Jerry Mathers

Jerry Mathers
Mathers in August 2007
Born	Jerry Lynn Mathers June 2, 1948 (1948-06-02) (age 61) Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1954–present
Spouse(s)	Rhonda (1977–1997) (divorced) 3 children

Jerry Lynn Mathers (born June 2, 1948 in Sioux City, Iowa) is an American television, film, and stage actor. Mathers 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).

Early acting career

from the trailer for The Trouble with Harry (1955)

The son of a high school counselor, Mathers's acting career began early. In a commercial, at age 2, he walked into a barroom wearing diapers, six guns, cowboy boots and a big cowboy hat. Vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn 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. It was a commercial for PET Milk.^[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).

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 meeting than auditioning for the part. The producers found his candidness appealing and perfect for the role.^[2] During its 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. When the show ended in 1963, Beaver was looking forward to entering Mayfield High School. Mathers appeared in all 234 episodes of the series.

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, 46 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!'"^[3]

His role as the Beaver was reprised in 1983, when Mathers, along with original cast members Barbara Billingsley (as "June Cleaver"), Tony Dow (as "Wally Cleaver"), Ken Osmond (as "Eddie Haskell"), and Frank Bank (as "Clarence 'Lumpy' Rutherford"), appeared in a CBS 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 feature, then went on to be picked up by TBS, where it ran until 1989.

Recordings

In 1962, near the end of the run of the original show, 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 ("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, 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, who played Richard Rickover in the original sitcom. Mathers's band recorded for about three-and-a-half years and played sock-hops and parties in southern California.

Broadway

In his first venture on Broadway, Mathers joined the musical cast of a production of Hairspray for a three-month run, between June and September 2007.^[4] He played the part of Wilbur Turnblad.^[3] Mathers is the second cast member of the original Leave It to Beaver show to appear on Broadway. In 1936, Barbara Billingsley appeared in the Broadway play Straw Hat, which closed after only five shows.

Urban legend death

Mathers became the subject of an urban legend when it was falsely reported that he died in Vietnam, a rumor unknowingly spread by actress Shelley Winters during an appearance she made on The Tonight Show in the late 1960s. While Mathers did serve in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, he remained in the United States. In 1969 (or 1968; sources differ) incorrect reports of his death were put out by Associated Press and United Press International when a similarly-named serviceman was killed.^[5][6] The rumor was so widespread and believable that Tony Dow sent flowers to the Mathers family upon hearing the news.

Personal life

• Mathers suffered from dyslexia in his early life.^{[citation needed]}

• Mathers graduated from Notre Dame High School, in Sherman Oaks, California, in 1967. He went to college at the University of California, Berkeley and graduated with a BA degree in philosophy in 1973.

• Mathers was a member of the Air National Guard (1966-69).^[6]

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

Psoriasis

Mathers is a spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation to raise awareness of psoriasis, educate the public about new biologic therapies, and generate hope for people with this serious, lifelong disease.^[7]

Diabetes

Mathers was diagnosed with diabetes in 1996^[8]. He took preventative action, lost 45 pounds and became one of the leading lecturers on living with and dealing with diabetes. Mathers has partnered with diverse organizations to bring awareness of this epidemic to the public and is currently the national spokesperson for Johnson and Johnson’s OneTouch Ultra2 System blood glucose monitoring system.

Other careers

• Using savings from his acting career, 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, Purina, Kern International, Chevrolet, Toyota, General Mills, AOL, Coca Cola, Jim Beam and Biogen.

Current

• Frank Bank, who played Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford on the Beaver show, is now Mathers’s investment adviser.

• Mathers, who is an FCC licensed broadcaster, often guest hosts on national talk-radio programs and is trained in radio satellite broadcasting.

• Was considered for a Cabinet position in the administration of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, but was rejected by the California State Senate.

• Mathers had recurring spots on The Tonight Show with then-host Jay Leno.

• He is currently a speaker at business conventions, where he addresses the emotional state of the American family and the effects of television on society today, using the fabled Cleavers from his early television career.

• Mathers was once again reunited with Barbara Billingsley in 2007, when she sang at his mother's 80th Birthday Party in July.

Select filmography

• This Is My Love (1954)
• The Trouble with Harry (1955)
• The Seven Little Foys (1955)
• Leave It to Beaver (TV) (1957-1963)
• That Certain Feeling
• The Deep Six
• Men of the Fighting Lady
• Back to the Beach (1987)
• Bigger Than Life
• This is My Love
• The Shadow on the Window
• It's Howdy Doody Time (1987)
• Down the Drain (1990)
• Married With Children (1991)
• Sexual Malice (1994)
• Playing Patti (1998)
• The Amanda Show (1999)
• Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
• Angels with Angles (2005)
• Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (2006)
• Will to Power (2006)
• The Von Trapp Family Christmas (release date December 2007)
• "Dr. Tran - Peanut Butter Square Hula Quest" (release date May 21, 2008)

Bibliography

• And Jerry Mathers as The Beaver; Mathers, Jerry and Fagen, Herb; Berkley Trade (1998)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jerry Mathers

• Jerry Mathers at the Internet Movie Database
• Jerry Mathers at the Internet Broadway Database
• Parade Magazine Interview with Jerry Mathers, 2007