Here’s What Happened to the Cast of ‘Leave It to Beaver’ Before, During and After the Classic Sitcom

Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver)

The man who played the patriarch of the Cleaver family was born Eugene Hugh Beaumont on February 16, 1909 in Eudora, Kansas. His father a traveling salesman, the family often moved around — though they did settle down long enough in Tennessee for him to graduate from Chattanooga’s Baylor School, followed by him attending the University of Chattanooga. He would eventually transfer to the University of Southern California where, in 1946, he graduated with a Master of Theology degree. And don’t think for a second that he decided to step away from religious devotion for a Hollywood career.

Dave Sundstrom, a YouTube user whose videos provide insightful commentary on TV, movies and music from the 1960s through the 1980s, says of Hugh in one of his videos, “He wanted to be an actor just about as much as he wanted to be a man of God. So at some point he decided he could do both; though, when given the opportunity, he would definitely preach. In fact, during breaks between jobs, Hugh and his family — wife Kathy and their three kids — would spend their time in Minnesota far away from the entertainment industry and all of the trappings that came along with it. Hugh absolutely loved the time away. It allowed him to focus on being a better man, a better husband to Kathy and a better father to his kids.”

Hugh’s Hollywood career began in 1931 with him performing on radio, in nightclubs and in theaters. He made the leap to the big screen in 1940’s Phantom Raiders in an uncredited role. In fact, he would play a lot of those until 1953, filling the gaps in between with roles in which he played actual characters. In total, prior to Leave It to Beaver, he appeared in 86 movies. Surprisingly, following the series he only made one additional film appearance, in 1965’s The Human Duplicators. Television actually provided more opportunities for him as he appeared on dozens of TV shows, including anthologies and episodics (among the latter the George Reeves TV series The Adventures of Superman). But in 1957 he found the role the public would come to know him best as: Ward Cleaver, who always had the perfect words of advice for both his sons, Wally and Beaver.

On his official website, Jerry offers, “I actually worked with Hugh Beaumont even before we started shooting Leave It to Beaver. I was cast with him in a promotional film for Rose Hills Memorial Park. One thing I remember is that during a scene I was supposed to cry on cue.  Hugh asked me if I had ever done that before and I told him no. He said, ‘Put your face into your hands and laugh really hard. It’s an old actor’s trick because the sound of laughter and crying are very closely related.’ Sure enough, I tried it and it worked! When we shot the pilot of Leave It to Beaver, Hugh was not the original father. But, when they re-cast the role for the series, Hugh was one of several people brought in for an audition. My mother actually suggested for him to go in for the interview! When I saw him, I was so happy because he was the nice man that I worked with on the Rose Hills shoot. So, when we read a short scene together, we had a good chemistry and Hugh got the part of Ward Cleaver. I was very glad that he was picked for the role and we had a wonderful friendship for his entire life until he passed away in 1982 from a heart attack. Hugh and my dad had become friends and he occasionally came to our house to play cards with my father and some of his friends.”

Continues Jerry, “Hugh had a long and illustrious career and did many films and television series in addition to Leave It to Beaver. One of his most famous characters was Michael Shayne, who he played in five films. He was a hard drinking, heavy cigarette smoking detective in this part, in the style of Mickey Spillane … I think he was much more comfortable as Ward Cleaver, because it fit his ‘real-life’ personality so much better.” Those Michael Shayne films were Murder is My Business, Larceny in Her Heart and Blonde for a Day (all 1946) and Three on a Ticket and Too Many Winners (both 1947).

Following the end of Leave It to Beaver in 1963, Hugh made more TV guest appearances and appeared in a number of community theater productions. Gradually he moved away from show business and actually became a Christmas tree farmer in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The assumption is that the move away from acting (as well as writing and directing, which he had begun to have some success with) was precipitated by a stroke in 1972 from which he never fully recovered.

Hugh married Kathryn Adams Doty in 1941 and they remained so until they divorced in 1974. They are the parents to three children: Hunter, Kristy and Mark. Hugh died of a heart attack on May 14, 1982.

Comments Dave, “He believed that the God that he had studied all those years, the God that he had preached about, the God that had been there to comfort him, well, he believed that that God didn’t care much about Hugh Beaumont the movie and TV star. He cared about Hugh Beaumont the man, and even more specifically what was in that man’s heart. He passed away in 1982 from a heart attack. He was with family visiting his older son, Hunter, in Munich, Germany. When word got out about his death, the man was remembered by his family and friends, not for his onscreen accomplishments, but rather for the overwhelmingly positive impact that he’d had on each one of them. And those feelings extended to his television family as well. They were right there, mourning alongside his family as one.”

Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to reprise his role of Ward Cleaver in the TV movie Still the Beaver, although the film was dedicated to his memory.

Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver)

Next to perhaps Jane Wyman in Father Knows Best, there is no other actress who has represented the quintessential 1950s TV American housewife than Barbara Billingsley, who was born Barbara Lillian Combes on December 22, 1915 in Los Angeles. Years later she attended Los Angeles Junior College for a year, but decided she needed a change and became part of a revue called Straw Hat. When it moved to New York and Broadway, so did she. Unfortunately the show closed after five performances, but she nonetheless decided to remain in New York, where she found employment as a fashion model. In 1945 she secured a contract with MGM Studios and moved to Los Angles a year later.

Like Hugh, Barbara found herself appearing in dozens of films in uncredited roles. It was steady, but not really fulfilling. Television, on the other hand, gave her more to do in the shows she found herself cast in. Most of it was single-episode appearances, though there were multiple opportunities on anthologies like Four Star Playhouse and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. In 1955 she starred in the single-season sitcom Professional Father and the following year in the comedy The Brothers. It was, of course, 1957 when she would find herself cast in the role of June Cleaver, which defined her and her career for many years.

Writing for TV Guide, Matt Roush said of her, “She embodied a post-war, pre-Stepford vision of unflappable suburban motherhood as the perfectly attired and coiffed June, who famously performed her household duties in a dress, heels and stylish pearl choker. She described June as ‘the ideal mother’ in a 1997 TV Guide magazine interview. ‘Some people think she was weakfish, but I don’t. She was the love in that family. She set a good example for what a wife could be … I think the character kind of became me and vice versa. I’ve never known where one started and where one stopped,’ said Billingsley, who, like June, raised two sons.”

Writes Jerry on his site, “Barbara Billingsley was a good friend and an even better mentor. For me, she was like the favorite teacher that we all had in school. I was lucky enough to work with her for six years and have a life-long relationship with her. She was a very kind woman and a generous philanthropist who supported many charities, always ready to give anyone in need a helping hand. Barbara was even more sparkling and fun than June Cleaver. Every once in a while she would get frustrated or upset and we always knew when that was, because she would say, ‘Hell’s bells’ and then put her hands over her mouth with her cutest ‘oops’ look. This was the only ‘curse word’ that I ever heard her say. And she always looked flustered and turned red when she realized that other people had heard her say that. She would then apologize profusely.”

“Barbara was always eager to teach a rambunctious lad (i.e. Me) proper civility and manners,” he continues. “An example of this was when I would rush ahead of her to see what was beyond the next door. She would reach up and grab me by the very short hairs at the nape of my neck and pull me back very gently and say, ‘Jerry, ladies always go first.’ And, this is what she was — a truly regal lady. I miss her very much.”

Following the end of Leave It to Beaver, Barbara made guest appearances on a variety of shows, but found herself opened up to a whole new audience when she appeared in 1980’s Airplane as a passenger on the seemingly-doomed flight who announces to the stewardess, “I speak jive,” allowing her to communicate with a pair of ill African American passengers. The scene is hysterical. “I was cast because I’d been June Cleaver,” Barbara related to the Archive of American Television. “I was sent the script and I thought it was the craziest script I’ve ever read. My part wasn’t written. It just said I talked jive. I met the producer and I said I would do it. I met the two black fellows that taught me jive. … It wasn’t hard for me to learn.”

Elsewhere she added, “It reached a point where I was as well known for Airplane as I was for Leave It to Beaver. It revived my career.”

While she would make guest appearances on TV until 2003, Barbara voiced the character of Nanny on the animated Muppet Babies. She also found fame as June Cleaver all over again beginning in 1983 when she, along with Jerry and Tony starred in the TV reunion movie Still the Beaver. That movie did so well in the ratings that it actually spawned the series The New Leave It to Beaver, which ran from 1985 to 1989 for a total of 101 episodes. It successfully took the gentle humor of the original and presented it to an all new generation on top of the original that continued to follow the Cleaver family.

In her personal life, Barbara was the mother of two children and was married to Glen Billingsley from 1941 to 1947, Roy Kellino from 1953 until his death in 1956, and William Mortensen from 1959 until his death in 1981. She died of polymyalgia on October 16, 2010. She was 94.

Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver)

The Beav’s older brother, Wally, or, more accurately, the actor who played him, was born Tony Lee Dow on April 13, 1945, in Hollywood. Although his mother was a stunt woman in early Westerns, Tony wasn’t really that into the idea of a life in entertainment. In fact, he more or less got into acting accidentally at the age of 11.

“I was a swimmer back then and a pretty good one,” he told Fox News. “I was a junior diving champion and held a national record at 9. I was working out at the Hollywood athletic club and there was a lifeguard there who was an actor. He told my mom, ‘I’m going to this interview for a show where they’re looking for a father and son. Can Tony go with me because we kind of look alike?’ He figured maybe that was the only way to get it. I put on my blue suit and went in. I didn’t know what was going on, but everything was new and interesting. And I was with him so I felt at ease. However, I ended up getting the part and he didn’t, so that was unfortunate. The show was called Johnny Wildlife and it would’ve been the first color series on television about a wildlife photographer and his son. It was way ahead of its time.”

“The pilots we did,” he elaborated, “dealt with Japan going over the quotas of hunted whales and a company dumping toxic waste into the ocean… But it didn’t work out, because the stock footage they were using couldn’t be duplicated. But there was another show called Wally and The Beaver. That made the cut. It was later renamed Leave It to Beaver.”

On his blog, Jerry revealed an interesting story about how Tony got the part of Wally: “Tony was a phenomenal athlete and had trained to be a swimmer and diver from a very early age. He received many accolades and awards through the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) including Junior Olympics diving champion. Before Leave It to Beaver, he had hopes of someday competing in the Olympics. Although I had been an actor since the age of 2 years old, Tony’s only acting job prior to Leave It to Beaver was in television pilot. Tony’s second foray into acting on television was in Leave It to Beaver. He wasn’t in our original pilot which was called It’s a Small World. The boy who played Wally grew about 5 inches between the time the pilot was filmed and we went into production of the series. He was almost as tall as Hugh Beaumont, so the producers decided to put out another casting call for a boy who was more height appropriate for that age. Tony’s true life ability as an athlete was a perfect fit for Wally, he was cast for the part and the rest is television history!”

Like his fellow castmates, when Leave It to Beaver finished its run, Tony began hitting the TV guest star circuit, and made a few film appearances. In 1977 he spoofed the whole Beaver thing in a clever courtroom moment from the movie Kentucky Fried Movie, written by the guys who would go on to make Airplane. No doubt he figured there was no harm as he would never play Wally again but, of course, he did. First in the reunion TV movie and then The New Leave It to Beaver series. When the show ended, he began directing episodes of such shows as The New Lassie, Harry and the Hendersons, Coach, Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also served as visual effects supervisor on Babylon 5 and oversaw the effects of a Doctor Who TV movie aired on Fox.

In his later years, Tony, who waged a battle with clinical depression, became a sculptor of abstract bronze statues, which grew into a true passion. In his personal life, he was married to Carol Marlowe from 1969 to 1978 and wed Lauren Shukind in 1980. He had one child with Carol.

In May 2022, Lauren shared on Facebook that Tony was diagnosed with cancer. 

“Dear friends and fans of Tony Dow, I have some very sad news to share with you,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, Tony has once again been diagnosed with cancer. He is approaching this reality so bravely, but it is truly heartbreaking. We want to thank you in advance for your caring thoughts. Our love, Lauren and Tony.”

It was first reported by the sitcom star’s management and wife that he had died on July 26, 2022, at the age of 77, but his team soon deleted the Facebook post. “This is a difficult time,” his son, Christopher Dow, said to Fox News in a statement later that day. “Yes, he is still alive but in his last hours. Under hospice care.” The longtime actor died the following day. 

“We have received confirmation from Christopher, Tony’s son, that Tony passed away earlier this morning, with his loving family at his side to see him through this journey,” a statement on his Facebook page read. “We know that the world is collectively saddened by the loss of this incredible man. He gave so much to us all and was loved by so many. One fan said it best — ‘It is rare when there is a person who is so universally loved like Tony.'”

And Jerry Mathers (as The Beaver)

If you want to look at a poster child for the kid actor who came out of the experience pretty much unscathed, look no farther than Jerry (OK, Ron Howard’s another one). Born Gerald Patrick Mathers on June 2, 1948 in Sioux City, Iowa, he kicked off his career at the ripe old age of 2 when he became a model for a department store ad. This was followed by a commercial with vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn in a PET Milk commercial.

Feature film appearances followed in the movies This is My Love (1954), Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), The Seven Little Foys (1955), and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry (1955). By the time he was cast as Theodore Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver, showbiz in some ways was something he’d gotten used to. What might have been considered life changing for other people seemed like a natural progression for him. In a previous in-depth interview with Closer Weekly, Jerry discussed the experience of Leave It to Beaver and the impact it had on his life and career.

Once he’d left (or so he thought) Leave It to Beaver behind him, Jerry attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California to have something of a normal teenage life. There he was part of a band called Beaver and the Trappers. While in high school he also enlisted in the United States Air Force Reserves, eventually achieving the rank of sergeant. He never saw combat.

In the 1970s Jerry worked as a loan officer at a bank and then decided to use his well-invested Beaver savings to get involved in real estate. Towards the end of the decade he decided to get back into the entertainment world, he and Tony Dow starring in a stage production of the comedy Boeing, Boeing, which ran for 10 weeks in Kansas City. The duo followed that with a dinner theater tour of So Long, Stanley, which ran for 18 months. In 1981 he worked as a disc jockey, and then Beaver Cleaver entered his life all over again.

For him, Still the Beaver and The New Leave It to Beaver was a delight. “All of us were determined to do the show the exact same way,” Jerry related to us, “which meant all of the episodes are, again, from real life and not situation comedy. The show was very easy for me to do, because I knew everybody. These are people that I grew up with and liked. There wasn’t anybody where we said, ‘Oh, we don’t want that person back.’ You know, we’d see each other every once in a while over the years, but it wasn’t like a day to day thing. So it was a wonderful reunion.”

Jerry continued to make guest appearances on TV shows but had a sidetrack in his life when, in 1996, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Since then he’s lost weight, gotten healthier, became the first male spokesperson for Jenny Craig and led a battle to bring public awareness to the disease. Yet, through it all, there remains Leave It to Beaver, fans of which are springing up all the time. “It’s very gratifying,” he recently told us, “but it’s not me. The writers were so good and so was the entire cast. And it’s a great show. I think it has sticking power, because everything now is color and all of a sudden you see this black and white show that just catches your eye. It was a good show with a good message.”

As simple as that.