Gerald Patrick "Jerry" Mathers (born June 2, 1948) is an American actor who is best known for his role in the television sitcom series Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963), in which he played Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, the younger son of archetypal suburban couple June and Ward Cleaver (played by Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont), and the brother of Wally Cleaver (played by Tony Dow).
On Married... with Children he made a guest appearance as a fictionalized version of himself in the Season 5 episode, "You Better Shop Around (Part 2)"
Early acting career[]
Mathers was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of a high school principal. He has two younger siblings, Susie and Jim Mathers, who also became child actors. Mathers began his career at the age of 2 when he appeared as a child model for a department store ad. Soon after, he starred in a commercial for PET Milk opposite vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn.[1]
His early movies included This is My Love (1954), Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), The Seven Little Foys (1955) and The Trouble with Harry (1955).
Leave It to Beaver[]
Jerry reportedly got the role of Beaver Cleaver when he told the show's producers he would rather be at his Cub Scout meeting than auditioning for the part. The producers found his candidness appealing and perfect for the role. Mathers played the Beaver for six years, appearing in all 234 episodes of the series. He 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. Jerry 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!'"[2]
Music[]
In 1962, near the end of the run of Leave It to Beaver, Mathers recorded two songs for a single 45rpm: "Don't 'Cha Cry", a retread of "Spanish Harlem" and for the flip side, the twist ditty, "Wind-Up Toy". During his high school years, Mathers had a band called Beaver and the Trappers.[3]
Later career[]
As he moved into his teenage years, Mathers retired from acting to concentrate on high school. He attended Notre Dame High School, in Sherman Oaks, CA. While he was still in high school, Mathers joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He appeared as a presenter at the 1967 Emmy Awards ceremony in his dress uniform. After graduating high school in 1967, Mathers continued to serve in the Reserve and made the rank of Sergeant. In December 1969, a rumor began that Mathers was killed in action in the Vietnam War. Although the origin of the rumor is unclear, Mathers never saw action and was never stationed outside of the United States. Years later, in 1980, Mathers and Dow appeared with Bill Murray on Saturday Night Live|Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update segment, making fun of the Vietnam War death rumor.[4]
Mathers later attended the University of California-Berkeley, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1973. He then worked as a commercial loan officer at a bank before using well-invested savings from his acting career, which began at $500 a week,[5] to begin a career in real-estate development. In 1978, he reentered the entertainment industry. That year, he and Tony Dow starred in the play Boeing, Boeing which ran for ten weeks in Kansas City. Mathers and Dow then toured the dinner theater circuit in a production of So Long, Stanley for 18 months. In 1981, he worked as a disc jockey at KEZY-AM radio in Anaheim, California.
In 1983, Mathers reprised his role in the television reunion film Still the Beaver, which also featured the majority of the original Leave It to Beaver cast. The success of the television film led to the development of a sequel series of the same name. The series began airing on the Disney Channel in 1984, then went on to be picked up by TBS and broadcast syndication, where it was retitled The New Leave It to Beaver and ran until 1989.
Mathers has since continued his career in films and television roles. In the 1990s, he guest starred on episodes of Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Vengeance Unlimited, and Diagnosis Murder. In 1998, Mathers released his memoirs, And Jerry Mathers as The Beaver. On June 5, 2007, he made his Broadway debut with a starring role as Wilbur Turnblad in the Tony winning best musical Hairspray at the Neil Simon Theater.
Between 2018 and 2019, he appeared with his Leave it to Beaver co-star Tony Dow in several promo ads for the network MeTV, which airs classic television shows including Leave It to Beaver. [6][7]
In December 2022, he received an award at the 25th Annual Family Film Awards, where Leave it to Beaver was honored for "Best Iconic Television Series".[8].
Other ventures[]
In addition to acting, Mathers has also owned and operated a catering business and 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, Purina, Kern International, Chevrolet, Toyota, General Mills, AOL, Coca Cola, Jim Beam and Biogen.
In 2009, Mathers became the national spokesman for PhRMA and their Partnership for Prescription Assistance program. The organization helps uninsured and financially struggling patients obtain prescription medicines.[9]
Appearance on Married... with Children[]
In the Season 5 episode, "You Better Shop Around (Part 2)", he plays a parody version of himself, claiming that he is financially broke and forced to go to local events dressed as "The Beaver" to make ends meet.
Before the Bundys and D'Arcys are to compete in a shopping spree at Foodie's, the store's owner Mr. Foodie, comes out and introduces Jerry to the crowd. As the crowd applauds, he asks Mr. Foodie for his cash payment in advance and then greets the crowd. As he tells the audience about the good things that Foodie's has to offer, he suddenly has a change in tone. Realizing that he is now doing a promotion for a local supermarket instead of acting, he drops to his knees and begs "Oh merciful heavens, won't somebody please shoot me?! Somebody please just put a bullet to the ol' Beav's head!".
Seeing Jerry on his knees and sobbing, Peggy takes pity on him and asks Al if he could get Jerry a job at Gary's Shoes & Accessories for Today's Woman, since he had brought so much joy to television viewers over the years. But Al tells her that he doesn't need to spend his work days with "The Beaver" just to come home to Peggy.
Jerry then gets up and explains to the crowd that whoever gets $1000 worth of items in their cart first wins the shopping spree. He then laments that the $1000 worth of items from the store is more than Foodie's is paying him. He then has another emotional breakdown, wondering if Match Game PM really could not use him as a celebrity panelist and if he truly is lower than Charles Nelson Reilly.
Kelly Bundy looks on and wonders "Who is this blubbering mess?", before Bud Bundy takes a guess and suggests that it might be "Opie". Offended by his comment, Jerry tells him that Opie was played by Ron Howard and after becoming energized, he tells everyone that he was and still is "The Beaver". Although the crowd goes wild and applauds, he tells them to spare him of their "pity claps". He then makes it back to his chair, which crossed out the name of actor (and future MWC guest star), Gary Coleman and his name written on the bottom. Just then a young child calls him "Opie" and asks for an autography. He then tells the kid that its "Jerry" and it will cost $2.
Later, Bud and Kelly decide to have some fun and harass Jerry. They first come up and ask him to settle a bet that the siblings made. Kelly believes that Jerry spent all of his money on booze and cheap women, while Bud suggests that he spent it all on donuts and cheap booze. He then tells the pair to either give him a quarter or leave him alone.
A few moments later, the siblings come up to Jerry and ask him to settle another bet. Kelly tells him that Bud believes that Jerry is so desperate for money, that he would stand on top of his chair and bellow like a moose for a nickel, while Kelly believes that if he could bellow like a moose, why would he need to be there at Foodie's in the first place. Jerry simply gets up and walks away while the kids follow him again.
After trying to desperately get the pair away from him, he gives them fifty cents, saying its the only money he has left and pleads with them to leave him alone. Bud takes the money, but asks Jerry to answer just one more question. He proceeds to ask Jerry if he would team up with " that Eddie Munster kid" and doing a "Thoroughly Pathetic Tour '91" as the kids snicker.
Frustrated by their behavior, Jerry tells them "Look! Let's get this over with once and for all! I may have to earn a pathetic living by donning the cap of The Beaver and appearing at supermarkets, but at least my father doesn't sell women's shoes." Upon hearing his response, Bud and Kelly lower their heads in shame and quietly walk away. Jerry then takes a seat and smiles, saying "Golly, that felt good!".
After moving around, he comes across an attractive woman named Nibbles, who is standing at a vending machine. He tries to impress her by pointing out his name on the chair and telling her that he was "The Beaver". Unfortunately for him, she is completely unaware of who he or "The Beaver" are, causing him to lower his head and walk away in shame.
Personal life[]
Mathers has been married three times. He met his first wife, Diana Platt, in college. They married in 1974 and later divorced. He then met his second wife, Rhonda Gehring, while touring in the production of So Long, Stanley. They have three children, a son (Noah) and two daughters (Mercedes and Gretchen). Mathers and Gehring later divorced. e then married his third wife, Teresa Modnick, in Huntington Beach on January 30, 2011.[10]
Diabetes[]
Mathers was diagnosed with Diabetes in 1996.[11] On the advice of his doctor, Mathers enrolled in a weight loss program with Jenny Craig in May 1997 and lost over 40 pounds. He later became the first male spokesperson for Jenny Craig.
Bibliography[]
- And Jerry Mathers as The Beaver; Mathers, Jerry and Fagen, Herb; Berkley Trade (1998)
References[]
- ↑ Interview with Jerry Mathers: 'I've Had a Charmed Life'. parade.com. Retrieved on February 20, 2013.
- ↑ Robertson, Campbell (June 5, 2007). And Jerry Mathers as ... Tracy Turnblad’s Father?. nytimes.com. Retrieved on February 20, 2013.
- ↑ Hammer, Josh (February 7, 1983). Still the Beaver After 20 Years, Jerry Mathers Joins Tony Dow for a Bittersweet Return to Mayfield People. ISSN# 0093-7673
- ↑ Saturday Night Live Transcripts, Rodney Dangerfield, 03/08/80.
- ↑ Lamparski, Richard (1982). pp. 200–1. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-54855-0.
- ↑ Jerry Mathers & Tony Dow - Wake Up With Me, MeTV
- ↑ Jerry Mathers is "Future Beaver" on MeTV
- ↑ Jerry Mathers Leave it to Beaver award Dec 26, 2022
- ↑ Pulliam, John R. (April 6, 2009). ‘The Beav’ pitches prescription assistance. galesburg.com. Retrieved on February 20, 2013.
- ↑ Bersebach, Paul (January 30, 2011). 'Leave it to Beaver' star gets hitched in H.B.. ocregister.com. Retrieved on February 20, 2013.
- ↑ Jerry Mathers Leaves it to Weight Loss to Control His Diabetes
External links[]
- http://www.jerrymathers.com Jerry's official website
- Jerry Mathers at the Internet Broadway Database
Jerry Mathers at the Internet Movie Database
