Leave It to Beaver

Background:

“I can go anywhere in the world, and people know me. 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.” Jerry Mathers

American television, film and stage actor Jerry Mathers shot to TV stardom at age 9 when he began his famous starring role of Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver on the sitcom “Leave It to Beaver” (1957-1963), a role that later brought him a Special Award at the 1985 Young Artist Awards. The series spawned a 1983 successful reunion TV film, Still the Beaver, and a moderately booming cable series, “The New Leave It to Beaver,” which ran from 1985 to 1989. Presently broadcast on TV Land and in countries throughout the world, “Leave It To Beaver” has made Mathers an icon of generations and has been hailed as one of the first actors, child or adult, who gained a percentage of the shows merchandise revenue, even to this day. A former child star, Mathers, however, was unable to keep up his acting career after the end of “Leave It to Beaver” and did not resurface on the industry until after nearly a decade. One of People Magazine's “Most Well-known Individuals in Television History (1989), Mathers also has collected a number of film credits.

On the personal front, Mathers is the father of three and has been divorced from his wife of twenty years Rhonda (together from 1977 to 1997). As of 2005, he is dating Teresa Modnick, the community relations director for the Santa Monica-based Center for Healthy Aging. In 1996, Mathers was diagnosed with diabetes, and has since become one of leading lecturers on living with and dealing with diabetes. He has collaborated with various organizations to bring awareness of this epidemic to the public and is now the national spokesman for Johnson and Johnson's OneTouch Ultra2 System blood glucose monitoring system. In addition, he is a spokesperson for The National Psoriasis Foundation, and is a highly requested speaker at national conventions concerning the emotional state of the American family and the impact of television on society today.

The Beav

Childhood and Family:

Jerry Mathers was born on Sioux City, Iowa, in June 2, 1948. A dyslexic in his early life, he was educated at Notre Dame High School, in Sherman Oaks, California, and after his graduation in 1967, went to college at the University of California in Berkeley. He received a B.A in Philosophy in 1973. Jerry, who was nicknamed The Beav after his role in the 1957 series “Leave It to Beaver,” has a brother, Jimmy Mathers, and a sister named Susie Mathers, a former child actress.

Jerry has been divorced twice. He was married to his wife Rhonda from 1977 to 1997. The couple have a son, Noah Mathers (born in 1978), who currently works in films and video production, and two daughters, Mercedes Mathers (born in 1982) and Gretchen Mathers (born in 1985).

Hairspray

Career:

Jerry Mathers started picking up modeling gig when he was two years old, and broke into television shortly thereafter on the “Ed Wynn Television Show.” After uncredited parts in the movies Bob Hope's Son of Paleface (1952) and the Andrew Marton-directed Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), he landed bigger parts in such projects as This Is My Love (1954), opposite Linda Darnell,The Seven Little Foys (1955) and That Certain Feeling, both of which starring Hope, and Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry (1955), which starred Shirley McLain and John Forsythe. He also acted in director William Asher's The Shadow on the Window (1975) and the Alan Ladd film Deep Six (1958).

Young Mathers kept himself busy on the small screen by making guest spots on shows like “I Love Lucy” (1953), and then in 1956 he was cast in the role of as all-American kid Theodore “Beaver” Clever in “It's a Small World,” an unsold pilot film that showed up on the syndicated anthology Studio 57. A year later, a heavily revamped and recast “It's a Small World” resurfaced as the weekly comedy series “Leave It to Beaver” with Mathers having the titular character of the youngest son. Premiered on October 4, 1957, the sitcom ran for six full-season until it came to an end in 1963.

Unfortunately, after the demise of the show, Mathers could not sustain his acting career and withdrew from public eye for nearly a decade. During this time, he completed high school, attended college, as well as launched a career in music. Mathers cut two records for A & M Records and toured with his band “Beaver and The Trappers” for three summers. After college, he established a successful career in banking and real estate development. In order to pay for this, he used his savings from his acting career. A member of the 22nd Air Force National Guard, Mathers drove off all speculations of being killed in Vietnam.

In 1978, Mathers resumed his acting career by touring numerous cities for 18 months in the production of “So Long Stanley.” Leading roles in three other plays ensued. In 1983, Mathers reprised his star-making role of Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver for a reunion TV film, Still the Beaver, which developed into a moderately successful weekly cable series, “The New Leave It to Beaver.” The new show fan for 108 episodes from 1985 to 1989. In 1985, Mathers was handed the Young Artist Special Award for Former Child Star for his work in “Leave It to Beaver.”

When the series ended, Mathers went on to pursue his acting career by making guest appearances in several movies and TV series, including “Diagnosis Murder” (1999). On the movie front, he appeared as an officer in the indie-comedy Down the Drain (1990) and in the thriller Sexual Malice (1994), teamed up with Richard Beymer and Patti Cohoon for the 1998 comedy Playing Patti, and played a Biology teacher in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). His more recent credits include the Julie Carmen/Frank Gorshin comedy Angles with Angles(2005), as Mr. Cohiba, and Will to Power (2006), directed/written by and starred David Rountree.

Mathers will star as Mr. Spinner, opposite J.G. Hertzler and Robert O'Reilly, in the upcoming film Douglas: The Christmas Movie, which is slated for December of 2007 release. In June 2007, he started his three-month run as Wilbur Turnblad on the musical production of “Hairspray.” The play marked Mathers' Broadway debut.

Awards:

• Young Artist: Special Award, Former Child Star, “Leave It to Beaver,” 1985