Beaver's Friends, Classmates, and Teachers
Beaver's best pals include apple-munching Larry Mondello (Rusty Stevens, November 22, 1957 – June 6, 1963), Gilbert Bates (Stephen Talbot, March 19, 1959 – June 6, 1963), Hubert "Whitey" Whitney (Stanley Fafara, October 4, 1957 – June 6, 1963), and the old fireman, Gus (Burt Mustin, October 4, 1957 – February 24, 1962). Except for Gus, Beaver's friends steer him into trouble time and again. Other friends include Harry Henderson (Keith Taylor), a chubby, bespectacled boy brought in after Rusty Stevens' departure, and Richard Rickover (Richard Correll, April 30, 1960 – October 18, 1962).
Judy Hensler (Jeri Weil, October 4, 1957 – October 15, 1960) is Beaver's snitching, goody-goody classroom nemesis on the show. Penny Woods (Karen Sue Trent, February 20, 1960 – January 20, 1962) filled the nemesis role when Judy was dropped. Other friends include Lumpy's sister Violet Rutherford, (Wendy Winkleman, 1957 and Veronica Cartwright, February 19, 1959 – May 2, 1963). Benjie Bellamy (Joey Scott) and Chuckie Murdock (Rory Stevens) are both small boys and Cleaver neighbors who cause trouble.
Beaver had two female teachers in the earliest seasons. Miss Canfield (Diane Brewster, October 4, 1957 – March 21, 1958) is Beaver's kind and understanding second grade teacher at Grant Ave. Grammar School and appears in four first-season episodes. Beaver has a crush on her in one episode. Alice Landers (Sue Randall, October 16, 1958 – June 6, 1963) becomes Beaver's third grade teacher in the second season, replacing Miss Canfield. She remains his teacher for several seasons. Beaver develops a crush on her but his joy turns sour when she announces her engagement to Tom Brittingham. Cornelia Rayburn (Doris Packer, October 4, 1957 – June 13, 1963) is the principal of Grant Ave. Grammar School and, later Beaver's teacher, after Miss Landers, replacing Mr. Bloomgarten. In the later seasons, Beaver has male, rather than female, teachers who include Mr. Willet and Mr. Blair, both played by Wendell Holmes.
Read more about this topic: Leave It To Beaver Characters, Recurring Characters
Famous quotes containing the words beaver and/or teachers:
“I saw young Harry with his beaver on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Productive collaborations between family and school, therefore, will demand that parents and teachers recognize the critical importance of each other’s participation in the life of the child. This mutuality of knowledge, understanding, and empathy comes not only with a recognition of the child as the central purpose for the collaboration but also with a recognition of the need to maintain roles and relationships with children that are comprehensive, dynamic, and differentiated.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)