rogers and Julie Foster. The girls referred to Wally as "the absolute most." His pals include Tooey Brown, Chester Anderson, the awkward Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford and smart-aleck Eddie Haskell. Wally comes down hard on both Lumpy and Eddie when they pick on Beaver. Wally acts as a bridge in the show between his parents and his brother, often translating parental communications into kidspeak for Beaver's benefit and keeping Ward and June informed of Beaver's feelings, plans, and whereabouts. Leave It to Beaver was actor Tony Dow's first dramatic experience. He would later play the role in spin-offs. The character Wally was portrayed by Paul Sullivan in the pilot episode.

• Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) is the younger son of Ward and June Cleaver and Wally's brother. When the show opens, Beaver is seven years old ("almost eight") and in the second grade at Grant Ave. Grammar School. Beaver is all-boy with baseball, carnivals, comic books, money-making schemes, and animals of all kinds high on his list of interests while very proper ladies, dance lessons, bathing, and homework test his patience to the limit. Through the series' entire six-season run, Beaver shares a bedroom and adjoining bath with Wally. In one episode, he moves into the guest room after a spat with Wally but returns to the safety of his old bedroom when shadows in the guest room spook him. Beaver is not the athlete his brother is, but he does play football and wins his school team's Most Inspirational Player award. He also performs in many school plays. Beaver has several one-shot pets (an alligator, a rabbit, pigeons, and other creatures) through the series' run. Though Beaver has many friends his own age, his best friend is Gus, an old fireman in the neighborhood, who gives Beaver sound advice and tries to keep the boy on the straight and narrow. Beaver wants and tries to do the right thing but cannot help going astray and usually faces a moral lecture from his father at the end of each episode regarding some misadventure he has suffered or mistake he has made. Actor Jerry Mathers played the role in the pilot and the show's spin-offs.